In Texas, where only one party primary matters, voters don’t walk the line

Texas voters pick a party primary the way we pick a grocery store.

We look for the best selection.

That is never more true than this year, when two of the presidential front-runners are a maverick millionaire developer and a political independent, both promising to crack open the fossilized political parties.

“Every candidate running for office these days is an independent contractor,” said 34-year TCU political science professor Jim Riddlesperger.

“The party label doesn’t matter much. Candidates might run as a Republican, but it’s not because of any specific loyalty to the party. Everybody raises their own money.”

This is old news in Texas, where until the 1980s many Republicans voted for business candidates in the more crowded Democratic primary. Now, Democrats return the favor.

But rarely has it been spelled out as clearly as in a recent email between two Hood County Democrats.

Hundreds of Democrats there like to vote in the Republican primary, party Chairman Robert Vick of Granbury wrote to a party rival, to keep a “dangerous bunch of extremists” in the Tea Party out of courthouse control.

A Democratic club president, Shirley Ledford of Granbury, explained Saturday that she has friends who vote Republican “to have a say in local issues. … Our county is being held hostage,” she said, mentioning that one friend was labeled “liberal” for being a United Methodist.

A Granbury Republican circulated the Democrats’ email claiming shenanigans, but crossover voting has a long history in Texas elections.

Democrats were the target in 2008, when the Republicans had nominated John McCain and radio host Rush Limbaugh’s fans voted Democrat in an attempt to nominate Hillary Clinton over Barack Obama.

Prestigious Republican pollster Mike Baselice has been quoted saying that Texas primaries commonly include a 9 to 15 percent crossover vote from the other party. Ledford said she still finds “Limbaugh Democrats” on the rolls.

If 9 to 15 percent of Republican primary voters are moderate Democrats, that might affect close Texas House races here such as challengers Scott W. Fisher and Andrew Piel’s campaigns against Tea Partiers Jonathan Stickland and Tony Tinderholt.

“We know voters do it,” Riddlesperger said. “What we don’t know is, are they voting for the person who scares them the least, or for the person who’s the easiest to defeat [in November]?”

Outside of a few congressional districts or constables’ precincts, local Democrats have little to decide in this primary.

Statewide, the showcase race involves Fort Worth Democrat Lon Burnam running for Railroad Commission against two opponents, one of them obscure but with a familiar Democratic last name, Grady Yarbrough.

“That race just doesn’t matter,” Riddlesperger said. “The incentive is to vote in the Republican primary, and a lot of Democrats do.”

Texans don’t toe a party line.

This story was originally published February 20, 2016 at 6:07 PM with the headline "In Texas, where only one party primary matters, voters don’t walk the line."