RuCo GOP to caucus candidates for county offices

From the Daily News Journal:

The Rutherford County Republican Party will hold a caucus in early 2010 instead of a primary to nominate its local candidates for county executive offices, party Chairman Rick Womick said.

Caucuses involve parties inviting their members to attending a meeting to declare openly who they favor rather than going to a precinct to cast a secret ballot vote.

Womick’s party expects to have only one candidate per office, so it doesn’t make sense to spend money on holding a countywide election, Womick said.

“It’s going to be in the interests of the taxpayers of Rutherford County for us to go with a caucus,” Womick said.

I’m personally torn on the idea of caucuses. For me personally, I believe that a competitive primary produces higher quality candidates for the general election; however, if Womick’s suggestion that only one candidate is planning to run for each position is true, then it certainly makes sense to save taxpayer money.

As an advocate for limited government, I recognize that every dollar counts – and it helps when we can save $100,000 here and there. On the flip side, I am also a fierce believer in the democratic process. Allowing party blowhards to select a candidate (hello, NY-23) when there is the potential for multiple candidates to enter a race only hurts the process.

So, I applaud Rick for his first major decision as Chairman of the Rutherford County GOP to save the taxpayers of Rutherford County some money, but I offer that applause with a warning: they should be careful to allow interested parties to jump into contested primaries.

That being said, good luck to Teb Batey, who has been an awesome Trustee for Rutherford County. Batey is one of the most honest people I know, and it was great to appear downballot from him in 2006. Good luck to the other candidates as well.