Republicans will choose their U.S. Senate candidate via a convention, thus handing the nomination to Gilmore.
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Open source, procurement, and gov tech.
Republicans will choose their U.S. Senate candidate via a convention, thus handing the nomination to Gilmore.
Comments are closed.
Can Democrats, Independents, etc. vote in a GOP primary in VA or is it closed to just party members?
I’m just guessing here, but since voters in Virginia do not declare any party affiliation when they register to vote, I assume that any registered voter can vote in any primary in Virginia.
Anybody can vote in a primary, though there was a VA court decision a couple of weeks ago — I keep forgetting to write about it — that held that parties may close their primaries through the use of loyalty pledges, requirements for past voting behavior, etc. Parties are forever convinced that their outcomes are being sullied by crossover voting, which is possible in teeny tiny elections. But ain’t no way that a statewide primary is going to be affected by that sort of thing.
Why not? Reason would suggest that party faithful would turn out in droves to cross over if they didn’t have a primary of their own to vote in. The size of the election only makes the voter pool larger; the ratio of “real” voters to crossovers wouldn’t necessarily change.
I, for one, think that voting in another party’s primary is just fine. Given how badly districts are gerrymandered, a primary may be the only chance some voters have to influence who is representing them. Of course the solution to this issue would be a nonpartisan method for drawing districts but I don’t see that happening anytime soon (although I hope I am wrong). Given the competitive nature of statewide elections in Virginia I guess closing primaries for statewide offices could be justified. However, in gerrymandered legislative districts and in other uncompetitive states, my point still stands.
Yeah, because people are just clamoring to vote these days.
From the GOP standpoint, isn’t letting Gilmore have a go at it the smartest move? You’re gonna lose to M. Warner anyway, so why not hang onto Davis’s congressional district and save the rest of your guys for the governor’s race and maybe a shot at Webb’s Senate seat down the road? It’s the least bad choice right now.
I Publius,
In theory, yes. In practice, no. This is something that people always talk about but it never actually happens. Most Republicans would not feel comfortable walking into a Democratic party event and doing something that effectively identifies them as a Democrat. And vice-versa. It never amounts to more than a handful of spoilers either way.
Judge Smails,
I agree completely. Well, almost completely. Gilmore is going to end up embarrassing the GOP and could be a drag on down-ticket races. You’re right that they are better off with Davis holding on to that seat in the House but I think they’d be better with some random yet competent and dignified State Senator carrying the banner in the race against Warner. Not that this is something to be decided in such terms. There is no all-powerful person in the party who gets to decide this stuff logically and unilaterally.
Republicans aren’t worried about Dem cross-overs, they’re worried about theAlabaman vote. Better to schedule a hoe-down and call the steps.
Oh goody. More NOVA ~vs~ ROVA rhetoric from Tom Davis.
Y’all come back now, y’hear?
This is a great point. It would be wise of Republicans to view this seat as Democrats viewed Allen’s in late 2005 / early 2006: we’re not going to win it, but we’ve got to run somebody. Much as Webb defeated the supposedly unsinkable George Allen, I suspect it’s likewise plausible (but enormously unlikely) that Warner could be defeated. But rather than blow a House seat, better to get somebody like Gilmore to do it.