31 May 2014

Expect heavy Democratic crossover voting in Tuesday’s primary

Expect to see abnormally low turnouts in Tuesday’s Democrat primaries in districts where (a) hard right Republicans are running against self-described responsible Republicans, and (b) there’s no Democratic primary and/or weak Democratic candidates who have little or no chance of winning in November.

That’s because there are organized efforts by Montanans who usually vote for Democrats to encourage Democrats to cross over to the Republican primary — crossing over is legal and sometimes morally imperative — and voting for the more moderate candidate. I know of at least two county level efforts, and yesterday Mike Dennison reported that the MEA-MFT, Montana’s largest labor union, is blessing voting for some Republicans:

“We’re telling people out there that there are some Republicans we like,” MEA-MFT President Eric Feaver said Friday. “If you have a candidate who is supporting your issues, and they’re Republicans, you’ve got to support them.”

Feaver has sent emails to MEA-MFT members in recent days, identifying the two-dozen or so contested GOP legislative primaries across the state that feature harder-line conservatives versus more moderate Republicans.

I’ve not seen any of Feaver’s emails. But in the Flathead, there are three Kalispell area districts with Republican primaries between hard right and relatively moderate candidates where crossover voting could make the difference:

Senate District 4 (downtown and west-northwest Kalispell; map). Former Kalispell mayor Tammi Fisher is the moderate, especially on health care and approval of the Flathead water compact. Her opponent, House Speaker Rep. Mark Blasdel, is one of the most conservative men ever elected to the legislature. This is one of the most important legislative contests in Montana. A loss by Blasdel would be a significant defeat for the anti-government wing of the Republican Party.

House District 7 (downtown Kalispell; map). Frank Garner, former Kalispell chief of police, and now chief of security at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, is the moderate. His opponent, Ronalee Skees (yes, she’s married to Derek), is far, far, more conservative.

House District 11 (south of Kalispell; map). Tea partier Mike Hebert is running against much more moderate Albert Olszewski, a surgeon who last year testified in support of legislation to expand Medicaid in Montana. Under pressure from the “you’ve no right to health care” Ayn Rand acolytes in the Republican Party, Olszewski is backing away from his testimony, but there’s no doubt he’s open to helping people obtain affordable health care.