Potus Geeks Book Review: The Primary Solution by Nick Troiano
Almost everyone agrees that our politics are broken, right? Identifying the crux of the problem is another matter. Are the wrong people being elected? Is it social media or the decline of a principled and ethical media that has led to rampant polarization? Maybe it's the influence of big money that puts privileged private interest ahead of the public good? In his 2024 book The Primary Solution: Rescuing Our Democracy from the Fringes, author Nick Troiano, Executive Director of the non-partisan group Unite America, acknowledges that all of those problems exist. But he pinpoints the real problem as being the current primary system, one designed to ignore the consensus of most voters in a state, instead rewarding and empowering those on the fringes of each political party, resulting in a system in which compromise is labelled as surrender, and which punishes those in both parties who want to reach across the aisle and work toward solutions that put the public good ahead of partisan interests.
Troiano points out how just 8% of voters elected 83% of the members of the House of Representatives and how most elections are decided at the primary level, not in the general election. For example in Georgia's 14th district, only 8% of the state population voted in the Republican primary (where Marjorie Taylor Greene was the winner) and in New York's 14th district only 5% of eligible voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary (where Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez was victorious.) Both candidates faced token opposition in the general election. In fifteen states independents are prevented from voting in primaries despite the fact that their tax dollars go to fund those primaries.
Troiano is careful not to cast this as a problem caused by Republicans or by Democrats, but as a systemic problem. Primaries in most states are controlled by those on the ideological extremes of their parties. In those states, any elected politician who seeks to find common ground with the other party in order to achieve a beneficial result for the state is seen as a traitor to the cause and will often get "primaried out," defeated in the next primary by a candidate who is more polarized. The result is massive gridlock and it hurts everyone except for those whose goal is simply to hold on to power.
As the book's title suggests, Troiano doesn't just identify the problem. He proposes a workable solution, one that has been tried in states such as Alaska and Louisiana and others, with positive results, where the winning candidates are not afraid to work for the benefit of the common good rather than the good of the party, because they're not afraid of being "primaried out."
Troiano proposes a number of ways that this can be addressed, but at the root of the solution is the notion that elected officials must be answerable to all of the voters in their state and not just beholden to those on the ideological extremes of their parties. He asserts that, in order to achieve this, two core principles must be followed. The first is a call for open primaries. As the author puts it, "All eligible voters should have the freedom to vote for any candidate in every election, regardless of party." So if a state's political system is dominated by one party, all eligible voters should be entitled to cast ballots in the selection of that party's candidate regardless of whether or not they are registered as members of that party. In this way, candidates who are not on the fringes can have a broader selection of potential supporters to appeal to, thereby increasing the likelihood of selecting and electing someone who will put the interests of a majority of the state's voters first.
The second principle is that, in a general election, a candidate must earn a majority of the vote in order to win an election. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as runoff elections (as now occurs when Georgia elects a US Senator for example) or by ranked choice voting (in which voters express a preference for a first, second and sometimes further choices. The candidate with the least number of votes has their votes reallocated to the voter's next choice and this continues until one candidate has the support of over 50% of the ballots cast.)
Not surprisingly, the solutions proposed by Troiano and others in Unite America have been met with a number of objections and criticisms. Troiano takes on each of these head on in the last section of his book, making cogent arguments as to the fallacious nature of each of these, and how most are based on positions that are self-serving for their advocates and not for their voters. While conceding that the improvements he suggests are not perfect ones, he is careful to remind us that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Troiano offers a powerful yet practical way out of many of the problems that exist in the polarized partisan politics that exist today and gives voters an option for how they can elect leaders whose first loyalty is to their constituents, not to their party. For those of us who are not content with the status quo, and who are looking for answers and for a better way to reform our governments, this book offers an excellent alternative for those possessed of the courage to bring about real change.
Troiano points out how just 8% of voters elected 83% of the members of the House of Representatives and how most elections are decided at the primary level, not in the general election. For example in Georgia's 14th district, only 8% of the state population voted in the Republican primary (where Marjorie Taylor Greene was the winner) and in New York's 14th district only 5% of eligible voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary (where Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez was victorious.) Both candidates faced token opposition in the general election. In fifteen states independents are prevented from voting in primaries despite the fact that their tax dollars go to fund those primaries.
Troiano is careful not to cast this as a problem caused by Republicans or by Democrats, but as a systemic problem. Primaries in most states are controlled by those on the ideological extremes of their parties. In those states, any elected politician who seeks to find common ground with the other party in order to achieve a beneficial result for the state is seen as a traitor to the cause and will often get "primaried out," defeated in the next primary by a candidate who is more polarized. The result is massive gridlock and it hurts everyone except for those whose goal is simply to hold on to power.
As the book's title suggests, Troiano doesn't just identify the problem. He proposes a workable solution, one that has been tried in states such as Alaska and Louisiana and others, with positive results, where the winning candidates are not afraid to work for the benefit of the common good rather than the good of the party, because they're not afraid of being "primaried out."
Troiano proposes a number of ways that this can be addressed, but at the root of the solution is the notion that elected officials must be answerable to all of the voters in their state and not just beholden to those on the ideological extremes of their parties. He asserts that, in order to achieve this, two core principles must be followed. The first is a call for open primaries. As the author puts it, "All eligible voters should have the freedom to vote for any candidate in every election, regardless of party." So if a state's political system is dominated by one party, all eligible voters should be entitled to cast ballots in the selection of that party's candidate regardless of whether or not they are registered as members of that party. In this way, candidates who are not on the fringes can have a broader selection of potential supporters to appeal to, thereby increasing the likelihood of selecting and electing someone who will put the interests of a majority of the state's voters first.
The second principle is that, in a general election, a candidate must earn a majority of the vote in order to win an election. This can be achieved in a number of ways such as runoff elections (as now occurs when Georgia elects a US Senator for example) or by ranked choice voting (in which voters express a preference for a first, second and sometimes further choices. The candidate with the least number of votes has their votes reallocated to the voter's next choice and this continues until one candidate has the support of over 50% of the ballots cast.)
Not surprisingly, the solutions proposed by Troiano and others in Unite America have been met with a number of objections and criticisms. Troiano takes on each of these head on in the last section of his book, making cogent arguments as to the fallacious nature of each of these, and how most are based on positions that are self-serving for their advocates and not for their voters. While conceding that the improvements he suggests are not perfect ones, he is careful to remind us that we should not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Troiano offers a powerful yet practical way out of many of the problems that exist in the polarized partisan politics that exist today and gives voters an option for how they can elect leaders whose first loyalty is to their constituents, not to their party. For those of us who are not content with the status quo, and who are looking for answers and for a better way to reform our governments, this book offers an excellent alternative for those possessed of the courage to bring about real change.