Hot on the heals of my post about the presumed “enthusiasm gap” and it’s apparent lack of substantial impact on voter turnout in last week’s primary, The Stranger’s Eli Sanders has a somewhat different take, noticing the record high statewide turnout compared to the lagging performance of King, Snohomish and Pierce counties:
Which leads to the obvious question: Why did so many eligible voters in the greater Seattle metro area—that is to say, so many liberal voters—sit this primary election out?
Which I suppose seems obvious, except that Eli phrased the question slightly wrong. The real question is not why so many Seattle metro voters sat out “this” primary election, but why they sit out all primary elections?
In fact, this was actually a pretty good showing by King County primary voters, registering our second highest turnout rate over the 12 years for which KC Elections archives results online. And as I’ve previously pointed out, King County always trails the rest of the state in primary turnout, often by substantially larger margins.
So there’s nothing particularly surprising or disappointing about Tuesday’s turnout.
But while our region’s turnout always trails the rest of the state in primary elections, it’s almost alway within a point or two of the statewide average, give or take, when it comes to the November general election.
Speculate all you want about the reasons why, but it has nothing to do with this particular election cycle.
It’s pretty simple and not a big secret. For whatever reason Republicans tend to be better voters (by better I mean they show up more often).
Seems like every cycle we have the same reporters asking the same dumb question and are surprised when the primary results don’t do a good job of predicting general election results. You’d think there’d be someone senior enough in the newsroom to say “THIS HAPPENS EVERY YEAR!”
It’s also why D’s almost always do better in Presidential elections. The higher the turnout, the better the Democratic result.
goldy – is dwight sending you some coin to justify anything?
isn’t it time to break out that handy nadar.xls spreadsheet so you can ultimately PROVE how the DFHs are costing or did cost or will cost patty pathetic her margin against the right wing tool Dino …
isn’t it kind of interesting how, after the great H0PE $ell 0ut to AHIP, Pharma, Goldman & AIG, … patty pathetic got appx. 47%?, and, people stayed home cuz they felt shit on and lied to, AGAIN? but, we won’t poll on those questions!
rmm.
Anecdotally I’d guess it’s because Seattle has such a strong liberal leaning that few candidates could challenge an incumbent from the left without actually stepping into Socialist/Marxist territory. And Seattle voters are ok with that.
@1,2
See #1
@2,3
See #1
The answer may be that we are not yet acclimated to the “top two” primary system.
If people are satisfied with their current (incumbent) representatives, and think those candidates are pretty much guaranteed a place on the general ballot, there’s not much compulsion to vote. For many, it may be because they are still accustomed to the primary system where the incumbent usually has no serious challengers from within their own party. Even for those who realize that this is a “top two” contest, they may feel secure that their current representative will make the general ballot, either with them or without them.
As for myself, for example, I was satisfied with Patty Murray and Rick Larsen. The initiatives weren’t on the primary ballot, and the state legislature contests weren’t attracting a lot of attention. It didn’t seem that my vote was particulaly important.
Of course, I voted anyway. But I can imagine lots of folks who didn’t.
But I think that the primaries are the limits of the “motivated voter” having an impact. In the general election those folks were going to vote anyway, and we don’t give “no” votes any less value than “hell no” votes. Six marginally interested voters can still outnumber four highly motivated voters in any given contest.
Democracy For Sale
Rick Scott spent $50 million of his own money to win Florida’s GOP gubernatorial primary. Why would anyone spend that kind of money to get elected to a public office? Two possible explanations are, he either figures to make that money back with a profit by controlling the government apparatus, or these rich bastards simply have gargantuan egos that need to be satisfied with a “governor” or “senator” in front of their names (never mind whether they have a scintilla of qualifications for the job).
Scott, by the way, is a hospital chain magnate who was personally implicated in the largest Medicare fraud in U.S. history. Which makes me think he’s willing to spend $50 million to buy political power in order to line his own pockets with our money.
@1 “It’s pretty simple and not a big secret. For whatever reason Republicans tend to be better voters (by better I mean they show up more often).”
Sure, they have great internal party discipline — they execute the ones who don’t show up.
In other news:
Canadian fighters have intercepted Russian bombers who invaded Canadian airspace;
The Congressional Budget Office says President Obama’s economic stimulus package created millions of jobs;
And, in New York City, a 21-year-old white guy stabbed a 43-year-old cab driver after asking the driver if he was Muslim.
“‘I think this clearly demonstrates that hate speech often leads to hate crime when you have the constant vilification of Islam and Muslims on talk radio, in newspapers, on cable news and on the Internet,’ Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, told AOL News.”
Republicans are truly awful people. They’re against the bank bailout; they’d rather put the American people through another Great Depression. They’re against the stimulus; they’d rather keep millions of workers unemployed. They’re against health care reform; they’d rather let sick people die. Why do Republicans hate America so much? Is the GOP a secret offshoot of Al Qaeda?
Oh yeah, one more thing, Republicans are against hate crime legislation, too. They think the 21-year-old white punk who stabbed a 43-year-old cab driver for nothing more than having dark skin and praying to Allah should be prosecuted for misdemeanor assault — or not at all. Well, my question for them is, how would you like it if some nitwit stranger did that to your father, brother, husband, or son because he’s been listening to too much Glenn Beck? You conservatives are really a piece of work, you really are. I’ve met dogs that are better behaved than some of you humans, and dogs are the most useless creatures God ever made except for humans.
@11
ummm…seems to me a stabbing like that should be grounds for attempted murder – hardly a misdemeanor.
perhaps its opinions suppositions like that are why you are no longer in good standing with our our states legal eagles…just saying….
but, on the other hand, your spinning makes a good little goebbels.
@12 “you are no longer in good standing with our our states legal eagles…just saying….”
Where do you get that shit from? Suck it out of your own dick? It’s certainly not fact-based. I’m in good standing. My dues are paid. My mandatory legal education credits are current. In 36 years of practice I’ve never had a disciplinary action. I’m a serving elected incumbent of a responsible management position within the bar organization. I’m a published contributor to bar publications. If that isn’t good standing than you’re Mother Goose. And you don’t look like a goose to me. You look like an imbecile.
@1
Newspapers and the TeeVee news exist to sell soap, this story. while true, would sell no soap and prevent the selling of soap in the future.
Oops! Maybe I should have had one shot of gin in my lemonade instead of two.
Newspapers and the TeeVee news exist to sell soap. Your version of this story, while true, would sell no soap and prevent the selling of soap in the future.
12
Maxie,
You little piece of shoe shit that clings to the sole, looks like you’ve changed your moniker once again. Any chance, Maxie, that at some point you could temper your vile vitriol with a touch of thoughtfulness so that we might not recognize you?
King County Democrats’ voter turnout stats would be substantially better if your 8th Congressional district candidate, Suzan DelBene had bothered to vote.
The PI is running a story today that Murray has a 55.8% chance of winning in November. The source of the story is a “poll afficianado” with a history of correctly predicting election results named “Nate” who’s blog is being reported by the N.Y. Times.
@16
Proud Communist,
It was never my intent to go incognito. It should be plainly obvious, even to naked all male hot yoga attendees like yourself, who is posting. I change names simply for comedic and entertainment purposes.
perhaps you should talk to YLB, I’m sure his lifes work, the HA database, can help you out.
If you have issue with that, then allow me to be non-political correct and say, go kiss my ass.
PL – He’s just a chickenshit. Mark1 level.
With each handle change he just repeats the same braindead drivel.
And I have yet to see anything in the last year come out of your pie-hole YLB that even resembles intelligent thought.
Go back to sitting in your basement…loosa.