Category Archives: primaries

WaPo editorial:

MORE THAN a quarter of Virginia’s electorate considers itself Republican, which translates to almost 1 million voters. Of that number, about 8,000 — less than 1 percent — showed up at the party’s convention in Richmond over the weekend to choose the GOP candidates in this November’s races for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

That, in addition to the party’s overall rightward tilt, helps explain how, in one of the nation’s most centrist states, Republicans came to choose a slate of hard-right conservatives.

Verrrrrry interesting:

The fallout in the consulting world from two obscure local races continues to reverberate in the Golden State political world. At issue is the involvement of Democratic consultants in two 2012 Democrat-vs.-Democrat California Assembly general-election campaigns.

Two union-backed Democratic incumbents lost re-election to Democratic challengers who were supported by business groups that sent out anti-union mail. Irate union groups and high-level California Democrats began to look into who was behind the mailers.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Steve Glazer, a 2010 campaign aide to Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, was involved in the anti-incumbent efforts as a consultant to the state Chamber of Commerce.

In March, CQ Roll Call first reported that this digging resulted in the breakup of the Mack|Crounse Group, a nationally prominent Democratic direct mail firm.

In an email to the Bee, Glazer defended his participation in the effort, further exhibiting the new world order of California politics.

“The party and labor used to hand pick candidates,” Dan Morain of The Bee writes. “The top-two primary system alters that equation.”

Miami Herald: “U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio persuaded state lawmakers to make a last-minute change eliminating Florida’s early presidential primary – a race in which the Republican could be on the ballot.”

See here.

Nathan Yu has this blog post at State of Elections.

Iowa governor wants to kill the Ames straw poll.

Here.

Important SacBee report.

NYT reports.

Bloomberg reports.

NYT’s “The Caucus” blog: ” Mitt Romney’s supporters passed new rules governing future primaries over the loud boos of Ron Paul supporters and other conservative activists who had objected to what they said was a power grab by the party’s establishment leaders.”

Don’t miss the picture accompanying the article.

ABC News: “A compromise on Republican Party rules will likely prevent a convention floor fight on Tuesday. Republican National Committeeman James Bopp, who had led a movement to oppose a new delegate rule on the convention floor, confirms to ABC News that he has agreed to a deal on compromise language.”

BLT: “Patton Boggs partner Benjamin Ginsberg is facing a growing storm of criticism from Republican delegates who say he pushed through a rules change that would help Mitt Romney if the presumptive GOP nominee ousts President Barack Obama and seeks reelection.”

Fascinating Buzzfeed report,which begins: “Frustration over changes to the Republican Party’s rules pushed through by the Romney Campaign on Friday may lead to a fight on the floor of the Republican National Convention on Monday. The Convention Committee on Rules took a number of steps on Friday to weaken the power of state conventions and state parties, while consolidating the power of presidential candidates in the nominating process. Some of the changes — to require that delegations from statewide caucuses and primaries to the convention adhere to the will of voters — weakened the hand of insurgent-type candidates but have been well received by the committee. But a change allowing presidential candidates the right to vet their own delegates to the national convention has many state party officials up in arms — and they are planning to bring it to the convention floor.”

More from the Washington Times.

(h/t Rob Richie)

The latest from Arizona.

Interesting NYT analysis.

See How California’s Top-Two Open Primary Shrinks Voter Choice in Congressional Races in November and Independent and Minor Party Candidates Fare Poorly in California Top-Two Open Primary.

NYT: “This year will be the first test of a new kind of election aimed at breaking the partisan gridlock that has seized Congress and state legislatures all over the country. When the change was presented to California voters by a ballot initiative in 2010, advocates said it would usher in a new era that embraced politicians who would be more pragmatic than ideological.”

From the new PPIC poll:

Independents More Likely To Support Top-two Primary

Californians will experience a big change this primary election with the advent of the top-two system, approved by voters in 2010. All voters now get a single ballot listing every candidate for their legislative and congressional districts. The two candidates receiving the most votes—regardless of party—will advance to the general election. Asked today about the top-two system, a plurality of likely voters (43%) say it is a good thing for California elections, while 22 percent see it as a bad thing and 27 percent say it makes no difference.

Proponents of this primary reform have argued that it will pave the way for more moderate and independent candidates to succeed. Today, independents are more likely to say the new system is a good thing (49%) than Democrats (43%) or Republicans (39%) are. And while 67 percent of likely voters view the top-two primary as at least somewhat important, independents (41%) are more likely than Republicans (31%) or Democrats (32%) to say it is very important.

The presidential nominating process and the national party conventions, 2012: Frequently asked questions (May 14)