Livingston County Democrats should vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday, Aug. 2, and ignore pleas from Republicans to vote for them in the Republican primary, said the chair of the Livingston County Democratic Party.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday. Those voting absentee have until 8 p.m. Tuesday to turn in their ballot to their local clerk.
An Illinois organization called Country First Michigan has been sending flyers to Democratic voters in the 22nd state Senate District urging Democrats to vote “against the extremes in the Republican Primary,” said Judy Daubenmier, party chair.
The flyer does not name which candidate the organization considers to be less extreme.
The organization that paid for the flyer shares the same treasurer and post office box as U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., a member of the Select House Committee holding hearings on the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capital.
Some Democratic House candidates in Livingston County, like Jennifer Conlin in the 48th House District, are receiving national attention because of the importance of their races, and those national groups use primary turnout as a way to gauge enthusiasm and candidate performance in making funding decisions, Daubenmier said.
Voters can only vote in one party for the primary, so it is important for the sake of the Democratic House candidates that voters stay in their own primary and not attempt to vote for the “less extreme” Republican, she said. Their ballot will be spoiled if they try to vote both sides of the aisle.
“I find it nearly impossible to determine which Republican in the 22nd state Senate primary is ‘less extreme,’” Daubenmier said. “One signed a letter demanding a delay in the counting of electoral college ballots because of phony claims of election fraud and promoted the Big Lie for months, helping lay the groundwork for the violence of Jan. 6. Later, that candidate called Democrats ‘groomers’ and pedophiles, sowing the seeds of hatred that leads to violence against your political opponents. The other candidate has defended the neo-fascist Proud Boys group and urged his supporters to go to the polls armed. It’s not clear to me which one of these would ‘save our democracy.
“Historically, when Democrats try to pick the other party’s candidate, it comes back to bite them,” Daubenmier said. “If people really want to ‘vote against extremism for the sake of democracy,’ they should vote for Democrat Jordan Genso in the 22nd state Senate primary and in the general election.”
