By Scott Tibbs, April 21, 2011
The primary election is in 12 days and there is a hotly-contested contest for mayor on the Democratic side. Democratic incumbents face primary challenges in city council districts 1 and 6, while districts 3 and 5 have a number of Democrats running for open seats as Mike Satterfield and Isabel Piedmont have decided against running. The fifth district should be interesting as it is a five-way contest.
The Republican primary, meanwhile, is truly pathetic. There is a Republican candidate in district 1 (where I live) and there are two at-large candidates. No Republican has filed to run for mayor or city clerk, and no Republican has filed to run in districts 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
Because of this, there will be a significant temptation for Republicans to cross over and vote in the Democratic primary. I understand this temptation, because there is no real reason to vote in the GOP primary. Furthermore, some Republicans may be tempted to jump because a primary loss would be a significant setback for the Kruzan wing of the party.
This is not something I will be doing, and I do not support those who do. I already explained why I oppose crossover voting back in 2008, so I won't repeat the same reasoning. Suffice it to say that I believe Republicans and Democrats should stay in their own primaries instead of trying to monkeywrench the other party's nomination process.
