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Some Republican activists are calling for abolishing Georgia’s open primary system, complaining that too many Democrats crossed over to vote in the state’s GOP primary against candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump. That call to close primaries comes after an Associated Press analysis of early voting records from data firm L2 found that more than 37,000 people who voted in Georgia’s Democratic primary two years ago crossed over to cast ballots in the May 24 Republican primary. The five statewide GOP incumbents whom Trump had targeted for defeat — including Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger...

Ah, the good old days, when Democrats voted in Democrat primaries and Republicans voted in Republican primaries. Those registered to other parties voted for candidates who held conventions in IHOP restaurants. Not content with one-person, one-vote elections (even including the dead), Democrats used the pandemic to promote mail-in voting to ballot-harvest their way to suspiciously fraudulent victories. Now some Democrats want more dubious election results with open primaries. Currently, 22 states have open primaries that allow crossover voting. Some Democrats plan to take full advantage of the opportunity. Writing in "When Your Vote Doesn't Matter, Try Switching Ballots," Jonathan Robinson...

Wyoming Sen. Anthony Bouchard’s campaign for U.S. House experienced a stark drop in fundraising in the most recent quarter, according to newly released federal campaign finance data. In quarter three — which spans from July to September — the campaign raised $65,500. That’s compared to $213,000 in the second quarter and $334,500 in the first quarter. Bouchard’s campaign has roughly $87,000 left in the bank. The campaign has considerably less cash on hand than Bouchard’s opponents: Rep. Liz Cheney has almost $3,700,000 left in the bank, while Harriet Hageman, who received the coveted endorsement of former President Donald Trump, has...

Shouldn’t Florida elections be more competitive? Amendment #3 will be on your November 3rd ballot. It will change Florida's Constitution on how we vote in our primary elections. Most people have no idea what it is about. If it passes it will end our closed hyper-partisan primary system that currently locks out 3.6 million Floridians from state legislative and executive leadership races. As a fellow voter, I’m concerned about the lack of competition in many of our legislative districts. Too many incumbents run unopposed. Many other races are guaranteed wins for one major party or the other, and they are...

The difference for races in the coming weeks may come between open and closed primaries. An open primary means anyone can go into and vote in any party primary. A closed party means only registered party voters can vote in that party's primary. So far establishment party voters in closed primaries favor Senator Ted Cruz. Open primaries are going to Donald Trump. The Florida primary in two weeks is closed, which might favor Senator Marco Rubio. But polling shows Trump with a big lead there already.

There is a basic mystery at the heart of modern Republican presidential politics. The party’s voters, despite electing conservatives to the House and Senate, have repeatedly chosen relatively moderate nominees, like Mitt Romney and John McCain, in the primaries. With the 2016 campaign underway, and candidates positioning themselves for money, endorsements and staff, the establishment of the party is again at the center of the conversation. Even though Mr. Romney said on Friday that he had decided not to pursue the nomination, a third Bush seems poised to run, and has suggested he will not bow down to conservative activists....

Sarah Palin and right-wing Republicans are calling "shenanigans" over the Mississippi U.S. Senate race this week. (Full disclosure: Whenever someone uses that hokey phrase, I chuckle and think of the "South Park" episode when third-graders denounced ripoffs at a local carnival). Anyway, here's what happened in the Magnolia State, which isn't quite as funny. Establishment GOP U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran bucked the odds and history after a narrow primary loss to Tea Party favorite Chris McDaniel. On Tuesday, the six-term incumbent edged McDaniel in a runoff, buoyed by heavy turnout from African-Americans. The Cochran campaign openly courted these traditionally Democratic...

A BAD NIGHT FOR DEMOCRATS If you can divine a national trend from a runoff election in Mississippi, be our guest. But rather than pondering the motives of 3,188 Mississippi voters who made the difference in a bitter, hyper-local election, there’s a more useful consideration today. What’s at stake nationally this year is control of the U.S. Senate, and Republican chances of taking the majority went up significantly Tuesday night. [During New York Democratic Rep. Charlie Rangel’s victory speech, the stage nearly collapsed. Rangel asked “heavier people on the stage… to take safety over ego” and step down.]

