We all know that primary elections are where political parties nominate their candidates for office. What we may not have focused on is that in New York State, in 2018, there will be two primary elections: the primary for federal office is June 26th; the primary for state offices is scheduled for September 13th.
Technically, both primaries could have been held on the same date which would have saved money for the County Board of Elections. But, this is New York State where the “deep thinkers” in Albany figured that a late primary was probably better for incumbents since there would be fewer intervening weeks between the primary election and the general election in November. (That means also fewer weeks to raise money and energize an opposing campaign.)
However, as things are stacking up, all of this strategizing could have been for naught. The Governor has now gotten himself into a rambunctious primary election fight with another Democrat from New York City who is coming at him from the left. At least part of her reason for running is that the Governor has gone out of his way to make life difficult for her good friend and fellow Democrat, the Mayor of the City of New York. To make things even murkier, a candidate has emerged from Brooklyn to run against the incumbent Lieutenant Governor who is from Buffalo. (This is no small matter since there are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.)
There are more registered Democrats in Brooklyn than in all of the counties of Western New York combined.
Coming out of all of this brouhaha will undoubtedly be petition challenges trying to get candidates knocked off the primary ballot. The Governor with strong support from the Party and the public employee unions will probably have his way at the Democratic Convention. This will likely result in some of the significant political battles being shifted to the courts where the legitimacy and validity of petition signatures will become the issue.
The Republicans, who are now an “endangered species” in New York State, are, of course, cheering all of this on. (There are 2 million more Democrats than Republicans in the State.) For them, there is nothing better than the Democrats having a big scrap and beating up on each other right before the general election. Though a minority with their own differences, the Republicans seem to have avoided a primary fight and appear to have coalesced their support around the County Executive of Dutchess County as their candidate for Governor.
Getting lost in all of this political cacophony is the importance of the federal primary set for June 26. In Chautauqua County, five Democrats are vying for the nomination to run for Congress. (The incumbent is a Republican and there is no Republican Primary for this position.)
There is usually a low turn-out in primary elections. It is unclear if the different dates between federal and state primaries in New York State will sow confusion and lower the turn-out further, or if it will “stir up the troops” and increase voter participation. In any event, 2018 is turning out to be a very interesting political year in New York State and Democratic voters, in particular, will be having multiple opportunities to voice their opinions at the polls.
Rolland Kidder
Stow, NY
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