Saturday, January 21, 2017

Bill Crawford: Ponder the Primaries

Meridian Republican Representative Steve Horne has introduced House Bill 305 to abolish party primaries for state and local elections.

Meridian Republican Representative Greg Snowden has introduced House Bill 496 to require party primaries for state and local judicial elections.

Hmmm.


Horne’s bill was referred by Speaker of the House Philip Gunn to the Apportionment and Elections Committee. Snowden’s bill was referred by Gunn to the Judiciary A Committee.

Hmmm.

Horne’s bill would put Mississippi elections in a similar posture to Louisiana’s. Instead of party primaries, there would be a preference primary held three weeks before each general election. Candidates could still qualify with their party of choice or as independents, but all candidates would compete in the preference primary. Any candidate getting a majority would be placed on the general election ballot without opposition. When no candidate gets a majority, the top two would run-off in the general election.

Snowden’s bill would remove judicial elections from their current non-partisan status. Parties would hold regular primaries to choose their nominees. Primary winners and (maybe) independents would run in winner-take-all general elections like all other officeholders currently do. (“Maybe” independents because Snowden’s bill as written says “Candidates for judicial office shall be selected through nominations made by the different parties of this state at primary elections.”)

Given the hyper-partisanship dominating Mississippi politics, Horne’s bill probably doesn’t have much chance. So the Speaker likely sent it to the Apportionment and Elections Committee to die, like his similar bill last year. For the same reason, though, he sent Snowden’s bill to the Judiciary A Committee where it might pass. It didn’t. The committee tabled the bill on a voice vote.

While Snowden’s bill might make sense from a hyper-partisan perspective, it’s not as sensible from a fiscally conservative point of view.

You see, elections cost money, lots of money. Right now there’s the first primary, the run-off primary, and the general election. Under Horne’s bill there would be only the preference election and the general election. Over time, eliminating extra elections would save wads of taxpayer dollars. This would be especially good for many small towns and counties.

Fewer elections covering shorter periods of time would also save candidates and their supporters wads of campaign money.

Indeed, a true fiscal conservative would argue that parties, not taxpayers, should pay for their primary elections anyway.

Snowden didn’t address election costs, but told the Clarion-Ledger his bill would raise the profile of judicial elections and level the field. He argued that because they now run only in the general election in November, judicial candidates face a potential runoff around Thanksgiving. “No one wants to come out and vote during the Thanksgiving week,” he said.

Hmmm.

A useful compromise might be to apply Horne’s approach to judicial and municipal elections but leave all else the same. It would accomplish Snowden’s goal to make judicial elections partisan but also Horne’s goal to save money on elections.

Crawford is a syndicated columnist from Meridian (crawfolk@gmail.com)

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Given the hyper-partisanship dominating Mississippi politics ...

99.9999% pure unadulterated hyperbole.

Anonymous said...

10:33 Hyperbole? Legislative repubs' first act when the 2016 session began was to divide up the vote toteboard in the House by "D" and "R."

Anonymous said...

House Apportionment and Elections has 10 Republicans and 7 Democrats. A couple of the Republicans on this committee stray from the party line on some votes. House Judiciary A has 14 Republicans and 11 Democrats. A couple of the Republicans on this committee stray from the party line on some votes. If the Speaker of the House wanted to ram the bill through committee without potential opposition, he could have sent it to the Rules Committee where Republicans outnumber Democrats 9 to 2.

More Popcorn Please... said...

3:48...You're confusing the writer with alternatives to his narrative. You should never do that with an opinionated reporter.

Anonymous said...

Boy;;;;; talk about a waste of money. And we wonder why the state is always broke; or so they say.

Anonymous said...

there is nothing fiscally responsible about Mississippi's judicial branch of government. We have the most Supreme Court justices of any state in the country. We have a court of appeals, which is even bigger than the Supreme Court. We have circuit judges. And chancery court judges. And county court judges. And justice court judges. And municipal court judges. And youth court referees. And special masters. And special judges. We have drug courts. And now we may add mental health courts.

Partisan judicial elections are fitting. Why not make the elections for these judicial positions as inefficient as the actual judicial positions?

Anonymous said...

Not everything is about money.
The judiciary should be about the balance of power and the rule of law. Justice is supposed to be blind and balanced. We can hardly hold corrupt politicians accountable if a judge is biased and afraid he won't be re-elected if the party isn't happy with his rulings. We should want legal scholars on the bench, not party hacks if we are interested in equal treatment before the law.
The other bill is equally biased in favor of one party rule. At best,it becomes a popularity contest about name recognition and not about issues and at worst , it fosters consolidation of power.
While 10:08 pm may have a point about the structure, this bill doesn't address structure. And, in changing structure, the need for justice to be swift matters if you are an abused child or someone who has to pay legal fees to obtain justice. "Justice delayed is justice denied" is not just an old saying.


Anonymous said...

6:49, why would a judge be afraid they would not get elected again if they locked up criminals? The only reason I can think of is the citizens who elect the judges are majority criminals.

Anonymous said...

10:22 am I suspect that many citizens don't know what the case facts were when the criminal got " off" or know whether it was the judge, the prosecutor or police or the jury or a combination of those factors.
If it was the any of those , you can't ignore that when you politicize the judicial system and when you've created a climate where justice has been about race for a long, long time, bad things happen. Or have you forgotten when white murderers walked and innocent blacks who wanted equal treatment were jailed?
Add that political corruption has been a pattern in this state for a long time and I don't know why you are surprised that the black community learned that corruption works.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but no one should be surprised that you reap what you sow .



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If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

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