If the Tennessee Republican Party has its way, primary election voting in the state will be by party registration only.
We think most assuredly that is not the way to go, and we hope a bill to update state election law and enact such a provision installing closed primaries will not see the light of day in next year’s General Assembly.
Indeed, we feel the state’s open primary has made it easier for the Republican Party to become dominant. As the state Democratic Party moved politically further and further away from most Tennessee voters, the open primary allowed disaffected Democrats to vote in the primary for a Republican candidate who most closely represented their views when the candidate in their party of choice no longer did.
Eventually, many of those voters became loyal Republicans. Today, the party holds super majorities in the state House and state Senate, the governor’s office, seven of the state’s nine congressional seats and its two U.S. Senate seats.
Last Saturday, the Tennessee Republican Party’s State Executive Committee approved three resolutions it hopes the legislature will take up. One of those was this: “This resolution asks the 111th General Assembly to include a question regarding political party affiliation on Tennessee voter registration forms as well as requiring party registration in order to vote in a party’s primary election.”