LAist’s former community college fellow Bonnie Ho authored an illustrated zine that follows the journeys of six Southern Californians that went to community college to change their careers. This web adaptation includes a list of questions to ask yourself if you’re considering a career change, advice from Southern California career counselors, and beautifully hand-painted illustrations.
Want free copies of this zine? LAistwill ship you free copies of this zine, whether for your community, small business, or organization. Order your free copies here (while supplies last.)
"I sought out community college to grow my nascent interest in art and journalism."
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I had been thinking about making my own career change for over five years.
Some friends and I formed a group to discuss the book “Designing Your Life.” In that moment, our past decisions would no longer dictate our lives. We brought the design concept of iteration into practice, ready to learn from trial and error.
It took me time. I was terrified of leaving a respectable job and financial stability, even though I had lost a sense of vitality in my work. I sought out community college to grow my nascent interest in art and journalism.
I could be a student again — make mistakes, ask dumb questions, and dare to imagine a different future.
This is a project about six people, who by way of community college have made — or started — a leap of faith.
Words of Wisdom
“The first stage of the career development cycle is really learning about oneself. Learning one’s personality type. What environment do we thrive in? What are we naturally good at? What are our interests? What classes have we really loved? How do we spend our free time?"
— Anne-Marie Beck, career counselor at Cypress College
A leap of faith.
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Investment banker > aspiring dietician
Rita Kwan worked in investment banking for 15 years. People in Hong Kong considered it a good job for the salary and the benefits.
Buildings and cuisine in Hong Kong
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"I didn’t really like that at all, the so-called ‘money-making’ industry.”
She was busy with work and she didn’t have the time to think about her future.
She thought it was “normal to suffer in my job, in my life.”
Kwan’s dad was fighting cancer and she thought his poor diet might have hurt his health. In Hong Kong, she saw people eating unhealthy junk food.
She realized the importance of what one consumes.
“We have to protect ourselves by raising our awareness of what we put into our bodies.”
In Hong Kong, the opportunity to make career changes seemed limited right after high school.
Kwan came to the U.S. and took an English as a second language class at Mt. San Antonio College, where she took a personality test. Her result pointed toward a “helping” career, like a teacher or a counselor.
Words of wisdom
“At any stage in our career path, we should always surround ourselves with people that believe in us.” —Anne-Marie Beck
"If they want to garden, they can garden. They have the health to do that, instead of staying in bed all day long."
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“I feel like I am a living person, instead of a person who doesn’t have a dream or who doesn’t know what I want to do.”
After taking nutrition courses at Mt. San Antonio College, Kwan plans to work full-time to afford the cost of a master’s degree in nutrition.
“Life is not about how long you live. It’s about the quality, when somebody’s healthy and able to do whatever they want to do. Like if they want to garden, they can garden. They have the health to do that, instead of staying in bed all day long.”
Khaokham enjoyed being a jeweler, having her own creative line and her artistic pieces in galleries.
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Jeweler > geography student
Candace Khaokham enjoyed being a jeweler, having her own creative line and her artistic pieces in galleries. “It was really rewarding and fun stuff, but it’s very taxing on your body and your eyesight because everything is so small.”
She realized she wasn’t earning enough.
“I’m getting older. I need to start thinking about a regular health care plan and savings.”
“I was looking at where people are needed in the future, you know?” A friend said there was a demand for people in the geography profession.
Khaokham attended Pasadena City College “without really knowing what I wanted to do when I started. I took my cultural geography class. I was like, ‘I love this class.’” She liked how geography is a study of “where we are, who’s around us, and how we got here.”
Words of Wisdom
“A lot of times people feel like they have to do things that have a direct purpose for their eventual career goal, but a lot of times some of the most amazing opportunities arise just because we’re pursuing things that are of interest.” — Anne-Marie Beck, career counselor at Cypress College
1939 Home Owners Loan Corporation color-coded and rating system of Los Angeles neighborhoods
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At community college in her early 40s, Khaokham excelled with a 3.9 GPA. “I wasn’t a great student in high school or my early teens, but this time I was like I’m gonna do good in school.”
“I wanted to have a job to be kind of helpful too, like if I could make a map that would help with land reclamation, a project on the history of redlining, redistricting, or gerrymandering.”
Words of Wisdom
“There’s a level of trust and vulnerability for a student to disclose to a counselor: ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ Many times students don’t want to feel dumb.”
