Independents may decide state’s Dem primary
SACRAMENTO — In the battle for the Democratic presidential nomination, no prize is bigger than California, which offers more delegates than any other state. And as candidates plot their strategies here, there’s an overlooked group of voters who could be key to victory: independents.
More than 5 million voters not registered in a party are eligible to participate in California’s March 3 Democratic primary, the second most of any state that votes on Super Tuesday, after Texas. These voters flexed their power during the 2018 midterms, helping California Democrats flip seven U.S. House seats long held by Republicans.
Such a vast pool of potential supporters is a tantalizing prospect for any White House hopeful. But tapping them won’t be easy because of complicated election rules and the unfamiliarity many voters have with participating in presidential primaries so early in the contest. Success will require candidates to have a sophisticated organization in California even as they spend much of their time focusing on the early voting states that will kick off the primary season next month.
“It’s the critical X-factor in a California presidential primary,” said Ace Smith, a political consultant who helped run California Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign last year and led Hillary Clinton’s 2016 California operation.
So far, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and billionaire Michael Bloomberg have been most aggressive in pursuing independents. Sanders, the independent senator who has thrived on anti-establishment enthusiasm, is urging his California supporters to become Democrats, despite the fact that they can vote for him as independents. At a December rally, he walked the audience through changing their voter affiliation, telling them to use the secretary of state’s website.
His campaign argues that this approach ensures voters get the ballots they need, rather than having to take additional steps, as independents must. Californians can change their party registration until Feb. 18. The campaign is also adding a feature on its mobile app that will let supporters look up the party registrations of friends and family, so that they can send them instructions on how to vote for Sanders.
“They’re a very important block of voters,” said Rafael Návar, who runs Sanders’ California campaign.
Bloomberg is essentially ceding the traditional early voting states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina to stake his campaign — and his vast wealth — on a strong Super Tuesday showing.
A spokeswoman for Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, said the campaign is reaching out to independents across the country generally but not doing anything specific to educate Californians on how to pull Democratic ballots. A spokeswoman for Tom Steyer, the California philanthropist, said independents are supporting Steyer, but she provided no details on outreach efforts.
Representatives for former Vice President Joe Biden and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren didn’t answer questions about their efforts to target these voters.