Party Purity

When he’s 84! Happy Birthday Sir Paul McCartney!

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Tomorrow is Juneteenth. No mail service tomorrow and banks are closed. So, handle business today.

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I am sure you heard about this. From the Trib:

During the Texas Republican Convention last week, Gov. Greg Abbott publicly backed a push to close primaries and require voters to register with a party.

“We are going to make clear that in the future, only Republicans vote in Republican primaries,” he said Friday, addressing the convention in Houston.

After an unsuccessful legislative push last year to close the primary elections, when voters choose a party’s nominees for the November general elections, state Republicans sued to make it happen. That litigation is still pending in federal court, but Abbott wants state lawmakers to try again. Lawmakers “can and should be more responsive to Republicans than a judge may be,” Abbott told the Texas Scorecard, a conservative news outlet.

During the convention, Abbott noted that closing the primary will require a “thoughtful process” laying out “how we’re going to make sure we get all Republicans registered to vote and identified as Republicans.” Abbott’s comments were received with cheers and applause. The party also made closing the primaries one of its top legislative priorities for next year’s legislative session.

And this:

But the change could also require administrative action by the state. Election policy experts are wondering whether switching to closed primaries would mean requiring all voters to re-register with a party affiliation. That could be a big lift not just for voters but for the state, which would have to redesign its forms and software to allow for voters to list a party affiliation. It’s not yet clear how long that would take and how much it could cost.

Here is the entire Trib read: Texas GOP wants closed primaries.

Obviously, this is easier said than done. I have not heard Democrats call for closed primaries, or a sort of party purity where the impurities are purged, so to speak.

Let’s not forget that MAGA never goes through a so-called thoughtful process. Let’s see how the November elections play out before we rush into full mode on closed primaries.

This discussion is being driven by a tiny minority of the voters in Texas. Most voters in Texas think the primary process is working just fine. This isn’t a priority.  

Personally, I don’t care who gets to vote in the MAGA primary. I worry what disruptions will occur as they go through this process. Stay tuned, because MAGA knuckleheads like Abbott can screw things up.

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The featured photo is new KPRC Channel 2 News reporter Sandy Torres at yesterday’s Fan Fest in East Downtown. She dresses appropriately in my book.

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The Astros won yesterday. We are 35-41 and 3 ½ games back in the AL West. We have today off.