Wednesday, June 29, 2022 | 2 a.m.
Primaries in Nevada are the way political parties choose who they are going to sponsor for election. It is hypocritical to refuse to join a party, but insist on having a voice in whom a party is going to provide financial and organizational support.
Open primaries are not primaries, they are round one of an election. We have that here already with our nonpartisan elections. Win 50.1% in the first round, in what we call the primary, and you win, no contest in November — or else the two strongest face off. But these candidates run without the benefits and detriments of political party support.
Anyone is free to join and resign from a party at will, and as often as they like. Especially considering the state of both parties in Nevada, no one pledges fealty to anyone or apparently much of anything. People can and do join the opposition party to choose a weaker candidate, but they at least join.
But as long as we have a system where parties organize to offer a candidate for office, that party has the right to select its candidate without the input of those who, due to indifference or principle, choose to not join.