— Adrián Huerta, education professor at University of Southern California
Adrián Huerta, education professor at University of Southern California
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Truck driver > aspiring occupational therapist
Before he had a stroke, Bladon was working as a truck driver for seven years. The job was stressful. He was working 14-hour days, five days a week, and he neglected his health.
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Before he had a stroke, Barri Bladon was working as a truck driver for seven years. The job was stressful. He was working 14-hour days, five days a week, and he neglected his health. “I ended up ballooning to like 330 pounds.”
“I didn’t have an education beyond high school. Being a truck driver was what I could do to make a decent salary.”
After the stroke, the doctor painted a bleak future for Bladon, pointing to statistics for African Americans. Bladon felt like the doctor was insensitive — his words causing more harm than good. Instead of feeling defeated, Bladon determined to get better.
During his rehabilitation process, he “met some incredible occupational therapists,” and decided to become one himself, starting with going back to school.
After his stroke, during his rehabilitation process, Barri “met some incredible occupational therapists,” and decided to become one himself.
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Words of Wisdom
“Many folks default to engineering, medicine, business even though that might not be their natural interest. Sometimes folks don’t know what is available out there and what the labor market demands."
— Adrián Huerta, education professor at University of Southern California
“I was afraid that I wasn’t gonna be able to make it through school because I hadn’t been in years, especially having a lesion on my brain.” Bladon hadn’t taken a standardized test in years. He had no idea how many courses he might need.
“Once I got through my first semester at El Camino, I felt more confident. I would get confident with each semester.”
He also found confidence by testing out other classes, like in radiology. He says, “Don’t be afraid to try something if you think you might be interested in it, especially at the community college level.”
Bladon wanted to complete his education as fast as possible. He recommends prospective students “do your own research” on what classes are required to transfer to a university — meeting with the university counselor, for example, can help. He met with a few different guidance counselors, but found only one who was particularly helpful, who saved him from taking unnecessary courses.
Bladon’s goal is “as a practitioner, I want to show people of color that there is representation in the field because the majority of the patients that we serve are Black and brown.”
When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Pamela Hsiung, who had been working for a wealth management company for seven years, began to work from home.
Pamela started by taking the Sketching for Design class at Pasadena City College.
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“When you’re working remotely, you’re really reduced to just the essence of the work you do. You really just sat with the work.”
“I realized all the fun parts of work were with my co-workers.” Hsiung says she had to make a career change.
As the eldest daughter of immigrant parents, she felt family expectations led her to study finance. Hsiung wanted to pivot and pursue a more creative career in design.
“I did my homework,” she says. “I realized a lot of professors at accredited universities were teaching at community colleges for a fraction of the price.”
She started by taking the Sketching for Designclass at Pasadena City College. “In the beginning everyone is really lost, but maybe the second, third week you start to get the handle of thinking a little more creatively. That’s when I realized that as long as I break these steps down into bite-sized pieces, I’ll be able to digest them and inch forward.”
“I was doing something that I really enjoyed and I had never felt that when I was working in finance.” Hsiung liked creating something of her own.
If Hsiung wasn’t being cautious, “I would love to be in something that was just purely art related.” She says the design field she’s pursuing is “still a business job.”
“I think it’s still scary. I’m not done with my portfolio, and I am moving into a completely different field. I know the tech industry isn’t great right now. I just have to persevere, and I will eventually make it.”
Words of Wisdom
“A lot of times career changers think, ‘my 10 years in that industry are all going to waste,’ but they bring into this new career field or this industry all of these transferable skills. Age, lived experience, and experience in general can be so valuable.”
— Anne-Marie Beck, career counselor at Cypress College
Physical therapy student > chef
“Career change is pretty evident for especially my generation of millennials. We all grew up kind of like on ‘you’re supposed to do this career, stick with it for like 40 plus, 50 years, retire and then that’s it.’ People are realizing you can do so many different things.”
Marie Manalo graduated from Cal State Northridge in kinesiology — the study of human movement — and began a physical therapy program.
“We were doing water exercises with clients. I was standing there holding my client in the water and I was like, ‘wow, I really don’t want to do this. I either make this change now or I commit and figure it out later.’”
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“We were doing water exercises with clients. I was standing there holding my client in the water and I was like, ‘wow, I really don’t want to do this. I either make this change now or I commit and figure it out later.’”
Manalo’s dad had been a sous chef and her grandma’s cooking had a strong influence on her, so she decided to look into culinary school.
