New Mexico’s new open primaries bill is just the beginning

Alaska U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski is one of the few  Republicans standing up to President Trump and expressing fear that key strategic alliances, our democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law are being under-mind. She also was one of the few  Republicans to vote to impeach him.

What makes her different? What allows her to feel  free to make those statements and take that action  that are nearly unheard of right now within the  Republican MAGA party? It is the structure within which she was elected.

Alaska has non-partisan primaries that allow all  voters to vote for all candidates. Primaries are no  longer controlled by the parties. Then the top four  vote getters go to the general election where ranked  choice voting is used.

She can move through the primary without fear of  being “primaried” in a race in which only the party  base, the most MAGA, can vote. Rather, she is incentivized to reach out to all voters, and the  majority of voters want her to be independent and vote her conscience, not tow the party line. This is  what democracy reform at all levels is about: Creating a representative government that works for  all of us all the time.

This is the opposite of what Wyoming has, which is a  closed primary system. Remember how brave Congresswoman Liz Chaney was to buck her party  and vote to impeach President Trump because he incited the Capitol riots through his election  denialism? Well, she lost her Republican primary  election in Wyoming by a huge margin because only Republicans could vote.

But, so what? Why is that important today here in  New Mexico?

The New Mexico Legislature recently passed SB16, which allows independent voters to choose one major  party ballot. This is one small step toward that ideal where all voters can vote for all candidates. I spent 10 years as founder and president of NM Open Elections working on its passage.

It will set up a situation in which partisan candidates have to reach out to independent voters who will not  have the same feelings about party discipline as the party base, and I mean with both the Republicans and the Democrats. It means candidates and  incumbents alike will have to do a better job of  spreading their message and listening to a broader cross section of the voting public. And it means there  is a better chance that incumbents can vote their  conscience, rather than bending to a party line that they may or may not agree with all the time. And the outcome of this freedom will be better policies  representing a broader cross section of voters.

I know that we are years away from being able to  pass the next steps in democracy reform here in New  Mexico, but we have taken the first step by ending our closed primary system. But make no mistake there have to be next steps.

Step one: Educate independents that they can vote in  the 2026 primary and make sure large majorities do.  Let’s prove the pundits wrong and show that  independent voters will come out to vote when given  the chance.

Step two: Support candidates who will prioritize  reaching out to those independent voters and teach  them how to communicate with these non-aligned  voters.

Step three: Plan for the next steps in reform including finally passing an independent redistricting  commission, paying our Legislature, placing term limits on our Legislature to match the term limits we  have on nearly every other office and moving to a truly open primary system in which all voters can vote for all candidates in first round public elections.

To be sure, Democrats supported SB16 in greater numbers than Republicans and I deeply appreciate that. But Democrats oppose nearly every reform in step three above as do Republicans. The other states that have adopted these reforms, and there are many, all have legislative by-pass through ballot initiate where a voter can gather signatures and place an  issue on the ballot. We don’t have that here.

Unfortunately, both major parties play politics with the law to game the system. When President Biden  declined to seek re-election, why did the Democratic  Party refuse to hold a primary or even an open  convention so that many candidates could be heard and vetted?

It’s time for a party to put voters first and that is why I am now working with others to found the New  Mexico Forward Party. We support all the democracy reform issues listed above and will be running  candidates in 2026 for the State House of Representatives against those law makers who voted  against open primaries. Stay tuned.