This weekend in San Antonio, significant decisions are anticipated, some of which may have implications for next year’s elections, necessitating individuals to register their political party affiliation with the state.
At the Republican state convention, thousands of delegates will consider recommending the “closing” of the Republican primary election, allowing only registered Republican party members to participate in selecting nominees for offices.
On Thursday, over 4,000 delegates convened at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in downtown San Antonio. Many delegates, when interviewed by NBC 5, expressed support for this proposal.
“I am in favor of closing the primary to only Republicans,” stated Betty Cardenas, a delegate from Lubbock.
Currently, Texas operates under an “open primary” system, where voters are not required to declare their political affiliation with the state or government. Registered voters can choose which primary to participate in on election day. According to Derek Ryan, a GOP data and voter analyst, approximately 4%, or around 100,000 Republican primary voters, have voted in the Democratic primary in the past.
In non-competitive areas, it is common for the minority party to strategically vote for the “least bad” candidate from their perspective.
Many other states have a closed primary system.
“The Republican Party is a private party. We believe we have the right as a party to do that,” asserted Brady Gray, a delegate from Parker County and the local GOP chair.
Gray, representing his area on the party’s legislative priority committee, is involved in formulating recommendations for lawmakers to implement in January.
Closing the primaries would effectively exclude independent voters from the process until the November general election, requiring them to register for one of the major parties, Gray explained.
“I think you have to declare. If you live in a county where there are no independents running, you’re going to have to pick a side,” Gray remarked.
In Texas, most races in the general election are not competitive, and decisions regarding winners are typically made in the primary election by a small number of total voters.
“It all depends on how it all comes out. I’ve seen pros and cons both ways,” remarked James Dickey, a delegate to the convention and the former party chair. Dickey stated that he has not yet made up his mind on the issue because closing the primary would also impact Republicans in heavily Democratic areas, such as Travis County, where he resides.
“If the state implements a closed primary, Republicans won’t have much of a say,” Dickey noted.
The decisions made by the delegates are likely to face legal challenges, but the proposal may become law when legislators reconvene in Austin early next year for the legislative session.
