{"id":61,"date":"2026-05-11T04:06:05","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:06:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=61"},"modified":"2026-05-11T04:06:05","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T04:06:05","slug":"some-massachusetts-democrats-are-pushing-a-plan-to-scrap-party-primaries-their-own-party-is-revolting-against-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bostonrelocationinsider.com\/?p=61","title":{"rendered":"Some Massachusetts Democrats are pushing a plan to scrap party primaries. Their own party is revolting against it."},"content":{"rendered":"
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A group of Massachusetts Democrats is pushing a ballot question this year that would eliminate the state\u2019s party primaries, arguing a dramatic overhaul of how residents vote is necessary to create more competitive elections in a state where many top lawmakers often cruise to reelection uncontested.<\/span><\/p>\n

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But the measure is drawing opposition from within both political parties and sowing fractures among Democrats especially \u2014 pitting progressives and members of the party\u2019s governing body against some of their own who are pressing to eliminate a system that has long delivered Democrats to success.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Activists in the party\u2019s left wing are planning to raise money in a bid to persuade voters to reject the plan, which would allow the top two vote-getters in a preliminary election, regardless of party, to advance to the final. They fear it would box out lesser-known candidates who struggle with fund-raising.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ballot question\u2019s top supporter, Harvard University professor and one-time gubernatorial candidate Danielle Allen, said it would give voters more choices in races up and down the ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have so many elections that are decided in the primary, so then the general is really not competitive. . . . A huge bulk of voters don\u2019t have a meaningful vote,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The Democratic State Committee, the party\u2019s more than 400-member governing body, voted late last month to formally oppose the proposal. The resolutionit passeddeclared there was not \u201cconclusive evidence\u201d that the so-called all-party primaries are even effective in making elections fairer.<\/span><\/p>\n

Two state committee members have turned to the court system to block the question, filing a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of the measure. The Supreme Judicial Court heard arguments in the case this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

The ballot question would eliminate political party primaries for state elections and instead establish a primary system in which all candidates would be listed on a single ballot. Voters could only vote for one candidate. The top two candidates would advance to the general election. <\/span><\/p>\n

The proposal also requires candidates for governor and lieutenant governor to run together in a primary, similar to how they currently are listed as a team on the general election ballot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Some progressive Democrats chafe at the wealthy finance and technology executives who are helping bankroll the initiative. <\/span><\/p>\n

Currently, registered voters who are not enrolled with any party can vote in either a Democratic or Republican primary, though those elections tend to pull from the party\u2019s more extreme electorates and often draw lower turnout than general elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have an open process. This is a red herring,\u201d Jordan Berg Powers, a political consultant who previously led the progressive group Mass Alliance, said of the ballot measure. <\/span><\/p>\n

Powers, who is leading the , argued that if voters approve it in the November election, \u201cyou\u2019ll see more billionaires spending money to get their favorite candidates in.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just not true that people can\u2019t vote,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople can vote. Most people don\u2019t enroll in a party, and they can vote in [a primary in] September how they wish.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The ballot question has drawn support from some influential Democrats aside from Allen. That includes Steve Grossman, the former state treasurer and one-time gubernatorial candidate who is still a member of the state committee; state Auditor Diana DiZoglio; and former governor Deval Patrick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Allen dismissed the Democratic State Committee\u2019s objections to the proposal, saying the Democratic Party in Massachusetts \u201cis so much bigger than the state committee.\u201d She pointed to a poll from Emerson College released Thursday that found more than half of the likely Democratic primary voters surveyed backed the ballot question.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really, really important to remember that, fundamentally, the Democratic Party is the voters,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s in the people, in the voters. It\u2019s not really in the kind of apparatus.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Grossman, who describes himself as a progressive Democrat, said members of the party\u2019s left wing opposing the question could be \u201cconcerned that progressive issues and progressive ideas won\u2019t be actively pursued.\u201d But he said the question will drive \u201csignificant\u201d voter engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a big believer in change, not for change\u2019s sake, but change that is going to enhance political empowerment,\u201d Grossman said. \u201cIf there\u2019s anything we\u2019ve learned during this Trump era, is that we\u2019ve got to do everything we can to preserve, protect, and enhance democracy and political engagement.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Supporters need to gather more than 12,000 signatures by June 17to put the ballot measure before voters this fall. <\/span><\/p>\n

The measure is facing a legal challenge from Democratic State Committee members Martina Jackson, a Newton activist, and Ann Roosevelt, a Cambridge resident who also is the wife of Jim Roosevelt, a prominent Democratic lawyer. <\/span><\/p>\n

Their lawsuit contends that the ballot question \u201ccannot survive constitutional scrutiny\u201d because it limits voters\u2019 choices and the right to run for office by reducing general election ballots to only two candidates, a notion some justices expressed skepticism toward earlier this month. <\/span><\/p>\n

The ballot question campaign raised nearly $2.2 million last year, including hundreds of thousands of dollars from executives at top financial and technology companies, according to campaign finance records. The campaign does not need to disclose its fund-raising for this year until September.<\/span><\/p>\n

Donations so far include $550,000 from David Peeler, a senior adviser at the private equity firm Berkshire Partners, and $290,000 from Andrew Balson, a managing partner at another private equity firm Cove Hill Partners.<\/span><\/p>\n

Balson referred a request for comment to Doug Rubin, a consultant working for the ballot question campaign. Rubin declined to comment on Balson\u2019sdonations.Peeler did not respond to a Globe inquiry sent to an email address listed in his name.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jonathan Cohn, policy director for Progressive Massachusetts and a former state committee member, said all-party primaries increase the power of candidates who can self-fund their own campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n

He pointed to a 2018 congressional race in California, which also has a \u201ctop-two\u201d primary system and where the open seat initially drew more than a half dozen Democratic candidates.The lineup eventually winnowed to those who could bankroll their bid. Gil Cisneros, who scored a $266 million lottery jackpot with his wife in 2010, won the election.<\/span><\/p>\n

In California, among those vying in the crowded race for governor this year is hedge-fund billionaire Tom Steyer, who\u2019s already spent more than $130 million on the campaign, most of it from his own pockets.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt increases the power of big money,\u201d Cohn said of the \u201ctop-two\u201d primary system. <\/span><\/p>\n

Cohn also said opposition to the ballot question has united factions of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee that were at odds last year amid an insider battle over the party\u2019s platform, which saw a push to spell out support for LGBTQ+ protections, rent control, transgender individuals, and efforts to address systemic racism.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAcross all factions, people thought that the ballot question was a bad idea,\u201d Cohn said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jesse Littlewood, the ballot question\u2019s campaign manager, said a \u201ctop-two\u201d primary gives voters more candidates to choose from. And he pushed back at opponents on the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee, saying there is a disconnect between some members and voters.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis [ballot question] would create a condition where there\u2019s just more dynamism, more opportunities for challengers \u2014 and more opportunity to connect back to voters,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n

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A ballot question that would eliminate political party primaries for state elections in favor of a single, all-party primary is creating fractures among Massachusetts Democrats, pitting members of the state committee against a handful of prominent figures.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":60,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-61","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSome Massachusetts Democrats are pushing a plan to scrap party primaries. 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