Galvin: Regional Primaries Preferable To Current Process

BOSTON (State House News Service) — With four contests in the books and Massachusetts voters preparing to go the polls on Tuesday, Secretary of State William Galvin said he thinks the time has come to move away from the traditional major party presidential nominating processes.

"I think it would probably be in the better interest of the country if there was a better process than this, because it's not a good process," Galvin said.

Galvin said he has advocated for a long time for rotating regional primaries, which he believes both Democrats and Republicans would support.

"Where you have a problem is with the states," said Galvin, saying he has "a little bit of sympathy" for the traditions of New Hampshire and Iowa.

Following the flawed Iowa caucuses, Galvin is not alone in questioning how Democrats and Republicans choose their candidates for the White House.

Massachusetts Democratic Party Chairman Gus Bickford was in Nevada last month to assist with early voting and helped run the Harris, Nevada caucus. Despite seeing "a lot of energy" on the ground and none of the problems that cropped up in Iowa, Bickford said he supports all states using primaries to award delegates.

"I will be a vocal person. I am a DNC member and I think caucuses are a way of the past. I think they disenfranchise people. I think you can see that with the number of people coming in to early vote, trying to get away from work," Bickford told the News Service last week.

Galvin noted that Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders gained a lot of momentum from wins in New Hampshire and Nevada, and said former Vice President Joe Biden's campaign had a "resurrection" in South Carolina.

"I think the solution is not necessarily trying to strip [Iowa and New Hampshire], but trying to make the process broader and more inclusive," Galvin said.

by Matt Murphy, State House News Service

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(Photo: Getty Images)


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