ARIZONA ELECTION 2024All the races| President | US Senate | US House | Ballot measures| State House | State Senate | Maricopa County | Pinal County | City| Schools| Justice | VotingArizona has had partisan primary elections since statehood. Proposition 133 would protect that long-standing practice and block any other form of a primary election.The ballot measure would enshrine taxpayer-paid partisan primaries in the Arizona Constitution, giving them an extra layer of protection from any alternative ideas. It’s a steep climb to change the constitution: It requires a supermajority vote of the Legislature or a vote of the people via a citizen initiative.Not only would Proposition 133 protect the partisan elections Arizona voters see at the federal and statewide levels, it would require cities to also use a partisan system. Most Arizona cities have adopted nonpartisan primaries, where all candidates run without a party label.The measure also would sustain the public funding for the recognized political parties’ primary elections.Why is Proposition 133 needed?Lawmakers saw a movement underway to create open primaries statewide and crafted this measure, in part, to block it. That movement gelled into the Make Elections Fair Arizona Act, now on the ballot as Proposition 140.In an open primary system, all candidates compete, with the top finishers advancing to the general election ballot. It’s similar to what cities already do and also similar to what the Make Elections Fair Act proposes.State lawmakers placed the measure on the ballot in 2023, voting along party lines with Republicans in support and Democrats opposed. Two Democrats, then-Rep. Amish Shah and Sen. Catherine Miranda, both of Phoenix, did not vote.Proposition 133 is widely seen as a defensive move to block open primaries.Arguments for Proposition 133While neither of the two major political parties has taken a formal stance on the measure, keeping the current primary system is popular with many party faithful. The partisan primary system allows members of a political party to nominate the candidates whom they feel best represent the party.Andrew Adams is the chairman of Legislative District 14 in the southeast Valley. He’s voting for Proposition 133 because, he said, the partisan primary system is the best way to vet a candidate before that person faces the general electorate.“They wouldn’t have any good way to get information about these candidates, in my opinion,” Adams said, referring to voters. Scrutinizing candidates through a political party’s lens is the best way to let voters know who they’re voting for when it comes to the general election, he said.“We have a thorough, well-functioning system,” he said. Why change?Also in support is the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, which promotes limited government and is an influential force in the GOP-run Legislature. Protecting the current primary system ensures voters get contrasting choices in the general election, the club said in a statement in the official election publicity pamphlet.Arguments against Proposition 133Critics argue the current primary system deepens ideological divides and prevents government bodies from getting anything meaningful done. Primaries tend to cater to the extremes of a party, producing general election matchups that don’t reflect the political middle.“It’s very effective in allowing MAGA candidates in their strong districts to win every time,” Bob Sommer said of closed party primaries. “And it allows them to control primaries.”He points to Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer and state Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, both more moderate voices within the Republican Party. The two lost their GOP primaries in July to candidates to the right of them.Sommer, like other opponents, also argues there’s no room for independents in primaries, even though they outnumber Democrats in Arizona and come close to GOP registration numbers.He acknowledges that independents can vote — something that Proposition 133 supporters are quick to point out — but participation is low. In the July primary, independents made up only 5.8% of the vote, according to Maricopa County records.In addition, unlike party members, independents who vote in primary election …
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