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Voters deserve to choose

As Democratic gubernatorial candidate Ed FitzGerald’s campaign implodes, the major political parties should learn a valuable lesson about removing voters from the primaries. It’s a bad idea.

Uncontested in the primary, there was no way to know whether FitzGerald, or others who considered running, would resonate best with voters. Sure enough, a Quinnipiac University poll late last month shows 65 percent of registered Ohio voters didn’t know enough about FitzGerald to form an opinion. The same poll shows Gov. John Kasich leading FitzGerald 48-36 with a 3 percent margin of error.

Also, as we pointed out in an editorial published Jan. 26, FitzGerald’s vulnerabilities would likely sit dormant until the general election, when it might be too late for successful damage control. Sure enough, a 2012 police report surfaced last week detailing how FitzGerald was found alone in a car with a woman who wasn’t his wife at 4:30 a.m. in October of 2012. The report indicated they had been there for 30 minutes.

Then it was revealed that FitzGerald did not have a driver’s license from 2002 until after the police incident more than 10 years later. While serving as Lakewood mayor and then Cuyahoga County executive from 2008 through most of 2012, FitzGerald had a series of learner’s permits that allowed him to drive with an adult, licensed driver in the vehicle with him.

A post on Twitter read that FitzGerald ”has probably earned the support of every Ohioan with a learner’s permit. Too bad he’s the only one of ’em old enough to vote.” A campaign spokeswoman blamed the lack of a driver’s license on procrastination.

While all this played out, the deadline passed for the Democrats to replace FitzGerald on the ballot.

All of this could have been avoided if, as we said, Democrats fostered a contested primary instead of devolving politics to the days of smoke-filled, back-room deals.

In September of 2012, FitzGerald told the Tribune Chronicle Editorial Board that a 2014 Democratic primary would be ”suicidal.” Expecting Kasich to raise $20 million, Fitzgerald said the Democrats must, prior to the primary, weed the field down to the one who could raise enough money to mount a challenge.

At the time there were four leading Democrats FitzGerald, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Howland, former Gov. Ted Strickland and former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray. Early last year, that field had been narrowed to FitzGerald and Ryan.

In March 2013, four days after FitzGerald said he was forming an exploratory committee to consider a gubernatorial bid, Ryan announced that he would not run.

Then Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune announced his intention to run against FitzGerald. Ohio Democratic Party Chairman Chris Redfern publicly derided Portune. Portune told the Cincinnati Enquirer that top Democratic Party leaders asked him not to challenge their endorsed candidate, FitzGerald.

It’s not just this year and it’s not just the Democrats.

In 2006, Ohio Democrats weeded out most of the field for governor even before the primary. That way, then-U.S. Rep. Ted Strickland was able to amass a campaign war chest. Meanwhile, three Republicans battled for their party’s nomination. Kenneth Blackwell won it, but in doing so limped into the general election with little cash. Strickland won handily.

So Republicans followed suit in 2010 by coalescing behind Kasich, who eventually upset Strickland. Without primary opposition, Kasich entered the general election with a wealthy campaign.

But eliminating the primary doesn’t just cheat voters. It’s dangerous, as the Democrats are finding out. FitzGerald’s crashing campaign will likely impact Democrats down the ticket.

Kasich could have been facing a well-vetted opponent right now. Perhaps the Mahoning Valley’s Ryan. This is why giving voters a choice in the primary is so important.

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