John E. Palmer

John is a long-time electoral reform advocate supportive of a more level playing field for candidates outside the two major parties. He sits on the boards of the National Association of Nonpartisan Reformers (NANR), an umbrella organization for democracy reform, and Rank the Vote, a national organization promoting the adoption of ranked-choice voting (RCV) through grass-roots efforts in more than 30 states. John and his wife Mary were significant financial supporters of The Committee for Ranked Choice Voting, the Maine-based organization that led the 2016 passage of the first statewide use of RCV.  

John has supported various other democracy reform organizations and efforts, including American Promise, CalRCV, Fairvote, the Independent Voter Project, More Choice San Diego, Protect Maine Elections, RepresentUS, and UniteAmerica, among others.

Professionally, John is co-founder of Hanover Partners, a San Francisco private equity firm that has been active investing in small middle-market manufacturing companies in the U.S. since 1994. John currently serves on the boards of three companies in Hanover’s portfolio, and has served on the board (including five roles as chairman) for ten previous Hanover companies.

John and Mary live in San Francisco with three children, and they spend significant time in Maine during the summer. John actively volunteers locally including periodically serving on nonprofit boards.

Active on social media with a significant following (for the democracy reform universe), John’s Twitter effort can be found at @ElectBetterUSA.