Following former President Trump's recent felony conviction, a wave of Nevada politicians seized the opportunity to voice their perspectives on social media.
According to Sondra Cosgrove, the Executive Director of Vote Nevada, the closed primary system in states like Nevada compels politicians to adopt more partisan messaging.
"It's interesting to look at members of both parties who are in closed primary gerrymandered districts. They're probably the ones saying the most outrageous things right now and being the most virulent in what they are saying, and I think it's because they're speaking to a base of voters that they assume is going to carry them through the primary right now," explained Vote Nevada Executive Director Dr. Sondra Cosgrove
Approximately 40 percent of Nevada voters are nonpartisan, meaning they are not aligned with any political party. Nonpartisan voters are less influenced by partisan politics and many vote for candidates from both major parties.
Although Nevada's primaries are only open to Democratic or Republican voters, nonpartisans can change their registration until and on election day, June 11th.
In Alaska, where they hold open primaries and rank choice voting, U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, posted a more restrained statement on the guilty verdict of Trump. Cosgrove says it's easier for politicians like Murkowski - in open primary states - to not wholly follow the party line.
"Now, with Lisa Murkowski especially. Lisa Murkowski got over 20 thousand democrats to vote for her as their second choice vote in their general election. That's how she won. So not only is she thinking, well, I'm in an open primary; anybody can vote for me. She's also thinking I need to be talking to Democrats too," said Sondra Cosgrove.
The ballot petition 'question 3' would give Nevada open primaries and ranked-choice voting in the general election. Nevada voters approved it once in 2022, and a second approval this November would make it law.
