ON THE VERGE OF VICTORY IN NEW MEXICO: GOVERNOR INDICATES SHE WILL SIGN OPEN PRIMARY LEGISLATION

ICYMI: The New Mexico legislature has passed SB16 – a bill that enfranchises the over 330,000 independent voters in New Mexico.  

All that stands in the way of open primaries in New Mexico is Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s signature. 

Now just days after the bill passed the Governor has shown signs of supporting SB 16 and opening the primaries to all voters saying: 

“Open primaries is a step in the right direction for New Mexico…”

Listen to her full statement here:

Open Primaries has been a partner in this campaign from the beginning; organizing citizens, educating lawmakers, developing legal and policy analysis and building public trust over a ten year span. This year, our Let Us Vote campaign put New Mexico’s independents center stage across the state, from the pages of newspapers and across social media, to the statehouse with written testimony and meetings with legislators, letters, emails and phone calls. 

We will update you the moment we hear word of the Governor’s decision!

CAMPAIGN UPDATE: HELP US MEET THE MOMENT

As we mentioned above, we are on the verge of a huge win not only for the voters of New Mexico but for the national movement of Americans standing up to the status quo and demanding fair and equal voting rights for all voters. But this didn’t happen overnight. 

We put in the work and it paid off. 

Ten years ago we started building in state legislatures across the country. We helped draft bills, educate lawmakers, develop local leadership and organize voters. We passed open primaries through the first legislature in 2022 in Maine. Now it’s New Mexico. Tomorrow, perhaps Pennsylvania, and then….?

Our strategy is both simple and difficult. We build. We engage in multi-year collaborative campaigns with local leaders, elected officials, civic groups, party leaders, editorial boards, journalists, and citizens to champion the right of all voters to participate in primaries. We’ve partnered on every successful primary reform campaign over the last fifteen years.

This year we’ve got budding campaigns in Oklahoma, New York, Pennsylvania and beyond. We’re building national organizing, education and litigation strategies which all need resources and attention. In order for us to meet this moment–we need your help in a major way. 

Many of our supporters have stepped up in the first week and a half–we’re over 25% of the way to reaching our goal of raising $1,000,000 by April 18th.

But we have a long way to go and we need as many of our supporters as possible to step up and help us meet the critical moment we’re in. 

We have the momentum, the movement is building and the moment to take a giant step forward is now. Please consider coming on board in two ways today:

Make a gift to our annual fundraising campaign. We are raising $750,000 to go directly towards the important advocacy work all across the country. NOT TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

Then make a tax-deductible gift to the Open Primaries Education Fund. We are raising $250,000 for our educational and litigation work. TAX DEDUCTIBLE. 

Please consider making a double donation today and join us in taking this next giant leap forward. 

The country is ready. Let’s do this.

Call Grows to Open NYC’s Primaries to 1.2 Million New Yorkers Shut Out

Last December the NYC Mayor established a panel to review the NYC Charter and place revisions on the ballot to make the city government “more transparent and responsive to the needs of city residents.”

Open Primaries Let Us Vote campaign organized dozens of independent voters to show up and testify to their lived experience being denied a meaningful vote.  

One of those voters, Richard Ronner from Astoria, NY has just written a powerful opinion piece about both his experience testifying and being a second class citizen in a state that prides itself on being a bastion for democracy.

If you’re a New Yorker and want to get more involved in NYC and working to open the primaries here, reach out to our new National Organizing Director, Cathy Stewart at [email protected]

Partisans in South Carolina Trying to End Primary Elections and Shut Out Voters

A segment of the South Carolina GOP is trying to change how Republican voters can participate in primary elections and essentially end primary elections and elect candidates by convention. 

Carol Herring, who is active in several York County Republican organizations went on record: 

“I think the reason this came up is primarily because of the closed versus open primaries. And most of the people I know are actually in favor of a closed primary for only a registered Republican would vote in a republican primary. Only a registered Democrat would vote in a democrat primary.”

Several bills have been introduced this legislative session to close the primaries altogether in South Carolina. We’re working to uphold South Carolina’s current open primary system. We’ll keep you posted. 

WATCH: Legendary Journalist Chuck Todd Joins Our Primary Buzz Discussions Series 

Last week we welcomed legendary journalist Chuck Todd (who spent nearly 10 years as the moderator of NBC’s Meet The Press) onto our Primary Buzz Discussion Series to discuss where we go from here and what we do when people lose faith in our institutions.  

It was a terrific, thoughtful discussion and if you missed it, you can watch the FULL CONVERSATION HERE. Please share it with others–a great way to build this movement is by sharing these important conversations with new audiences. 

We discussed the connection between reforming our politics and restoring trust in a wide range of institutions. 

We can’t think of a more timely conversation.

Keep an eye out for our April Primary Buzz details coming soon! 

Have a great weekend,

The Open Primaries Team