The future of the Democratic Party in Virginia lies with open primaries. The Commonwealth has taken a remarkable turn over the last eight years from being one of the most reliable Republican states in the nation during general elections — we voted for a Republican president every year between 1968 and 2004, and only voted Democratic once between 1952 and 2008. Some attribute Democratic victories in recent general elections to immigration, but immigration alone can not explain increasing Democratic margins and victories in areas that have not seen significant immigration. It is clear that a decent number of Republicans and independents have either flipped to the Democratic Party or are at least open to voting for Democrats. Additionally, as Mark Warner’s 2008 landslide proved, partisan tendencies in Virginia are often not very strong.

Given the national Republican Party’s shift towards extreme policies, and Donald Trump’s unpopularity, it is entirely possible that more Republicans will defect, either permanently or for specific candidates. Democrats are further aided by extremism that pervades the Republican Party of Virginia. Republicans, despite the best efforts of their establishment leadership, came within 1.2% of nominating Corey Stewart, a man who seems to think the Confederacy can still win, compared politicians who want to remove Confederate statues to ISIS, and who called his opponent a “cuckservative”, as their gubernatorial candidate.

The best way to encourage moderates, independents, and disillusioned Republicans to drift towards the Democratic Party is to hold open primaries. These voters need to feel that they have a say in the Party. They need to feel invested, and more than that, welcome, as they shift allegiances and views. The path towards building a grassroots Democratic movement in Virginia is to welcome everyday people who might not have identified as Democrats in the past. It is also important to consider what happens if Republicans have an open primary and Democrats do not. Every independent or disillusioned voter would vote in the Republican primary, since that would be their only option. They would feel more welcomed in the Republican Party, and their votes could lead to a more electable Republican who can appeal to such voters becoming the nominee. That is not a recipe for short-term or long-term Democratic success.

Democratic activists need to keep in mind that we do not have a monopoly on understanding what is best for people, and that we can at times be out of touch with most voters . The ability of a candidate to connect with voters in a primary is a strong sign of their ability to campaign in the general election. The ability to appeal to party leadership does not translate nearly as clearly to winning in November. With that said, nearly two-thirds of Democrats and Democratic leaning voters support Open Primaries.

The two main alternatives are both remarkably flawed. At times, Congressional District Committees have held conventions where the voices of the public are entirely shut out. The Republican Party of Virginia made this mistake in 2013. Republican activists — apparently under the impression that Virginia voters were staunchly pro-life, anti-LGBT, and all members of the Tea Party — decided it would be a good idea to run Ken Cuccinelli for Governor and E.W. Jackson for Lieutenant Governor. Cuccinelli was known for suing the University of Virginia to stop them from researching climate change, defending Virginia’s sodomy ban, and being vehemently anti-abortion. Jackson went even further, with outlandish claims that Yoga can lead to Satan entering one’s body, to the idea that, due to abortion, Planned Parenthood was more of a threat to black people than the KKK ever was (he is black himself), to claiming that Democrats “have made the lesbian-homosexual-bisexual-transgender agenda their vision for America. How have they managed to hold on to black Christians in spite of an agenda worthy of the Antichrist?”. Unsurprisingly, Jackson lost by double digits to Ralph Northam. Extremism, and remarkably unelectable candidates, can come to represent a party when activists living in bubbles have the sole power to choose candidates.

The other choice is a “Firehouse Primary”, which is comparable to a closed primary, although worse in several ways. Only Democrats would be allowed to vote, but in Virginia we do not register by party, so there are no registered Democrats. In order to determine who is a “Democrat”, a loyalty pledge to vote for the Democratic nominee in the general election is required. There is no way to enforce this pledge, given that people in Democracies have the right to vote for whoever they want, and there is a secret ballot. Does the Democratic Party stand against the right for voters to pick who they want in the general election? Additionally, people could just lie about their affiliation. Another major problem is that there are far fewer polling locations for a Firehouse Primary than there are for normal elections — sometimes as few as two for the entire Congressional District — because the Party has to pay the costs. This disenfranchises a fair number of voters, and is the precise opposite of what the Democratic Party should stand for. Democrats should unite around making it easier to vote.

“In contrast to Republicans, Democrats believe in making voting easier, not harder… These same principles must apply to our primaries. Our job must be to reach out to independents and to young people and bring them into the Democratic Party process. Independent voters are critical to general election victories. Locking them out of primaries is a pathway to failure.” — Bernie Sanders

Due to grassroots efforts, an overwhelming majority of Congressional District Committees in Virginia have already chosen to hold an open primary. Only the 5th CD will use Convention. Let’s give the voters what they want — and deserve! — A fair say in who gets to represent them.