Well, in fairness, New York has closed primaries. But we didn’t see a great number of Democrats coming to help in the primaries. I knew young conservative activists around the country. None of them talked about seeing a lot of Democrats during the primaries. The general was a different issue.
Democrats helped get Romney nominated. Democrats got Thad Cochran nominated in a blatant act of theft against Chris McDaniel. Democrats voting in Republican primaries are usually not a good influence. They vote for a Republican they think they can beat.
N.Y. is a different animal, than Ill. and back then, Reagan was a "son of the state", so to speak. This time around, Trump has that position in N.Y., nut Hillary as a CARPETBAGGER doesn't.