Loudoun Dems Plan State-Run Primaries June 20; GOP Spurns Open Elections

Loudoun Democrats have announced plans for traditional state-run primaries on June 20th to select its nominees for numerous local, county-wide and state races in November, while the county GOP has once again opted to smother democracy, limiting access to its nominating election by holding a “Party Process” for local races.

The Loudoun County Democratic Committee (LCDC) trusts the voters of Loudoun County.  LCDC seeks to make the access to the franchise as easy as possible welcoming mail-in ballots, early voting, and absentee ballots. None of these are possible under the GOP “Party Process,” a restricted caucus, followed by a convention.

Candidates seeking the Democratic nomination – for the offices of Loudoun County Sheriff, Treasurer, Commissioner of Revenue, Commonwealth Attorney, Clerk of the Court, Chair of the Board of Supervisors, District members of the Board of Supervisors, State Senate, and State House of Delegates – must submit paperwork to the party by April 6th.   

The June 20th primary will be run by the Loudoun Board of Elections, with all 105 precincts countywide open from 6 am-7 pm, in the same manner as the general election in November.

In contrast, the Loudoun GOP’s website announced the “Party Process” with a legal document describing the specific loyalty tests a voter must adhere to – for example, you may not participate if you took part in a non-Republican nomination process in the past five years nor can you participate if you arrive at the convention site after 10 am.

LCDC has chosen a state-run primary process for all five House of Delegate races on the ballot while the Loudoun GOP has opted for primaries in four of the five races, designating a “Party Process” for the House of Delegates District 30 race. There seems to be no rational reason to choose a democratic nominating process in all but one race unless there is something unique about that race.

Indeed, “Stop the Steal” rally speaker, promoter of the “Big “Lie”, and former Chair of the Republican 10th Congressional District Committee Geary Higgins is a candidate for the nomination in HD30, where he faces a young businessman with deep family roots in GOP politics who is vying for the nomination.

LCDC Chair Avi Fechter said that LCDC wants to make it “as easy as possible for voters to participate in a secure nominating process, while local Republicans want to restrict its nominating process to as small a universe of voters as possible.”

“Democrats are not afraid of the voters of Loudoun County. Republicans are,” he said. “The nominating processes chosen by the two parties is yet another demonstration of the sharply contrasting philosophies between Democrats and Republicans: we want to enhance and expand the franchise, they don’t.”