Primary Pallor: "No Candidate Filed"

When it comes to casting my ballot, I’m as pro-choice as they come: I actually want to be able to choose between candidates for a particular office. The audacity! Too often, however, that’s an unrealistic expectation. Take the March 4 Ohio primary, at least in much of Hamilton County.

I called up the sample ballots available for my precinct on the Hamilton County Board of Elections Web site (some other county boards also have this online feature). Here are the grim facts: Aside from the presidential race and two county ballot issues, only one contested race appears on the Republican ballot in my precinct – Pat DeWine vs. Kathy King for the GOP nomination to a Common Pleas judgeship – and none are on the Democratic ballot.

Yes, it is a partisan primary, and each party might be expected to have fielded only one candidate in many races. But oh, if it were even that crowded. In many races they haven’t mustered up any candidates. On the Democratic ballot, 16 races are devoid of names, with the solemn advisory “No Candidate Filed a Declaration of Candidacy for this Office.” It’s only one on the GOP side, but that’s not much to crow about. What this means, of course, is that in the November election, 16 Republicans and one Democrat will get a pass.

You might chalk it up to this year’s highly publicized “deal” between the county GOP and Dems not to field candidates in certain races, but this sort of thing has been going on for decades, especially when judges and countywide offices are on the ballot. Take a wider look, and it’s even worse:

=In the fall of 2002, two-thirds of the seats in the Kentucky House were unopposed.
=In the fall of 2003, there were 90 uncontested “races” for local offices throughout Hamilton County – plus eight with no candidates at all.
=In the fall of 2004, 48 of the 100 Kentucky House races and eight of 19 Senate races had no opposition.
=And in the fall of 2006, one of the U.S. House seats from Kentucky had no major-party opposition!

What concerns me most is what young voters, especially first-time voters, might think when they see their primary ballots after all the build-up they’ve experienced for this civic exercise. I can imagine they’ll think: If it doesn’t matter to the parties and candidates, why should it matter to me?

Uncontested layups in March, I like. Uncontested seats, not so much.