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Friday, November 5, 2004
Limiting Libertarians
Of the nearly 60 percent of voters who approved the passage of Initiative 872 -- the "top-two" primary election -- many surely had it in mind to "stick it" to the political parties.
But one of the state's three major parties -- the Republican Party -- might well have been more successful in this general election had the top-two primary been in effect. That's because it would have eliminated another party's candidates -- Libertarian -- from the general election ballot.
In the governor's race, and in two hotly contested legislative races, the presence of Libertarians on the Nov. 2 ballot may have hurt Republicans.
Not all those Libertarian votes would have gone to Republican candidates. Indeed, some of those votes wouldn't have been cast had there not been a Libertarian recipient, but these voters' leaning is arguably more Republican than Democrat.
Had Libertarian Ruth Bennett's roughly 2 percent of the vote gone to Dino Rossi, it would have made him the clear winner. About 2.5 percent of the vote went to Libertarians in each of the two 26th District House races, and Democrats are headed toward victories of less than 1 percent. Libertarian votes could've made the difference for Republicans in those two seats.
Forget Ralph Nader. The top-two effect of bumping third-party candidates off the November ballots may have far more impact.
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