Someone told her that L.A. Trade-Tech has a top culinary program. “And I wasn’t going to spend a crap ton of money going to Le Cordon Bleu or something private.”
Manalo’s dad had been a sous chef and her grandma’s cooking had a strong influence on her, so she decided to look into culinary school.
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“It’s really brave to change your career,” Manalo says, adding that not all families encourage people to change course when they choose. Manalo’s mom supported her doing what would make her happy.
The “culinary (industry) is pretty freaking intense, like mentally and physically,” Manalo says. Every day someone would shout or scream at her.
She said she was so focused on learning that she had a set of blinders on and did not notice the inappropriate behavior. She also worked 14 to 16-hour days and went three years without taking a vacation.
Manalo has stepped away from the restaurant industry now. She feels burnt out. “I think people need to understand too as you grow older the way you feel about life is gonna change.”
Words of Wisdom
“One of the biggest things that is out of the control of many folks is the cost of living. How much is the average apartment in Southern California? If you don’t have stability or support from family that can let you be at home, be in an ADU, how feasible is it to complete your goals if you’re worried about basic needs?”
— Adrián Huerta, education professor at University of Southern California
While the journey was worth it, along the way Manalo learned something about herself that is informing her next steps.
“I thought I was gonna regret changing, but once I was in it, I was in it. Now it’s like 10 plus years later and I still don’t regret.”
“I’m trying to find that, like, unicorn job that has everything — work-life balance, intensity, passion, like all that wrapped into one. And it’s really, really hard right now to find something like that.”
Archaeologist > nurse
Jane Mitchell worked as an archaeologist for nearly a decade.
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“I loved archaeology but I needed to make more money so that I could support myself and the family that I wanted to have one day,” Jane Mitchell says. She worked in the field for nearly a decade.
She considered continuing in archaeology in different ways. Getting a master’s degree and teaching and publishing, or working in a museum, for example.
She weighed the potential outcomes of different routes. Then, she decided to become a nurse.
For her, nursing was “the most practical, stable job you could probably find.” She said she would go from studying human remains to the living.
Making the change was “like jumping off a cliff into the water. ‘Am I really gonna start making this change? Start telling people that I’m totally turning my life around. What am I doing?’”
Making the change was “like jumping off a cliff into the water."
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Classes for nursing can be in high demand, but she enrolled in physiology and anatomy prerequisites at Pasadena City College.
Jane Mitchell
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Mitchell said she was closer to her professor’s age.
“I had to drop any amount of pride I had to ask people sometimes younger than me, ‘how do you do this?’”
At the same time, her life experience gave her confidence to ask questions. “I feel like a lot of students don’t ask questions at all. Maybe they’ll text a question.”
Mitchell says she did tons of research on how to become a nurse.
“Do your research. Make sure you have a clear path of how you’re gonna do it, how long it might take you so you can just be ready for it and not get stressed out about surprises along the way.”
Questions to ask yourself when considering a career change
Anne-Marie Beck, career counselor at Cypress College, recommends the following:
What are my career values, personality traits, interests, and strengths? Do they align with this new career or industry?
Why am I doing this? A fear-based decision? A decision based on full information?
What do I know about the career that I’m aiming to go into? How thorough and confident do I feel about my research into this field?
Have I talked to a professional within this career field?
Have I gone to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS.gov) to look at employment information in my region?
Have I met with a counselor or department specialist?
Have I talked to a student who’s further along in their educational journey?
What support have I lined up to ensure I’m successful?
What are the transferable skills that I bring with me?
How might the pandemic have impacted this career field? How might A.I. impact this career field?
What is the salary expectation for how much I’m going to make? What type of lifestyle will this salary support?
How we made this story
This story was originally written and illustrated as a physical zine. The zine includes everything captured in this story: Advice from career counselors, questions to ask yourself when considering a career change, and hand-painted illustrations.
If you have any questions about the project, or would like to learn about other print products related to higher education we have available, please reach out to associate engagement producer Adriana Pera at apera@scpr.org.
Aaron Schrank
has been on the ground, reporting on homelessness and other issues in L.A. for more than a decade.
Published August 10, 2026 6:44 PM
L.A. City Councilmember Nithya Raman at a mayoral campaign event in May 2026.
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Topline:
Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman will lose her spot as chair of the City Council’s Housing and Homelessness Committee, she confirmed in a campaign video Monday. Raman, who is running for mayor, claims her removal is politically motivated.
