Mon County GOP Opposes Upcoming Closed Primary

The West Virginia Republican Party will be holding a closed primary this year. But not all party members are excited about the change. 

Almost a year after the West Virginia Republican Party executive committee voted to hold a closed primary and no longer allow independents to vote on the Republican ticket, some county-level Republicans are calling for a reversal.

The Monongalia County Republican Executive Committee (MCREC) adopted a resolution in December urging the state party to restore open primaries, a position they reaffirmed in a press release Thursday. They argue that independent voters represent a growing portion of West Virginia’s electorate and should be welcomed to vote with Republicans as they have for decades.

“Nearly 19,100 voters in Monongalia County are registered with no party affiliation today, and that number continues to grow,” Dale Sparks, chair of the MCREC, said. “For almost 40 years, West Virginia Republicans welcomed these voters into our primary process — and during that time, our party didn’t weaken, it grew. Closing the primary now shuts out a large and reliable part of the conservative coalition that helps us win elections.”

According to the most recent data from the West Virginia Secretary of State, more than 25% of all registered voters in the state are “No Party.”

Donna Caruthers is the chairwoman of the Kanawha County Republican executive committee, which passed its own resolution in favor of the closed primaries earlier this week.

She said the closed primary should be allowed at least one election cycle.

“I kind of feel that it hasn’t even been given a chance to see how it would go, because we haven’t had an election yet since it’s been in place,” Caruthers said. “I kind of feel like we’re being sort of wishy-washy. If we go back and do that at this time without even having an election to look at, I kind of feel that we need to at least let it play out to see how things go.”

Like many other Republicans, Caruthers said independents are welcome to join the party and have plenty of time left to do so. The deadline for voters to register is April 21.

“We want to see as many independents come over as would like that share our conservative values,” she said. “Because if they’re requesting a Republican ballot, then that should be the motive, because they want to support our conservative values, our West Virginia values as well as our conservative candidates.”

The West Virginia Republican Party is scheduled to meet on Jan. 10, and primary elections will be held May 12.