November 04, 2003
NYC Rejects Ending Party Primaries
By Byron LaMasters
This is good news. New York City overwhelmingly rejected ending party primaries. Thats a good thing. Democrats control the NYC city council by a 47-3 margin (or something like that). While I'm not a big fan of partisan city elections, they're somewhat inevitable whether or not the "D" or the "R" is attached to the candidates names at the voting booth (just look at the Houston mayoral / city council elections for example) . In a heavily Democratic city (like NYC) I support partisan elections because a Democratic primary will most likely produce a more liberal nominee than a nonpartisan primary would. Thus, I like the current system. So do most New Yorkers. Good for them - and a nice slap in the face for Mayor Bloomberg at that.
Posted by Byron LaMasters at November 4, 2003 11:46 PM
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A friend in NYC reports that the elimination of party primaries was seen as a move which might help Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Since Bloomberg is not particularly popular, few wanted to give him an advantage when he seeks re-election in 2005.
On the other hand, Chicago did away with municipal party primaries earlier in the administration of incumbent Mayor Richard M. Daley. The change attracted relatively little opposition because it was seen as a way of facilitating Daley's re-election.
