How Gov. Moore’s open primary remarks landed in Maryland

When Gov. Wes Moore said closed primaries were obsolete on national television back in April, he was playing music to the ears of Maryland voter Courtney Hart.

“I agree with him,” Hart said in an interview weeks after the governor’s appearance on HBO’s “Real Time with Bill Maher.”

The election reform advocate is one of a growing number of voters in Maryland and across the country whose political views don’t neatly align with Democrats or Republicans. These voters have also become a key voting bloc in presidential elections and part of the political calculus of potential candidates, like Moore.

Maryland is one of 23 states with closed or partially closed primaries, meaning that more than 1 million unaffiliated registered voters — nearly as many as registered Republicans — won’t be able to vote in the June primary.

Across the country, closed primaries have rewarded candidates targeting the extreme wings of their parties. President Donald Trump, a far-right Republican, has largely influenced the outcome of GOP races.

Candidates elected in open primaries tend to cast less ideologically extreme votes, according to a 2020 University of Southern California study.

In Maryland, Democrats dominate the number of registered voters, and many Democratic races are decided in the primary. So unless unaffiliated voters change their registration, they’re locked out, said Nikki Tyree, executive director for the Maryland League of Women Voters.

The nonpartisan group does not endorse or oppose political parties or candidates, but they do take political positions. The league supports open primaries.

“We believe open primaries are the best way to get voters involved in the democratic process,” Tyree said, adding it can also expose voters to candidates with varied political views.

Open primaries have the potential to mix up the status quo because candidates must appeal to a broader voter base, she said.

She also said unaffiliated voters and candidates from other parties often get an unfair shake. The league hears from candidates that running against an unopposed incumbent is an “exercise in defeatism.”

“When people feel left out of a democratic process, you don’t have a democratic process,” she said.

A 2024 analysis examining who makes up that bloc revealed that while just under half consistently registered as independent, the other half split along party lines. According to a January Gallup poll, 45% of Americans self-identified as unaffiliated with either major party.

Independent voters tipped the scales in the 2024 presidential election. Most supported Kamala Harris, but independents showed up in greater numbers for Donald Trump in crucial swing states, according to one study. A recent survey of independents from January showed the powerful group moving away from the president and the Republican Party.

Maryland lawmakers pitched bills this year that would have permitted unaffiliated voters to participate in the primary with or without changing their registration. None advanced.

So when Moore told Maher it was a “problem” that “independents cannot vote until November,” Hart thought her governor had been won over.

“He seemed really excited to be talking about it,” Hart said.

Moore told Maher: “If you believe in democracy, then let people’s voices be heard and don’t make them have to affiliate with a political party.”

Maher had put Moore on the spot by raising the possibility of future ambitions for higher office in a question about whether he could pass a national Democratic primary test.

“If you were to run for president, I’m not saying you are,” Maher smirked as the camera panned to a smiling Moore who was shaking his head, “you would have to get through the primary process.”

“It’s people who are saying, ‘I do not affiliate with Democrats, and I do not affiliate with Republicans,’” Moore said. “Here’s the problem: Independents cannot vote until November. Their voice cannot be heard.”

Hart’s excitement over Moore’s monologue was short-lived. His team later clarified Moore wasn’t talking about Maryland’s elections.

“It’s a gap between what he said on a national stage and what his office said here at home,” she said in an interview weeks after Moore’s appearance.

Hart — a member of the Maryland Forward Party, a political organization focused on election reform — called Moore out on social media.

“Was that a real position or was it a sound bite for a reelection year?” Hart asked in a video.

Moore spokesperson Rhyan Lake said the governor “supports the state’s current closed primary system and believes in working within it to encourage voter participation.”

Hart acknowledged that the conversation around opening primaries has its challenges but said she hoped the governor would continue to be part of it.

An open primary where every registered voter can choose who’s on the ballot would invite more nuanced conversations, Hart said.

In reality, she said, many people’s political views are more complex than what either major party offers.