This Saturday’s WV GOP Summer Meeting – where a new party chair will be elected – has reignited debate, and for some, outright anger, over Independent voters no longer being allowed to vote in Republican primaries.
In January 2024, party leaders voted to close their primaries starting in 2026. The tally: 65 in favor, 54 against – a slim 54% majority, far from a landslide.
Why close the primary?
Republicans can answer for themselves. Delegate Jim Butler, R-Mason, a member of the resolutions committee in 2024, backed the change. He told Hoppy Kercheval it would benefit “every conservative Republican” candidate. Butler argued that allowing Independents to vote means “they’ll back whoever has the shiniest mailer or flashiest TV ad.”
At the time, reports suggested then-Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Patrick Morrisey and then-Representative turned Senate hopeful Alex Mooney supported the rule change for 2024. The thinking: more right-leaning candidates would benefit if moderate Independents stayed home.
Others warned that moving so quickly would disenfranchise Independents who had no time to adjust.
Here’s the truth: West Virginia Republicans once needed Independents. Now, some in the party’s far right see them as more risk than reward.
The timeline tells the story. Republicans flipped the State Senate in 2014. In 2015, Tim Armstead became the first Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates in 84 years.
Voter registration data (online) only goes back to 2016. That December, Republicans made up 31.3% of registered voters. Democrats were still ahead with 44%, and Independents accounted for nearly 21%. Back then, GOP candidates couldn’t win without help from Independents or crossover Democrats.
Since then, Republicans have grown their rolls – but so have Independents, even with the threat of a closed-primary.
| Date | Republican | Independent | Democrat |
| June – 23 | 459,874 | 277,247 | 370,456 |
| June – 24 | 482,212 | 296,024 | 355,630 |
| June – 25 | 499,237 | 297,809 | 334,428 |
There was talk last week of a motion to revisit the closed-primary decision at Saturday’s meeting. But sources now say the effort has been shelved – bogged down by party rules and procedural hurdles.
That doesn’t mean opposition has vanished. Several party leaders – speaking privately – admitted they favor reopening primaries and worry about backlash in upcoming elections, especially in non-partisan and local races.
Equally true is that other party leaders have doubled down on closed-primaries. Jefferson County Republican Executive Committee Chair Matt McKinney last week in a prepared release said, “It remains the unshakeable position of the JREC that Republican primary elections are to remain closed to all but registered-Republican voters.”
What happens next?
Unless the policy changes, the ball is in the Independents’ court. Nearly 300,000 of them. It may be time to throw an elbow as West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin might say.
Options?
- Switch parties, vote for Republicans who favor an open-primary in 2026, then switch back. Yes, that would require some effort, but it likely wouldn’t be bothersome to someone who values their political independence and feels their once needed support is no longer valued.
- Pull financial support from Republicans who favor closed-primaries and PACs that support those individuals. Don’t want me? Fine, but you don’t get my money either.
- Or, perhaps most effective, back a moderate Democrat or Libertarian for a cycle. The added bonus of this option? Breaking up the logjam of a super majority sometimes unable to govern effectively.
The worst option? Staying home. Silence equals surrender – and helps no one. Vote.
Finally, let’s be clear: the primary belongs to Republicans. They have every right to set the rules. That is not in dispute. But they’d be wise to remember – just as Independents helped them rise to power, they could just as easily help them lose it.