With the resignation of Rep. Stell Parker Selby, we will now have a Special Election to fill the year-long vacancy in RD 20.
Will the parties have an open process with primaries, or will we have a rerun of the cynical insiders’ circle jerk that resulted in Dan Cruce and Ray Seigfried?
Governor Matt Meyer has said that he supports primaries for special elections. It would be easy in this case, since we don’t have the urgency of a fast-tracked election. The General Assembly adjourns on June 30 and is scheduled to return in January. We have six months.
Here’s the catch–in order to change the current procedure, legislation has to pass to enable the primaries.
That legislation, in the form of HB 183 (Gorman), was introduced on May 22, and has languished in the House Elections & Government Affairs Committee ever since. The committee chair is Stephanie Bolden who, along with Lumpy Carson and Kim Williams, have aided and abetted the past three speakers in killing good progressive legislation.
This is about letting the people decide. Will the Speaker, who suddenly may have a little something extra on her plate, (man, another breaking story?) deign to do the will of the people for a change? One word from her and this bill moves forward. Or will she continue to deny direct democratic representation to the residents of RD 20? I mean, what’s another year without representation? It’s not her district.