White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Latimer: We Need June Primaries.

WPCNR MR. & MRS. & MS. WHITE PLAINS VOICE. September 16, 2006: Assemblyman George Latimer of White Plains neighboring Assembly District, makes this observation:

Another primary season has come and gone - and it appears almost as a passage in the night. People were on vacation for Labor Day weekend, the last weekend of the summer. Students went off to college, smaller kids went back to school. Communities took full measure of the moment to remember those lost on 9/11. Our attention was directed in so many different pursuits. And over 80% of us, registered Republicans and Democrats alike failed to make it to the polls for the primary on September 12th.

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Was it the importance of the posts contested? Hardly. Republican voters selected their candidate for the U.S. Senate, and for Congress in central Westchester, and their Assemblyman in the northern tier of the county. Democrats chose their candidates for Governor, U.S. Senator, Attorney General, Congress in two of the three districts, State Senate in Mt. Vernon. These are all important, impactful posts - candidates chosen by a fraction of the electorate.

There are many reasons for poor voter turnout, but for my purposes here I choose to select the one that matters most on Primary Day: holding primary elections in September. They should be held in June.

As noted, the first two weeks of September are the time when people shift back from summertime mode to "normal" work and school mode. It is unrealistic to expect a significant portion of our people to focus on the critical choices at hand. Unless you're an incumbent politician - because September primaries are, at their core, an Incumbent Protection Plan.

The name recognition of incumbents - their governmental mailings, not to mention the fund-raising advantage and campaign mailings - dwarf what most challengers can match. Late primaries allow precious little time for the primary challenger or the general election challenger of the opposite party to mount a credible campaign. Excepting cases of immense personal wealth, scandal or the rare overarching public issue, incumbents at every level benefit from the September primary date where they have over their primary challenger or their general election opponent, a significant advantage.

Placing primaries back in June - as was once New York's custom - allows for a primary campaign conducted during the months of April and May, where good weather prevails, schools are in session, and people are more engaged in normal day-to-day living. Resolving the primaries in mid-June allow for each party's nominees to plan their best campaign for the fall on a more equal basis. And the provisions that generally stop the use of public funded mailings and literature 60 days before Primary Day will then kick in earlier - by mid-April - creating a more level playing field for the competition ahead.

During my career in City and County government, I have had the opportunity to craft provisions to improve public notice, place public sessions on cable TV, allow for night-time meetings where citizens can attend, and other open government initiatives. I firmly believe re-establishing the June primary date will increase primary voter participation, and allow for a more competitive general election campaign to follow.

The challenge is getting incumbents, who benefit from the status quo, to agree to give up their September benefit.

George Latimer
Assemblyman, 91st A.D.
777-3832


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