High-profile defectors from the Democratic and Republican parties went down in defeat in the election, but not before they put some dents in the two-party system.Thanks to state Rep. Kathleen Curry and governor candidate Tom Tancredo, unaffiliated candidates and third parties finished the election with increased legal rights.
Colorado Democratic leaders are not worried, but Republican officials see the legal aftermath of Tancredo’s race as a threat to the major parties.
Curry conceded defeat Wednesday in her write-in campaign to hold on to her Gunnison-based seat in the state House of Representatives. But she, along with La Plata County Commissioner Joelle Riddle, made things easier for future candidates to defect from their parties and run on an unaffiliated ticket.
The state of affairs is another blow to political parties, said Dick Wadhams, chairman of the Colorado GOP.
“We are already seeing the slow destruction of political parties through these stupid campaign-finance referendums,” Wadhams said.
Finance laws restrict large donations to political parties, but they have few limits for independent groups. Wadhams said the third parties now can undermine major parties even more by plucking away candidates who don’t want to go through primary elections. – More -
People have been going around the process for years. They can always petition onto the ballot, i.e. Norton and Romanoff.
ReplyDeleteRunning as a write-in candidate is really no different.