Vice President of the National Conference of Mayors Throws His Support Behind Open Primaries

85% of American cities use nonpartisan primaries to determine who moves on to the general election. This week, Oklahoma City Mayor David Holt (Vice President of the National Conference of Mayors) went on local television to reiterate his long-time support for bringing nonpartisan open primaries to state and local elections in the Sooner state and across the country: 

“When I face the electorate it’s every registered voter, every Republican, Democrat and Independent and it’s a different incentive structure. I think you get a better outcome. You get candidates who are trying to bring people together”

Watch his full interview here:

Legal Hearing Set To Challenge Florida’s Closed Primary Elections

Florida is in the minority of states that completely lock out independent voters in closed primary elections. Now, an emeritus law professor from the University of Illinois is challenging the status quo and fighting for the almost 4 million Florida independents shut out. Michael Polelle, representing himself pro se, will be in Federal court in Jacksonville on October 11th challenging Florida’s closed primary as a violation of the First Amendment and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

Mr. Polelle is seeking a declaratory judgment that Florida’s closed primary statute is unconstitutional and requests a permanent injunction barring the State of Florida from preventing registered voters with no political affiliation (NPAs) from voting in political primaries. Primary elections in Florida are state and county-operated and taxpayer-funded. Florida NPAs have the indignity of paying for elections that bar them from voting.

In Florida, NPAs are the fastest-growing group of voters in the state. Who are Florida’s independents? According to a study from the James Madison Institute, 36% of Latinos, 16% of African-Americans and 42% of Florida’s Asian community are independent. Women are much more likely than men to switch from party to no-party status, according to a recent Tampa Bay Times analysis. Mr. Polelle is hoping to give them a voice. The case is Michael J. Polelle v. Cord Byrd, Florida Secretary of State et al. No.22-14031. 

New Study Finds Nonpartisan Primaries Reduce the Influence of Wealthy Donors 

As more and more states look into and pursue nonpartisan open primary initiatives and legislation, partisan insiders are finding more creative ways to attack including claiming that nonpartisan primaries are more susceptible to dark money expenditures. But in a new piece in RealClearPolitics, Researcher and Democracy Fellow at Unite America, Rich Barton points out this couldn’t be further from the truth: “Nonpartisan primaries significantly reduce the influence of wealthy donors in elections.”

Using data from the Federal Election Commission he analyzed all campaign contributions from Political Action Committees (PACs) and independent expenditures from Super PACs and found that:

“Ideological PACs like Club for Growth Action on the right and Protect our Future on the left, bankrolled by millionaires, have much less influence in states with nonpartisan primaries. In fact, nonpartisan primaries curb the power of ideological PACs by about two-thirds relative to partisan primaries.”

Read more here.

Kentucky Leader Educates and Engages with Local KY Students on Reform & The Rise of Independents 

Mark Ritter, an open primaries supporter and leader with CIvicLex, a civics education organization, met with students from Bryan Station High School in Lexington, KY to talk about the rise of independent voters among Gen Z, the Students for Open Primaries survey and the need for primary reform.

ARKANSAS: Members of the Republican party of Arkansas filed for injunction to close primaries. Back in June the Republican party voted to close the primaries at their state convention, this filing asks the court to mandate Secretary of State John Thurston to recognize the vote outcome from that convention and enact new candidate registration requirements. Attorney General Tim Giffin filed a motion for dismissal last week calling the injunction request “threadbare” and Secretary of State John Thurston stated that closing primaries for Republicans would require a change in Arkansas law.

COLORADO: A new poll finds a majority of Coloradans support Colorado Voters First’s Prop 131 to create nonpartisan open primaries and RCV in the general election. 64% of voters surveyed said they support reforming Colorado’s elections this November.

Also, the Scrivner Institute of Public Policy will host a panel discussion featuring Unite America’s Nick Troiano and Amber McReynolds (Colorado Voters First) to inform more Coloradans about what’s really on the table this November. Sign up here.

IDAHO:  Randy Worrall, a veteran and resident of Idaho has penned a fantastic new op-ed on why he’s supporting Proposition 1 this November: 

“Talk to any man or woman who has served, and you’ll hear the same: “I served my country.” I’ve never met someone who says, “I served my political party…Proposition 1 is about correcting a wrong that began in 2012 when Idaho closed its primaries. It’s about giving power back to the people, where it rightfully belongs. It’s about ensuring our elections reflect the will of the people, not just a select few. Proposition 1 will end minority rule in Idaho.”

MONTANA: In a new major endorsement, Marc Racicot the former Governor and Attorney General of MT and Bob Brown, Montana’s former Secretary of State and State Senate President have come out  in support of Constitutional Amendment 126 to create nonpartisan Top 4 Open Primaries where all Montanans can participate fully: 

“We have the opportunity in November to break free of the controlling influence of political parties, and to modify our system making it closer to the vision of the founders.”

TENNESSEE: Mitchell Ishmael, an Independent voter in Tennessee is pushing back against Rep. John Ragan’s recent accusations that the reason he did not win his primary election was because of Tennessee’s open primary system: 

“In your recent press release, you say “Free and fair elections are foundational to political liberty,” and in the next breath you tell me that I may not vote for the candidate of my choosing. A functional democracy also needs leaders who can recognize they’ve lost and who will gracefully hand over the keys.”

ICYMI: Change the Incentives, Change the Game pt. II w/ Bradley Tusk

Open Primaries President John Opdycke recently sat down with investor, political strategist, philanthropist, author and founder of MobileVoting.org Bradley Tusk to discuss his new book: Vote With Your Phone: Why Mobile Voting Is Our Final Shot at Saving Democracy and do a deeper dive discussion into the intersection between technology, voter participation and the rules of the political game.

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team