The case for an open primary

Doug Bates, The Oregonian By Doug Bates, The Oregonian
on August 20, 2008 at 2:30 PM, updated August 20, 2008 at 3:32 PM

Here's an interesting parlor game for a rainy August evening: Which of Oregon's last three Republican governors could get elected today?

Gov. Tom McCall (left) and Secretary of State Clay Myers in a photo related to Oregon's Bottle Bill circa 1971.

Our best guess is that none of them could. Mark Hatfield, Tom McCall and Vic Atiyeh were outstanding governors, arguably among the best in Oregon history, yet all three of them would have a devilishly hard time winning a GOP primary today -- winning, that is, without swinging so far to the right that they would no longer be the successful moderate leaders they were.

Measure 65, the "open primary" initiative on Oregon's November ballot, would help change that. It would allow voters to vote for the primary election candidates they prefer, regardless of party affiliation -- a system that got a good test run in Washington state's first "top two" primary Tuesday.

Under Washington's new format, which closely mirrors the one proposed in Oregon, the top two vote-getters in each partisan race win places on the general election ballot. That means voters in heavily Republican legislative districts might well send two GOP candidates, and no Democrats, to the fall ballot, while the reverse could be true in heavily Democratic districts.

And guess what? That's exactly what happened in a handful of Washington legislative districts Tuesday.

Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed views that as a good thing, and so do we. Voters have more power when they have the right to cross partisan lines and cast their ballots for the person, not the party.

That's the only way a Tom McCall could win a Republican primary in Oregon today. The state's GOP has moved so far to the hard right that a moderate like McCall would be targeted as a "RINO" -- Republican In Name Only. But if Democrats, independents and minor party candidates could vote for whoever they prefer, regardless of party, McCall could stand a good chance of advancing.

The reverse is true with Democrats. If Oregon Republicans, independents and minor party voters could cross party lines in primary elections, more moderate Democrats would tend to be nominated.

Party leaders abhor this idea, but Washington state voters clearly love it. They voted overwhelmingly to adopt the system, and in Tuesday's otherwise ho-hum primary they turned out by the biggest percentage since 1972 when the electorate was enflamed over the Vietnam War.

Washington's new primary is essentially more democratic than the old pick-a-party system, because it means the parties no longer automatically own the runoff positions. That's a form of voter empowerment that Oregonians should adopt come November.

--Bob Caldwell, editorial page editor;