ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, June 20, 1996 TAG: 9606200041
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: Ray L. Garland
SOURCE: RAY L. GARLAND
JOHN WARNER'S impressive victory in a Republican primary that attracted almost a half-million voters raises the question: Should state law require the political parties to open their nominations more often to the general public?
Existing law allows incumbent members of the General Assembly to choose the method of nomination for the office they hold, whether by primary or convention. This is a device of self-protection legislators have granted themselves, but not to others.
For all other state, local and federal offices, the political parties may choose the method of nomination - except in those instances where an incumbent was previously nominated by primary. This is the provision of state law that assured John Warner a primary in 1996. He had persuaded a doubting GOP state central committee to grant him a primary in 1990, which he won by default. Once nominated by primary, an incumbent has a perpetual right to a primary unless he waives it.
The existing state standard for qualifying a candidate in a primary, while fairly high, is not unreasonable. The state has a legitimate interest in discouraging frivolous candidates. In a primary for statewide office, candidates must have petitions signed by one-half of 1 percent of all registered voters, and not less than 200 in every congressional district. Under this provision, Warner and Jim Miller had to submit petitions containing the signatures of at least 16,000 voters, which is a task far from easy to accomplish. Candidates nominated by convention do not need petitions.
It was always my view that John Warner could have won renomination in a GOP state convention. But he would have had to mobilize business leaders in the larger cities and counties to recruit delegates from among their friends and associates. Compared to a bruising battle in more than 125 local mass meetings, the primary was the easier and cleaner way. It's also hard to argue with the popular assumption this primary produced the party's strongest candidate.
But the general-election test of candidates nominated by primary vs. convention is decidedly mixed. Democrats began avoiding primaries after their bloody affair of 1969 was seen as helping to elect the state's first Republican governor this century. Only once since then - in 1977 - have Democrats nominated their candidate for governor by primary. And the 1977 primary, which saw an upset victory by populist firebrand Henry Howell, is also credited with electing another Republican governor.
After that experience, Democrats settled on a rather brutal method of choosing delegates to their state conventions. Unlike Republicans, who spread their mass meetings over several weeks, Democrats choose their convention delegates on two days only. Whatever you think of the arrangement, it seems to have produced more winners than losers. From 1978 through 1993, Democrats nominated 16 statewide candidates by convention and elected 11 of them.
The Republican record is less impressive. If you count as a win the substitution of John Warner in 1978 after convention nominee Richard Obenshain was killed in a plane crash, the GOP has elected only five of its 14 candidates nominated by convention.
Faced with three strong candidates for governor in 1989, the GOP did opt for a primary. But the winner of that primary, Marshall Coleman, lost a close election to Douglas Wilder. The conventional wisdom has been that former Sen. Paul Trible was the party's strongest candidate for governor in 1989 and would have been nominated in a convention.
There are some other obvious problems with primaries. First, Virginians do not register by party. There is legitimate concern in both parties about opening their nominating process to those who have no abiding loyalty to the party - or who may actually be trying to sabotage it by voting for the worst candidate.
The second problem is more immediately apparent: the role of money in politics, or the lack thereof. In the two most recent statewide primaries, the incumbent U.S. senators enjoyed such a tremendous advantage in campaign funds as to make their challengers' task all but impossible. In that sense, conventions are not only cheaper but more democratic.
The third problem with primaries is that taxpayers must pay to open the polls, which costs about $500,000. This is clearly justified when the turnout is good, but hard to justify when the public isn't very interested and the candidates have neither the money nor the political sex appeal to excite that interest.
To the extent either party has a problem with its nominating process, it's the GOP. Many claim the party's conservative wing has the clout to nominate candidates, like Oliver North, who might not win a primary. But who seriously believes North wouldn't have won a GOP primary in 1994?
There are, of course, good arguments in favor of a primary. Even in a low turnout, far more voters have had a say than would show up at a convention. And, in terms purely political, primary winners have already organized for an election and honed their message for a broader electorate.
The new GOP state chairman, Del. Randy Forbes of Chesapeake, will shortly name a committee to study all aspects of the party's nominating process. He knows Republicans have left some likely victories on the floor at divisive conventions but isn't convinced more frequent primaries are the answer.
In an ideal world, a candidate desiring a primary should be able to obtain one. But it shouldn't be particularly easy. Perhaps the proper test is the same one-half of 1 percent of voters now required to be listed on a primary ballot. That is, if a candidate is able to present petitions containing the signatures of so many voters asking for a primary, there ought to be a way to get one. But it isn't likely to happen. Perhaps the best we can hope for is to make it easier for people to register their will in conventions, as Forbes hopes to do.
Ray L. Garland is a Roanoke Times columnist.
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