“None Of The Above” Wins Democratic Primary For Governor In Nevada
Apparently, Nevada Democrats weren’t too happy with their choices for Governor this year:
Elections have historically been defined by their winners and losers – but on Tuesday a primary in Nevada returned a disheartening result for all the candidates: nobody won.
Voters in the state’s Democratic primary for governor were so unimpressed by the eight men on offer that the most popular option on the ballot paper was “none of these candidates,” which received 30 percent of the vote, according to figures from The Associated Press.
Democrat activists in the state acknowledged earlier this year that they had failed to find a credible challenger to face incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, according to Politico. And it clearly showed at the polling stations, with more than 21,000 people turning out with the express purpose of saying “no thanks” to the sum total of their party’s would-be governors.
If voters did in fact want an empty seat instead of a challenger to face Sandoval they will be disappointed: In second place behind “none of these candidates” was Robert Goodman, a man who has run twice before and this time received 25 percent of the vote. State law means he will be the Democratic candidate.
So I guess that, technically, Goodman won the nomination and will go on to face Sandoval in the fall. When you come in second place to quite literally nobody, though, that obviously doesn’t bode well for your chances in the General Election.
I have to wonder if an empty seat might actually win that election. In fact, I wonder if “none of the above” might not win most elections … equivalent to a company deciding none of the interviewed job candidates are a good match.
Nobody has the best platform, Nobody can raise more funds…Nobody is quite formidable.
That’s an option that needs to be on every ballot in the nation.
I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if nobody did a better job than anybody.
On a related topic, Who’s on first?
Why am I reminded of the court case in which Orly Taitz lost to an empty chair?
That, right there, should have won them the right to the Convention.
“None of the above” – Finally a politician I can get behind!
What’s the point of putting “None of the above” on a ballot if you’re going to ignore the people who choose that option?
I seem to recall hearing about some country (Australia?) where, at some point in the past, “None of the above” was always an option, and the result if “None of the above” won was to throw out that set of candidates and bring in a new set. That always sounded eminently sensible to me, at least for final elections. In a primary, I’d say this party has chosen not to field a candidate this time around. The people have spoken.
There’s a “Clint Eastwood at the Republican National Convention” joke to be made here, but I can’t quite get it…
Nevada, the Cliven Bundy-Sharron Angle state.
@al-Ameda: Nevada, the Harry Reid – Art Bell state.
There’s a large number of working people who will elect Democrats in Nevada if the party can find a suitable candidate to run. Stronger candidates might have seen that the incumbent Republican Governor is just too popular to be defeated this time around and didn’t want to engage in a long and costly road to disappointment.
@Jenos Idanian #13:
Well then, as revised, Nevada, the: Sharron Angle-Cliven Bundy-Art Bell state.
Bell is the only sane one of that crew.
Does Nevada allow cross party voting in primaries?
@Grewgills:
Nope
Ron Silver, call your office.