If you voted In the 2014 PrImary, you may have noticed a significant shift in your ballot this year. For Democrats, the ballot was bare and featured only one contested race
for a constitutional office. Local and judicial races notwithstanding, Democrats had very little reason to turn out to vote.
Republican voters, however, had plenty of reason.
With vigorously contested races in five of the seven constitutional offices, two of the four congressional districts and more than 20 state legislative primaries, one would think this primary election would have served as a grand kickoff to a banner year for Republican politics in the state. Yet, results are showing this year’s primary is most likely going to snag the record for lowest midterm voter turnout in the history of our state.
There are 1,624,186 registered voters in the state of Arkansas, and of that number only 336,044 ballots were cast in the 2014 preferential primary. That’s about 20.69 percent — which is less than the number of people who voted in the 2006 primary (21.71 percent).
While it’s true that more voters turned out for the Republican primary than the Democratic primary, the total numbers on both sides were surprisingly close. Therefore, based on the numbers we know, the GOP would do well to refrain from making any presumptive claims of sweeps in the fall. Tuesday’s results have just reinforced that voter turnout in a primary does not serve as an indicator of what’s to come on Election Day in November. Also, let’s not forget that many Democratic voters around the state elected to vote in the most recent GOP primary in hopes of placing more vulnerable conservative candidates on the ballot in the fall.
Also worth noting is the impact of the private option on GOP candidates across the state, as the expansion of health coverage and its effect on voters
“Tuesday’s results have just reinforced that voter turnout in a primary does not serve as an indicator of what’s to come on Election Day in November.”
was not universal across the state. While Sen. Bruce Holland did lose the nomination for a state Senate seat to staunch anti-Obamacare Rep. Terry Rice, and while Rep. John Burris (who is largely considered one of the architects of the private option) has found himself in a runoff for a position in the state Senate, Sens. Missy Irvin and Bill Sample won their re-election bids after having supported the expansion of Medicaid.
As we all know, elections have consequences and, by that same token, so does ideology. While politics is often viewed through an “us versus them” lens, we’d all do well to take a moment and back away from our partisan periscopes to see just how much trouble we may be facing now that the primaries are over. Any common-sense Democrat should know by now that when moderate Republican leadership in our state government is replaced by more extreme testaments to the most right-wing faction of the Re- publican Party, we all suffer.
The people of our state are best served by those who understand the value of compromise, and if we do not maintain an atmosphere where negotiation is possible, then we will quickly find ourselves unable to pass legislation that keeps our state moving forward.
Jessica DeLoach Sabin appears on the show Political Plays on KARK on Friday mornings.