At the time when the Virginia primary is taking place, an unprecedented push in two counties encourages Republicans to vote for specific candidates in Democratic races.
Virginia voters are not registered by party, so anyone can vote in these open primaries, regardless of whether they consider themselves a Democrat, Republican, or Independent.
A few days ago, the Loudoun County Republican Committee began sending out messages asking Republican voters to go to the polls and cast their ballots for a four-candidate slate.
“The Loudoun County Republican Caucus is explicitly asking Republican voters to come vote in our Democratic primary for a list of candidates the GOP Caucus has endorsed,” Loudoun County Democratic Party Chairman Avram Fechter said.
“I have never seen that anywhere in modern American political history,” he added.
One of the goals of the Republican campaign in Loudoun County is to defeat the incumbent State’s Attorney, Buta Biberaj. Officials are asking party members to vote for Democratic challenger Elizabeth Lancaster.
In all three General Assembly races, Republicans have a different motivation.
“It is a strategy designed to weaken the Democratic Party, nominating less competitive candidates for the general election can only help the Republicans,” said Stephen Farnsworth, a political analyst at the University of Mary Washington.
In Fairfax County, Republicans are also seeking to defeat incumbent state attorney Steve Descano, who is critical of their criminal justice reform platform. He is being challenged by Democrat Ed Nuttall.
The measure marked an important change in policy. Fairfax Republican Committee rules barred members from voting in Democratic primaries, but Republican supervisor Pat Herrity convinced party leaders to make an exception.
“This race was too important, too critical to public safety in Fairfax County, so I asked the party to waive that requirement, and the party waived that requirement for this one race,” he said.
There is no Republican candidate in Fairfax County, so whoever wins the Democratic primary is likely to become the next state’s attorney.
Fechter said he hopes what he calls meddling by the Republican Party could inspire more Democrats to go to the polls Tuesday.
“We urge all Democrats who live in Loudoun County to get out and vote in the primary so that the Democrats will actually pick the Democratic nominee,” he urged.
Political analysts claimed that in low turnout primaries, these Republican impulses could have an impact on the outcome.
