After Supreme Court ruling, Top 2 primary OK'd for August

A surprise U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding Washington's voter-approved Top 2 primary system was hailed as a big victory for average voters over the political parties.

But party leaders said they still have legal leverage and will continue to fight for their rights.

"Wow!" Secretary of State Sam Reed said when he heard of the court's decision from The Associated Press. "That's terrific! It means the people of the state of Washington are going to be able to control who gets elected through this process."

The first running of the new primary will be Aug. 19, barring a fresh legal challenge to how the state sets up the new system.

Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire, who defied her party to back the wide-open style of voting that welcomes independents, called it "a new day for democracy in Washington state."

State Democratic Party Chairman Dwight Pelz said the decision complicates Washington elections, and the party will insist on the right to designate its favorites on the primary ballot.

State GOP Chairman Luke Esser said Republican leaders were "obviously disappointed" and hinted of further litigation to ensure the party's role in deciding which candidates can identify themselves as Republican.

"We will continue to take whatever steps are necessary to defend our constitutionally protected right of association," Esser said.

Reed, the state's chief elections official, said parties may endorse people for each office but cannot unilaterally choose the nominee. He said party endorsements can be listed in the Voters' Pamphlet and elsewhere, but not likely on the ballot.

State Attorney General Rob McKenna, who argued the case last October, said he privately expected a narrow victory, and "a 7-2 rulings was more than I could have hoped for."

McKenna acknowledged that the political parties could return to court if they object to the state's implementation of a Top 2 system this summer, but he noted that the high court's ruling can't be appealed and should stand.

McKenna and Reed are both Republicans and have been staunch advocates of the Top 2 plan.

The ruling means the state will dump the unpopular "pick-a-party" primary it has used for the past four years while the voter-approved Top 2 initiative was being challenged in court by the political parties.

In its place will be something akin to the old "blanket primary" that was abolished previously by the federal courts. The ballot will list all candidates for each office and a voter will be able to pick his or her favorite, with ticket-splitting allowed.

The top two vote getters then will advance to the general election in November, even if they are from the same party. Had the system been in place in 1996, for instance, the governor's November final would have been between two Democrats, Gary Locke and Norm Rice, because both outpolled Republican Ellen Craswell.

"It's going to look like the blanket primary that ended in 2002," Reed said.

Reed predicted that the Top 2 system will spread to other states, possibly Oregon and California very soon.

The state Grange, the farm advocacy group that sponsored the original "blanket primary" system and the follow-up Top 2 plan, was thrilled by the decision.

"It's a huge win," said Terry Hunt, the group's government affairs manager and former president who doggedly pursued the primary issue through the courts, the Legislature and the initiative campaign.

"It shows that elections belong to the people, not to the parties," he said. "It means the world to voters. It brings them back to where they were (with the blanket primary) and lets them pick the best candidate for each political office. It's a win for this state and for other states that may want to adopt it.

"It really opens the door to our elections."

Independent pollster Stuart Elway said the decision will be extremely popular with Washington voters.

"People don't want to restrict themselves to one party line, and even partisans like to skip back and forth once in a while. There are very few straight-ticket voters here. This news will be welcomed by voters in Washington."

Candidates in both parties will have to appeal to the broad middle of the electorate and not just their bases on the left and the right, Elway said. Candidates with crossover appeal will do best, he said.

The greatest impact of the new primary will be at the legislative level, he predicted. Higher offices, such as the battle between Democratic Gov. Gregoire and Republican challenger Dino Rossi, will be less affected since most are already running broad, general-election styles campaigns, he said.

Gregoire had no immediate reaction to the ruling. She had previously supported the Top 2 system, which Rossi opposed in the Legislature.

Rossi spokeswoman Jill Strait said the ruling will have little impact on the his campaign.

"We're running the campaign we've always been running. Our focus is on facing Christine Gregoire in November, not on the primary."

Todd Donovan, a political scientist at Western Washington University who is an expert on primaries, said the ruling was surprising, given the court's defense of party rights. He agreed that over time, the system will produce more moderate legislators.

The exception will be single-party districts, like heavily Democratic Seattle or GOP districts in Eastern Washington where voters may produce finalists from the same party, he said. That might give Seattle voters a choice of a New Democrat moderate or a leftist, he said.

___

The cases are 06-713, Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, and 06-730, Washington et al. v. Washington State Republican Party.

___

On the Net:

Secretary of State: http://www.secstate.wa.gov

Opinion: http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/