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September 11, 2009

Senate District 31: Candidate Field Narrows to Pointless Primary

Tom Humphrey notes that two less well-known candidates have withdrawn from the state Senate District 31 primary elections.

Republican Brian Kelsey and Democrat Adrienne Pakis-Gillon have effectively won their respective party nominations in the special election in state Senate District 31 to replace former Republican Sen. Paul Stanley, who resigned in a sex scandal.

Kelsey is now a state representative with local name recognition - actually statewide recognition among political junkies, thanks to his inclination toward firebrand conservative efforts in the House - and is thus heavily favored in a district that leans strongly Republican.

But Democrats say there's a nucleus of party faithful folks in the district and that Pakis-Gillon has been a popular and personable activist who will motivate that core of Democrats to go to the polls.

If you guessed that the other two candidates—Democrat Bobby Baker and Republican Jim Harrell—didn't exactly wake up one morning and each decide to quit on his own, you're right. Party leaders persuaded them to step out of the way of the chosen nominees.

So why does there need to be a primary election now? This is a perfect example of an opportunity for reform in our state's election laws. Whenever a political party can determine on its own a nominee for a general election, whether through a democratic means like a convention, or through a (hey, at least I didn't say "strongarm") technique such as was employed above, then why go through a public-funded, pointless primary process?

Elections , State Senate Elections | By joe lance | 6:31 AM

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Comments

The more basic question is why is the State carrying out a party primary in the first place? Let the party (either Democrat or Republican) fund and run its own primaries, as they should. There's no reason for the public to pay for and run these things at all.

Posted by: mike hollihan at September 11, 2009 1:52 PM

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