By Howard Fischer
Mail | X: @azcapmedia

PHOENIX — Arizonans may get a chance in November to make what could be an earth-shattering change in state politics.

A new initiative filed Wednesday would eliminate partisan primaries. That would mean all candidates of all parties would run against each other in a bid to gain a spot on the general election ballot, with all voters of any affiliation allow to choose.

With only the top vote-getters advancing to the general election, that could mean all the candidates could end up being Democrats, Republicans or even unaffiliated with either major party.

The change is designed to scrap the current system where one party or the other holds an insurmountable voter edge in more than two-thirds of the legislative districts. That means whoever wins the primary — often someone who appeals to the more radical elements of his or her party — goes on to nearly certain victory in November.

But the proposal, known as Make Elections Fair Again, would affect more than legislative races. It also would cover federal and statewide offices.

And it would override the current system in Tucson, the only city in the state that has partisan local elections.

Also being teed up for a November vote is a plan for an immediate $2-an-hour increase in the minimum wage over the next two years. That would be on top of the current requirement for annual inflationary increases.
That could bring the minimum wage up to $18 by 2026.

It is the measure on how elections are run, however, that could revamp Arizona politics for decades to come.

“The Make Elections Fair Initiative eliminates voter and candidate discrimination based on party affiliation,” said Sarah Smallhouse, one of the prime donors to the measure. The Tucson native is president of the Thomas R. Brown Foundation, named after he father who was a founder of the now-defunct Burr-Brown Corp.

That goes to the essence of current law. Consider a legislative district that encompasses South Tucson and surrounding areas where Democrats so far outnumber Republicans they have little chance of being elected.

That means Democratic candidates need to appeal only to issues of concern to Democrats. And whoever the Democrats select in the primary are virtually certain to win in November.

In fact, Republicans are so discouraged about their chances in LD 20 that they’re not even offering a challenger to incumbent Sen. Sally Ann Gonzales. Ditto on the House side where Democrats Alma Hernandez and Betty Villegas are running unopposed for the two House seats.

Smallhouse said an open, nonpartisan primary gives all candidates an equal chance.

“It lets the voters choose freely,” she said.

This isn’t just a Democratic proposal. It also has the backing of Republican Beau Lane, who made an unsuccessful bid to be the Republican nominee for secretary of state in 2022. He lost in a Republican-only primary to Mark Finchem.

But when it came to the general election, Finchem lost to Democrat Adrian Fontes by more than 120,000 votes.

Lane said this is representative of what happens around the state, where candidates get nominated in partisan primaries “where less than 20% of voters turn out.” Lane, who describes himself as a “Reagan Republican” who said he is loyal to his party, said open primaries will create an opportunity for more Republicans to win in general elections with the nomination of candidates in the primary who have broader appeal.

“I think it’s become apparent that ... on the statewide level, that our party is putting forward candidates who are unable to win and who are unable to attract sufficient amounts of independents to win an election,” he said. “This will certainly alleviate that and allow for other candidates to rise to the top.”

That does not, however, guarantee Republicans like Lane will make it to the general election.

The initiative leaves it up to the Legislature to decide how many advance from the primary to the general election. It could be two Democrats, two Republicans or even two from minor parties or unaffiliated.

But the measure says lawmakers are free to allow up to five to advance to the general election. In that case, it requires use of a “ranked choice’’ system where people mark their first, second, third and beyond choices, with successive tallying of ballots until someone gets 50% of the votes.

Voters will be given a chance not only to approve or reject this initiative but also to quash forever the idea of open primaries.

Republican lawmakers put their own proposed constitutional measure on the November ballot that would guarantee the right of each political party to nominate a candidate, with a guarantee that each party would be entitled to place at least one person for each open position on the general election ballot.

If both measures pass, the one with more votes wins.

Also filed late Wednesday was a measure for what would be a third effort by voters to hike the minimum wage.
Prior to 2006 employers had to pay workers just $5.15 an hour, the same as the federal minimum. A ballot measure that year hiked it to $6.75, with inflationary annual increases.

In 2016, the state minimum wage had risen to $8.05. Voters again voted to increase it in steps to $12 an hour by 2020, again with future hikes linked to inflation. It currently is $14.35 an hour; the federal minimum is just $7.25.

Another inflationary increase in an amount yet to be determined will kick in automatically on Jan. 1.

The One Fair Wage Act would boost whatever that figure is by $1 on that date, with another $1 increase on Jan. 1, 2026, also above the regular inflation increase.

That could easily put the minimum wage to $18 by that point.

What is particularly alarming for restaurant owners is the initiative would eliminate their ability to pay them $3 an hour less as long as their tips bring them up to the minimum. That would mean the restaurants would be on the hook for that entire $18, regardless of how much workers take home in tips.

They convinced lawmakers to put a constitutional measure on the ballot.

It would not override the proposed hikes in the minimum. But it would say that they could pay workers 25% less than that if their take-home, with tips, reached $20 an hour.

Steve Chucri, president and CEO of the Arizona Restaurant Association, said he’s convinced that most wait staff would earn that $20 minimum with their tips. And given an $18 minimum wage, that would mean restaurants would have to cover just $13.50.