Why it matters: Raman is running against incumbent L.A. Mayor Karen Bass in the November election. The councilmember has been chair of the Housing and Homeless Committee since 2023, where she’s had considerable power and responsibility.
Why now: The California Post reported that L.A. City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawsonis planning to announce this week that the city will split the committee into two parts — one on housing, the other on homelessness — neither of which will be led by Raman. Harris-Dawson, a longtime political ally of Bass, represents a large portion of South Los Angeles. He did not immediately respond to LAist’s inquiry late Monday.
Raman's reaction: Raman said in the campaign ad the move was a political attack. “I called for an audit of our homelessness programs in Los Angeles, and now I’ve been removed as Chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee,” Raman said. “I might be getting punished for running against Mayor Bass, but Angelenos are the ones paying the price for these political games.”
Erin Stone
covers climate and environmental issues in Southern California.
Published August 10, 2026 4:41 PM
President Joe Biden will reportedly permanently ban future offshore oil and gas drilling in over 625 million acres of federal waters in an effort to cement his environmental legacy before President-elect Donald Trump is inaugurated January 20th. Platform Esther is located approximately 1.5 miles away from Seal Beach and operates within California state waters.
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Topline:
Hearings being held this week could decide whether California continues to have a say over what happens in federal waters off its coast. It’s part of the Trump administration’s efforts to supercharge industrial activities, including offshore drilling, rocket launches and desalination plants along California’s coast.
Why now: The hearings aim to gather public comments as part of a performance review of the state’s coastal management practices. Dozens of people turned out Monday to decry the administration's review.
Read on ... to learn how to give public comment.
Hearings being held this week could decide whether California continues to have a say over what happens in federal waters off the state’s coast.
It’s part of the Trump administration’s efforts to supercharge industrial activities, including offshore drilling, rocket launches and desalination plants along California’s coast. At a hearing Monday at a Santa Monica hotel and at a news conference beforehand, speaker after speaker decried any effort that would allow the federal government to revoke California's ability to manage its coast.
A federal law called the Coastal Zone Management Act gives states with coastlines the right to review and veto projects that may conflict with state policies and economies. The law was signed by President Richard Nixon after a devastating oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara and is credited with launching the modern environmental movement.
In a May social media post, the Trump administration said California is standing in the way of economic progress and called the state’s coastal management practices “obstructionist” and “environmental extremism.”
California officials, including state Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot, dispute that, saying the state approves federal initiatives 96% of the time.
“ Never before in the five-decade history of this federal act has this sudden baseless review taken place on any state's coastal management program, and never before in the history of this act has a coastal management program ever been revoked,” Crowfoot said at a news conference in Santa Monica on Monday. ”This federal administration is bent on industrializing our coast.”
The hearings, which are being administered by NOAA, could result in the federal government decertifying California’s rights under the Coastal Zone Management Act. A decision to do so would almost certainly be challenged in court, experts say.
That possibility has prompted Gov. Gavin Newsom to call on Californians to submit public comments on the issue.
“Give the Trump administration an earful,” Newsom said in a statement.
How to get involved
NOAA will accept public comment until midnight Aug. 22. You can attend a virtual hearing or submit a comment via email.
Virtual hearings:
When: Aug. 11 and 12, 2 to 5 p.m.
Where: Virtual.
How: Each person who wants to attend either meeting must electronically register by 11:59 p.m. Aug. 10. Attendance will be limited to 1,000 people, and NOAA asks you only register for one meeting. After you register, you’ll receive a link to attend. To register for either meeting, use the following link: https://noaabroadcast.adobeconnect.com/e23ewcr5d65q/event/event_info.html.
Submit comment via email to czma.california-evaluation@noaa.gov. Include “Comments on Performance Evaluation of the California Coastal Management Program” in the subject line.
The hearings this week are solely for public comment. The review “seeks any new input from relevant stakeholders regarding spaceport infrastructure, offshore oil production, pipeline maintenance, desalination projects, and undersea cables,” according to a notice in the federal register.
Such reviews have happened before — in 2024 a draft review by NOAA found the state’s coastal agencies had properly carried out the CZMA. The review, however, was not finalized due to the change in administration.
“ L.A. County will soon achieve 100% renewable and reliable electricity. This is the change that we want to see,” she said. “Meanwhile, the Trump administration is recklessly starting foreign wars and skyrocketing the price at the pump.”
