Democracy Found is a Wisconsin-based organization that advocates a form of ranked-choice voting that it calls “Final-Five Voting” to replace party primaries and plurality voting. ¹

Wisconsin business leaders Katherine Gehl and Austin Ramirez established Democracy Found in 2018. ² The organization has a sister 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization Democracy Found Action. ³

Background

Democracy Found is a Wisconsin-based organization that advocates for implementing what it calls “Final-Five Voting,” a term the organization uses to explain how it would allow the top five candidates to emerge from a primary ballot and compete in a ranked-choice voting general election. ⁴ The organization has a sister 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization Democracy Found Action. ⁵

Democracy Found contends that primary elections have greater influence than general elections because, due to the current system that only permits primary election votes from voters that are registered with the respective party, only about 20 percent of voters vote in primaries and therefore about two dozen Wisconsin state assembly seats are uncontested in the general election. ⁶

Founding

Businesswoman Katherine Gehl had the idea to use the business industry’s “competition theory” to diagnose the nation’s political problems, calling it the “Politics Industry Theory.” From this, Gehl came up with the “Final Five Voting” term for the ranked-choice voting system. Gehl explained the theory in her book, “The Politics Industry,” and in an article in the Harvard Business Review. Gehl also delivered a 17-minute TED Talk about the proposed system. ⁷

U.S. Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) and Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA) expressed support for adopting the system in a forward for Gehl’s book, The Politics Industry. ⁸ Then-Wisconsin state Sen. Dale Kooyenga, a Republican, and state Rep. Daniel Riemer, a Democrat, also expressed support for the new voting system in an op-ed for the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. ⁹

While working in the White House in a post that overlapped the Obama and Trump administrations, Democracy Found co-founder Austin Ramirez claimed he saw lawmakers frequently agreed on solutions but could not compromise because of politics. ¹⁰

Gehl and Ramirez established Democracy Found at an event in May 2018. At the event, political donors Lynde Uihlein, a Democrat and philanthropist, and Andy Nunemaker, a tech executive and a Republican who held the only Wisconsin fundraiser for Donald Trump, expressed support for the voting system. Uihlein and Nunemaker spoke to about 400 people in attendance. ¹¹

Leadership

Katherine Gehl is a co-founder and co-chair of Democracy Found. ¹² Gehl is the former CEO of Gehl Foods. She founded the Institute for Political Innovation and is the author of The Politics Industry. ¹³

Austin Ramirez is a co-founder and co-chair of Democracy Found. ¹⁴ Ramirez worked for a one-year term as a White House Fellow in the National Economic Council that overlapped the end of the Obama administration and the beginning of the Trump administration. Ramirez is the CEO of Husco International. ¹⁵

Sara Eskrich is the executive director of Democracy Found. ¹⁶ Eskrich is a former member of the Madison, Wisconsin Common Council. She was previously a senior advisor for the Gehl-founded Institute for Political Innovation. Before that, she was the chief of staff for Gehl’s office. ¹⁷

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2. “About Us.” Democracy Found. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/about-us
3. Democracy Found, Accessed December 20, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/
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6.  McCormack, Michele. “’Democracy Found’ group proposes Final 5 Voting to ensure a broader electorate picks candidates in Wisconsin.” We Are Green Bay CBS. August 10, 2022. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.wearegreenbay.com/news/local-news/democracy-found-group-proposes-final-5-voting-to-ensure-a-broader-electorate-picks-candidates-in-wisconsin/
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9. Kooyenga, Dale and Riemer, Daniel. “Wisconsin should adopt innovative Final-Five Voting as one cure for political polarization.” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. May 20, 2020. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/solutions/2020/05/20/polarized-wisconsin-should-adopt-innovative-final-five-voting/5224984002/
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11. Kirchen, Rich. “A-list attendees join Katherine Gehl call to overturn politics from the ‘rational middle’” Milwaukee Business Journal. May 15, 2018. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/about-us
12. “Advisory Council and Supporters.” Democracy Found. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/advisory-council-supporters
13. ^[1] Press Release. “Co-Founders of Democracy Found to go ‘On the Issues,’ April 8.” April 6, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2021/cofounders-of-democracy-found-to-go-on-the-issues-april-8.php
14. “Advisory Council and Supporters.” Democracy Found. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/advisory-council-supporters
15. Press Release. “Co-Founders of Democracy Found to go ‘On the Issues,’ April 8.” April 6, 2021. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.marquette.edu/news-center/2021/cofounders-of-democracy-found-to-go-on-the-issues-april-8.php
16. “Advisory Council and Supporters.” Democracy Found. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://democracyfound.org/advisory-council-supporters
17. “Sara Eskrich.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 18, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-eskrich-b0205919/