Secretary of State fighting for the ‘Pac-12 Primaries’

While the presidential candidates have barnstormed the states from New Hampshire to Texas, Washington state remains virtually irrelevant selecting each party’s nominee. But Secretary of State Kim Wyman continues her quest to change that.

Last year she pushed the Legislature to change the date of our primary to March 8. Lawmakers killed it though because both political parties opposed the switch over concerns about ceding control to their national organizations.

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There wasn’t much public outcry or even interest at the time, either.

“For the average voter, the presidential primary was a long ways off the presidential election was a long ways off. They were at best thinking of the general election in 2015,” Wyman said.

But after missing out on the opportunity to run into Donald Trump in a donut show, Wyman is optimistic Washington voters will want a piece of the pie.

“Now having this discussion after it’s pretty fresh and people really do see what happens when we don’t get to be a player, people are going to be more engaged going into next year,” she said.

Wyman is now championing a new idea that could make our state and others throughout the west players in the process – what she’s calling the “Pac-12 Primaries.”

The idea is modeled after a similar change in the Southeast.

Usually ignored, Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia banded together to stage concurrent primaries on March 1 in what they dubbed the “SEC Primaries,” after the Southeastern Conference in college football.

The March 1 primaries were a rousing success, with most of the major candidates campaigning in those states and voters turning out in record numbers.

Even usually ignored Alabama saw most of the candidates at least come through for a campaign swing.

Wyman wants to do the same in our region – with Washington joining Oregon and California, Alaska, Hawaii, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, and perhaps Nevada and Utah.

“I think that after the season we’re having right now, people are going to be a little more willing about talking about trying to move that primary up and make it relevant so that Washington voters have a voice in the process and are not just really affected by the rest of the country,” Wyman said.

Wyman would actually like to see the whole primary process changed on a national level, with the country split into four regions, each region going first in alternating years. She admits that has little support beyond the national association of Secretaries of State.

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