L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath also spoke Monday at the news conference ahead of the NOAA hearing in Santa Monica.
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Tina Calderon, Gabrielino Tongva and Chumash culture bearer, speaks at Monday's news conference.
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Horvath is part of a coalition of local, state, tribal, environmental, legal and business leaders who are calling the review a “takeover” of state and local rights.
Orange County resident Grant Bixby, who founded the Business Alliance for Protecting the Pacific Coast, pointed out at the news conference that offshore drilling makes up a tiny fraction of the state’s coastal economy, which generates between $44 billion and $50 billion a year, according to NOAA.
"Should we put 99% of the other employment at risk for the benefit of one dirty industry?” Bixby said.
Bixby recalled how the 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill turned the beaches into a “ghost town.”
The NOAA hearing was held in a ballroom at the Santa Monica Hilton.
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Among the speakers at the news conference and hearing, a clear theme emerged: The coast is an integral part of being a Californian, whether you’re lucky enough to live beachside or you live inland and have a favorite spot to call your own on hot summer days.
“The point is that we all love our beautiful saltwaters,” said Tina Calderon, Gabrielino Tongva and Chumash culture bearer, at the news conference. “These are sacred waters, and it's up to us to be the voice. It's up to us to cause no more human harm. We've done enough.”
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Jackie and her partner Shadow had successfully fledged six chicks together over the years at their Big Bear nest.
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Jackie, the bald eagle whose livestreamed life with her partner Shadow won the hearts of fans worldwide, has died, rescuersannounced Monday.
What we know: The famous eagle, believed to be 14 years old, was receiving intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center for severe anemia.
Read on … for more on Jackie’s life.
Jackie, the bald eagle whose livestreamed life with her partner Shadow won the hearts of fans worldwide, has died, rescuers announced Monday.
The famous raptor, believed to be 14 years old, was receiving intensive care at the Ojai Raptor Center for severe anemia. She ultimately succumbed to her condition after a team of veterinarians struggled for weeks to figure out what was causing it.
Jackie remained critically ill despite receiving oxygen therapy, supportive treatment and around-the-clock monitoring.
"We know this news will be deeply felt by the many thousands of people around the world who have followed her journey, hoped alongside us, prayed for her, and supported the people caring for her,” the Ojai Raptor Center said in an Instagram post. “Our team is heartbroken. It has been an extraordinary privilege to care for her."
Friends of Big Bear Valley, the nonprofit that launched the popular nest livestream in 2015, confirmed the news on social media.
“It is with great sadness and heavy hearts, to bring you the latest update from Ojai Raptor Center,” the nonprofit said to its roughly 1.3 million Facebook followers. “Please be kind to yourself, to others, to the FOBBV team and to those at the Ojai Raptor Center. Soar free Jackie…”
What happened to her?
The rescue center said on social media Sunday that she was “critically ill,” “unstable” and still in an "extremely serious” condition.
She was getting oxygen therapy, supportive treatment and around-the-clock care from vets and specialists across the country. But her red blood cell levels continued to drop well below normal after rebounding a bit after she was rescued.
Jackie was rescued in July by Big Bear’s Dana Point Park after a brief fight with two other eagles. Jackie was weak, vulnerable, underweight and unable to fly, according to the Ojai Raptor Center.
The center said the fight is likely what left her grounded, but her condition suggests she had been sick for some time.
How Jackie’s Big Bear saga started
Jackie was the matriarch of the famous Big Bear bald eagle nest since around 2017. She’s believed to be the first bald eagle chick hatched in Big Bear Valley in recent history, according to the nonprofit.
The pair believed to be her parents, Ricky and Lucy, left the area around 2016. The young Jackie then started hanging out in their old nest, where the livestream camera had been installed.
Jackie took on her first mate, a bald eagle known as Mr. B, and laid her first clutch of eggs in the nest the following season. Shadow came into the picture in the summer of 2018, refusing to leave until Mr. B eventually flew away from the area, according to Friends of Big Bear Valley.
Jackie and Shadow were mates ever since. They successfully raised six chicks together — Sandy and Luna this season, Sunny and Gizmo last year, Spirit in 2022 and Simba in 2019.
Amid growing frustration with both major political parties, voters are open to some big changes.
More details: A new poll, commissioned by supporters of election reforms and shared with NPR, shows there is significant support for upending winner-take-all U.S. House elections and single-member congressional districts and instead moving toward proportional representation, a system that elects multiple representatives in a single district in rough proportion to a party's vote share.
