The Independent View: Arizona Republican Party Might Seek a Closed Primary

A trend that has increased in Arizona statewide, independents have become the largest bloc of Arizona voters.

This shift in voting demographics has raised concerns with some Republican party loyalists that independents could remake the parties, pushing conservative Republicans toward the center. Statewide, independents accounted for 16.2 percent of Republican ballots cast and 11.4 percent of Democratic ballots cast in the primary.

The Associated Press reported on September 22, 2014 that the Arizona Republican Party plans to establish a committee after the November election to study whether the party should close its primary elections, disallowing independent voters from participating.

The Libertarian Party moved in that direction in 2007 after a lawsuit cleared the way, but the party decided to re-open its primary this year.

The AP quoted Maricopa County Republican Party Chairman AJ LaFaro saying, “The party’s platform gets diminished when independent voters come to vote, an independent most likely doesn’t share the conservative values that make up the platform of the Republican Party.”

But Mohave County Republican Party Chairman and former state senator Ron Gould said Tuesday he thinks retaining the open primary is probably the best thing for the party.

He said many independent voters are just as conservative as Republicans but have become disenfranchised with the party and that independents remain a relatively small portion of the voting population. Moreover, he said, closing the primary could turnoff Republican-leaning independents.