Skip to content

First Candidate to Enter 2020 Race is Fighting for Nonpartisan Primaries

First Candidate to Enter 2020 Race is Fighting for Nonpartisan Primaries
Published:

The 2020 presidential election has its first announced candidate, and he supports nonpartisan primary reform in all states: US Rep. John Delaney (D-Md.).

Delaney officially announced he is running for the Democratic nomination in three years, explaining in an interview that he sees "no downside in getting in early" and spending the time to build his name ID.

Delaney is best known in the election reform community for his support of nonpartisan open primaries and independent redistricting commissions.

He re-introduced his "Open Our Democracy Act" in the current congressional session, which would require nonpartisan open primaries similar to those already in place for statewide and non-presidential federal elections in Washington state and California.

Here is how it works: All candidates and voters participate on a single primary ballot and the top two vote-getters move on to the general election, regardless of party affiliation.

The "Open Our Democracy Act" would also make Election Day a legal federal holiday and would require every state to adopt an independent redistricting commission that does not take partisan motivations into account when redrawing congressional districts and is not controlled by a party.

Shawn M Griffiths

Election Reform Editor for IVN.us since 2012. Studied history and philosophy at University of North Texas. Covers political and election reform efforts nationwide with deep expertise on the reform movement. Based in San Diego, CA.

IVN is rated Center by AllSides and High Credibility by MBFC — follow our independent journalism in your feed.

Add IVN on Google

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.