For far too long, Washingtonians have had their faces pressed up against the presidential-primary glass, watching all the cool kids in states like New Hampshire and Iowa and that Super Tuesday clique have all the nominating fun.
We need to join the fray in 2020.
It’s high time for the state to cast aside its tradition of holding its presidential primary on the fourth Tuesday in May and take the idea Secretary of State Kim Wyman has been advocating unceasingly — moving the primary to March.
That way, the state actually will have a say in selecting a nominee, rather than remaining an afterthought after scores of less-populated states hold considerably more sway simply by voting months earlier. Take the last presidential go-round in 2016. By the time Washington weighed in, Donald Trump had pretty much wrapped up the Republican nomination — heck, even John Kasich had dropped out by then.
The state Legislature needs to act fast to make the change as soon as it convenes for the coming session, because states need to firm up dates in 2019 so political parties can plan accordingly.
It’s far from a new plea; Wyman has been pushing for moving up the presidential primary since taking office. There’s more urgency now, because our hugely populated neighbor to the south, California, has already pulled the trigger and bumped its primary up to March’s “Super Tuesday.” Word is, Oregon, too, is thinking about moving up its primary from May to March.
Candidates will flock to California for its scores of delegates — not to mention its deep-pocketed donors — and Washington needs to piggyback on that. We are, after all, the 13th most populous state, nothing to sneeze at, and we have more than our share of techie billionaires.
Why is it important Washington becomes a primary player?
It’s not just a vanity thing, a point of pride. Attracting presidential candidates to Washington’s many fine coffee shops and diners and meeting halls to press the flesh will bring issues important to the state (everything from the cleanup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation to forest management to the plight of the orcas) to national attention. And another thing: A primary that really matters will lead to greater voter turnout, always a benefit.
A March primary featuring a bevy of Western states — Wyman has called it the “Pac-12” — also might help showcase candidates from the West. Gov. Jay Inslee is exploring a Democratic run, as is California Sen. Kamala Harris and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley.
To those, nationally, who fear that more populous Western states voting earlier will dilute the traditional influence of New Hampshire and Iowa, well, too bad. But then, a Democratic strategist in Iowa, Jeff Link, recently told Reuters that California’s earlier primary will actually make those small states more relevant, since Californians will “be looking to identify front-runners” in what’s expected to be a crowded field.
Perhaps if the Legislature can be convinced to move up the presidential primary date, state Democrats will then wise up and finally put to sleep its caucus system of selecting a candidate — clearly a relic from another time – and use the popular vote to select a candidate, as state Republicans do. The caucus format — neighbors gathering in precincts to hash out a consensus — may have worked in agrarian times, but too many voters are left out these days.
If greater participation is the goal, as it should be, then Washington Democratic leaders should look at the numbers. About 230,000 people attended Democratic caucuses in March of 2016; 800,000 filling out ballots for the later primary, which was non-binding. Imagine the turnout had the primary meant something for the Democratic nomination.
The state spent $12 million in 2016 to hold a presidential primary that, in the grand scheme of things, meant little. It will spend at least that much in 2020. Let’s make it count for once.
• Members of the Yakima Herald-Republic editorial board are Bob Crider and Sam McManis.