Why now: Earlier this summer, about 500 democracy and legal experts sent a letter to Congress urging members to consider proportional representation as a solution to the redistricting brinksmanship set off by President Donald Trump last year.
Read on... for more on the poll.
Amid growing frustration with both major political parties, voters are open to some big changes.
A new poll, commissioned by supporters of election reforms and shared with NPR, shows there is significant support for upending winner-take-all U.S. House elections and single-member congressional districts and instead moving toward proportional representation, a system that elects multiple representatives in a single district in rough proportion to a party's vote share.
Earlier this summer, about 500 democracy and legal experts sent a letter to Congress urging members to consider proportional representation as a solution to the redistricting brinksmanship set off by President Donald Trump last year.
"There should be little doubt that the single-member district system is failing to deliver fair and representative outcomes," they wrote. "We urge Congress to adopt a proportional system of representation, solving the gerrymandering problem at its source."
According to the poll conducted by the advocacy group Fix Our House and liberal think tank New America, half of 1,000 respondents said they support proportional representation, with nearly a quarter opposed. A third of those who participated said they were not sure whether they supported it or not.
Lee Drutman, a senior fellow at New America, said he was surprised to see how much backing there is for proportional representation, despite the idea being fairly obscure in the United States.
"It really did shock me how supportive people were of the various principles of proportional representation across the board," he told NPR.
While support was highest among younger, more educated, more left-leaning voters, Drutman found that 6 in 10 Trump voters who have an opinion on proportional representation said they back it, too.
American voters want more political parties
Pollsters also walked respondents through some of the tradeoffs of proportional representation — including that it can lead to multiple parties having to find a way to work together.
"For every one of those questions, people prefer the proportional system with multiple parties," Drutman said, "even if it leads to a coalition government that is maybe not quite as efficient."
He said voters also weren't very concerned when asked about the possibility of proportional representation leading to some more extreme political parties.
"One thing people said is they already think the parties are pretty extreme right now," Drutman explained. "So that's not quite the fear that some in the political class think it would be."
Jocelyn Kiley, director of political research at the Pew Research Center, said voters writ large have been in a "prolonged period of disaffection with politics and the political system."
She said Pew has found there is a lot of openness to reform, with nearly 70% of respondents to its polls saying they wish, at least somewhat, there were more political parties to choose from.
Kiley said detailed knowledge of what any election reform would look like is rare among voters. And she said that when many reforms "move from theory to practice," they often hit some resistance.
"People want to understand exactly how that reform will impact them," she said.
Room for a national conversation
Drutman told NPR the new poll numbers mark a starting point for what could be a national conversation about how to break out of the country's two-party system.
"People are dissatisfied," he said. "People are frustrated. People don't have a language for how to talk about alternatives because they haven't really heard all that much about the alternatives, because we haven't had a national conversation about the alternatives yet. So, there's a lot of room to have that conversation."
Drutman said only about a quarter of the respondents were aware that there are alternatives to a two-party system, and even fewer people could name an alternative when pressed.
In fact, only about 2% of the participants in the poll could name proportional representation off the top of their heads, said Dustin Wahl, executive director of Fix Our House,
"But when asked about the kind of underlying values beneath it and the component parts, there was widespread support from all across the political spectrum," Wahl said. "And that's not something we would have expected to see necessarily four years ago, for instance. But as the problems grow, the desire for solutions grows, as well."
Proportional representation is currently the most widely used electoral system among the world's democracies. Wahl points out that the U.S., along with the likes of Canada and Australia, has a system that was abandoned long ago by other countries.
"Arguably the only reason we don't use proportional representation is because it wasn't used anywhere in the world at the time of [America's] founding," he said. "And we just kept doing elections the same way."
The poll also found a majority support (54%) for expanding the House, with 150 new members.
There are bills in Congress, with all Democratic co-sponsors, that would study or move the U.S. to a system of proportional representation, but Wahl said any bill that doesn't include expanding the House is "politically dead in the water" because without expansion, lawmakers have to choose to potentially vote themselves out of office.
"That [150-seat expansion] gives you enough of a cushion so that members, incumbents know that they're very likely to hold on to their seats," he said. "It wouldn't run into the problem, at all, of candidates or of sitting members of Congress thinking that they're going to lose their seats because their elections would be totally untouched."
Copyright 2026 NPR
