Taking a Stand: What’s the use of running twice?
Is it really worth it? Is it really worth putting yourself through two elections in one season just to qualify as the Democratic nominee in a local election when you could simply run as an independent?
Personally, I’ve never seen the fiscal benefit of having a Democratic Primary for local elections, since the primary was put into affect just over 10 years ago. We’re basically paying for an elimination election to trim the field of those who want to seek office under the Democratic logo since there’s no local Republican Primary.
For many years, the idea of a Republican Primary was not realistic since the GOP didn’t really have much stroke around here and running under the Republican label would just be an albatross around a candidate’s political neck. However, in recent years, things have changed as the Republican Party has picked up steam and, while not on equal footing with Democrats here yet, a local Republican candidate wouldn’t be committing political suicide by qualifying under the GOP logo. In fact, it would be interesting to see how such a candidate would fare in a local election given the new-found respect the local party has gained.
For now, we have just one local primary, that being the Democratic Primary. Besides giving its candidates the benefit of receiving yellow dog Democratic votes, meaning the votes of people who vote Democrat no matter who is the candidate, its proponents say it helps reduce the number of candidates appearing on the general election ballot.
However, a quick look at the field this year shows me many candidates have gotten wise to the system. Of the 59 Warren County Commission candidates on the ballot, 30, or one more than half, are qualified as independents.
In only four of the 12 County Commission districts will the Democratic Primary have any affect as an eliminator as six districts have only two Democrats running, both of whom will qualify automatically. The 6th District has no Democrats at all.
What this is telling me is many candidates believe it isn’t worth competing in two elections just to run under the Democratic logo. After all, to compete as a Democrat you have to get your campaign into gear earlier, and then, if you advance, you have to crank it up again against a new field of candidates. This requires both more time and more money. And, in the case of county commissioners, we’re talking about earning $260 per month, not a fat salary like a congressman will make.
Now before you claim these candidates are competing as Democrats due to party loyalty, let me say this is a small town, and in scanning the ballot, I see more than a handful of Democratic hopefuls I know who are no more a Democrat than I am.
And what about the people who vote in the primary? Come on, anybody who wants to vote can, regardless of party. I vote in the Democratic Primary but I don’t personally identify with the party, although I occasionally will vote for a Democrat in a general election if I feel they are the best candidates.
However, it is apparent the local Democratic Primary has become a permanent $20,000 expenditure in our election budgets. That is, unless there comes a day when seeking office as a Democrat is no longer an advantage at the polls.
This year may tell the tale as there are 13 incumbent Democrats running for commission seats and just six independents. If we see a big move in the party makeup of the commission, toward that of independents, it could prove to be the beginning of the end of the local primary. If there is no advantage, then there’s no reason for a candidate to run in two elections.
(Duane Sherrill is crime and court reporter for the Standard. He can be reached at 473-2191 or by e-mail at [email protected].)