GOP being Punk’d? We know that Democrats are crossing over in open primaries, such as Mississippi and Alabama, in order to vote for Rick Santorum, a big union candidate, their votes intended to throw the Republican National Convention into a contested balloting process. This tactic was written up at the Daily Kos. Big union money has even invested for the Santorum campaign. Pardon me for not having all the pertinent facts and I confess I don’t even have time to search for them all, today, to say nothing of presenting and formatting them, here. Can you help? Place further information...

David Brock was smoking a cigarette on the roof of his Washington, D.C. office one day in the late fall of 2010 when his assistant and two bodyguards suddenly appeared and whisked him and his colleague Eric Burns down the stairs. Brock, the head of the liberal nonprofit Media Matters for America, had told friends and co-workers that he feared he was in imminent danger from right-wing assassins and needed a security team to keep him safe. The threat he faced while smoking on his roof? “Snipers,” a former co-worker recalled. ...more...

California GOP rejects divisive open primary plan SACRAMENTO, Calif.—California Republicans on Sunday approved a compromise that leaves in place the current nominating system for GOP candidates in 2012 and will let party members use mail-in balloting to endorse candidates for office starting in 2014. The party was beset by infighting at its weekend spring convention in Sacramento over how to respond to Proposition 14, the voter-approved ballot measure that was intended to produce more moderate candidates for office from both political parties. Under that system, the top two candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. The GOP...

Shouldn't REPUBLICANS pick the REPUBLICAN candidate in the REPUBLICAN primaries? Do we want Dems and Independents picking our candidate for us? That's how McCain won, I believe. He won the Open Primary in the early primary voting states, which gave him momentum. So how can we change this?

While the state Republican and Democratic parties have opposed the voter-approved open primary measure Proposition 14, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Jerry Brown expressed support Tuesday for the idea, saying it could help break partisan gridlock paralyzing Sacramento. When asked by The Bee in March about the initiative, Brown refused to take a position. Brown opened his remarks to the business group the Silicon Valley Leadership Group on Tuesday by lamenting polarizing partisan politics. He then segued into Proposition 14, which would advance the top two vote-getters in a primary to the general election, regardless of their party affiliations. "With the recent...

In case anyone missed the tea leaves scattered around the country, California’s primary results offer more evidence of voters’ dislike for political parties. The Golden State on Tuesday passed Proposition 14, creating a so-called open primary in which any voter is allowed to cast their vote for any candidate in the primary, regardless of party affiliation. The top two vote-getters would face each other in the general election, even if they were from the same party. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was a big backer of the change, arguing that it would push politics away from the polarized extremes and toward a...

California voters approve open primaries measure

For registered members of California's minor parties, Proposition 14 isn't just about winning or losing elections. It's a matter of survival. "It pretty much wipes us out," said John Reiger, former congressional candidate for the Peace and Freedom Party. Proposition 14 would create a "top two" primary in which candidates of all party affiliations run on one primary ballot. The two candidates who win the most votes, regardless of party, would face off in the general election. The system would not apply to presidential primaries. Supporters say the change would let voters choose the best candidate and give the 20...

As often recounted in this space, the Capitol's most enduring conflict pits business groups against a "Big 4" coalition of labor unions, environmentalists, consumer activists and personal injury attorneys. The latter push for higher taxes, more business regulation and expanded tort liability. The former try to block or alter what they call "job killer" bills. In between their constant clashes in the Capitol, the two political armies do battle in legislative elections, a field of battle that the 2001 gerrymander of legislative districts made much more complex. The gerrymander rendered the November elections irrelevant by designating the party ownership of...

Does anybody know if there is any effort going on to reverse the open primary system that gave us John McCain? According to Wikipedia the following states have open primaries: * Alabama * Arkansas * Georgia * Idaho * Indiana * Michigan * Minnesota * Mississippi * Missouri * North Dakota * South Carolina * Tennessee * Texas * Vermont * Virginia * Wisconsin I've run a google news search and come up with blanks.

McCain Seeks to Change California Primary Sen. John McCain's campaign "is mounting a stealth effort to change Republican presidential nomination rules in California to allow independents to vote in the Feb. 5 primary, party and campaign officials in the state" said, the Washington Times reports. "The impact could be huge -- and potentially damaging to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney." Earlier, we noted Romney's game plan was to take advantage of the complicated rules governing how California awards its delegates.