Imagine a political system where the most crucial election is decided by a small fraction of voters, and over 326,000 of your neighbors are locked out before the race even begins.
Kentucky is one of 16 states that hold closed primaries. This means that you are only allowed to vote for candidates who match your party registration. And this is out of touch.
The reality of Kentucky’s closed primary system, an outdated barrier that effectively excludes 326,262 Independents and unaffiliated voters - the country’s fastest-growing voting bloc - from the crucial May primary.
I am a Democrat, and a proud one. I was a member of the Young Democrats since way back in high school at Henry Clay. I interned for Ben Chandler while in graduate school at the University of Kentucky. I’ve knocked doors in Pennsylvania - for Hillary in Gettysburg, for Biden in Allentown - and phonebanked in multiple elections. I am running for Congress because I want to rebuild and reinvigorate our party, which has not done a great job of keeping up with the times and embracing new, young, forward-thinking leaders. I also want to include and enfranchise voices that have felt left out, which means those voters who left the party out of disappointment or frustration, and those who never quite felt at home in the party. Giving them a say is a way to win back voters.
This exclusion has serious consequences for our democracy. A staggering 85% of Congressional seats are effectively decided in the primary, not the general election. For example, in Kentucky’s 6th District during the 2022 midterm, only about 115,000 people - roughly 15% of the district’s population - voted in the main party primaries. That small slice of voters determined the choices for everyone else. By November, less than half of the general election voters had any say in who was on the ballot.
That is not democracy.
We are facing a reality where up to 61% of young voters are rejecting the two-party system. By closing primaries, we are not protecting party purity; rather, we are building barriers against the very people we need to win. We are telling young, unaligned, and frustrated voters that their voices and votes don’t matter unless they fall in line.
I am running for Congress to reinvigorate and reshape the Democratic Party, but we can’t do that by shutting people out. True leadership requires expanding the electorate and welcoming every neighbor into the political process. We must build a system where everyone feels welcome, and include and enfranchise voices that have felt left out.
Here is my challenge to you:
First, go to https://vrsws.sos.ky.gov/ovrweb/ and check your voter registration status right now. If you don’t double-check by December 31, you risk leaving your vote on the table, joining the hundreds of thousands of Kentuckians already excluded. My 69-year-old mother even said, “I can’t believe how easy it was.”
Second, if you find you are locked out because you are an Independent, do not quietly accept it. Make noise. Demand your full voting rights. Call your state legislators and tell them that excluding over 300,000 Kentuckians from the primary process is unacceptable. Demand open primaries and a voice for every Kentuckian.
Finally, reach out to me. If you are one of those without the ability to vote in a primary, I want to hear from you and know what issues you would vote for.
By working together, we can build a coalition too loud to ignore, but it starts with you refusing to stay silent.