Reclaiming Democracy Amid Frameworks of Partisan Primaries: A Review of Nick Troiano’s The Primary Solution
After feeling angered by the failing of the Senate vote that tried to get America’s fiscal horse with a compromise on spending and taxes (Troiano 8), then twenty-five-year-old Nick Troiano ran as an Independent to get a House seat to represent Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District in 2014. However, every aspect of that system put up extra barriers for independent candidates, turning that that only shot into an extreme long shot” (Troiano 12). As an independent candidate, Troiano was required to collect 3.5 times more signatures than either his Democratic and Republican counterparts. Even after having the best performance by an independent House candidate running against two major party candidates in over two decades, Troiano realized that the only way to improve representation in our government was to fix the election system itself.
In his first book, The Primary Solution (2024), Troiano conveys that despite the polarization that exists between Democrats and Republicans, both sides can agree that our political system is broken — with only 20% of all Americans saying they trust the government (Troiano 1). This agonizing fact leads to the need to ask ourselves why this is the case and what is the root cause of what is fueling the dysfunction of politics. Troiano argues that partisan primaries are the Primary Problem. In the 2024 primaries, 34% of the U.S. House has been elected by just 3% of Americans, effectively leaving an alarming number of U.S. Representatives to have been elected in low-turnout primaries (Macomber 2023). This is considered the Primary Problem as it demonstrates fueling dysfunction and polarization that exists in US politics.
Troiano believes that the only solution to the Primary Problem is to abolish partisan primaries. In abolishing party primaries within our electoral system, Troiano states that it would improve representation and functionality within our government which he cites as the “single most important thing we can do to improve representation in our government and hold it accountable to delivering better results” (Troiano 2).
Troiano, who is the founding executive director of Unite America, a philanthropic venture fund that invests in nonpartisan election reform, brings forth an exciting contribution to the conversation about the polarization and lack of representation that exists in the political system of this country through partisan primaries. In doing so, I find his account of personal experience in trying to maneuver through this “broken election system” informative and telling of his urgency to fix our electoral system. Troiano outlines the pitfalls of our current voting system of first-past-the-post, a system that leads to favor extreme candidates and heightens polarization. Troiano provides several case studies of how some states are implementing different primary reforms that Troiano argues for, which further backs his arguments.
Troiano explains that partisan primaries emphasize the exclusion of millions of voters in closed elections. Partisan primaries have three broad categories: closed, semi-open, and open. In all three categories, the Republicans and Democrats have separate primary ballots. This means that voters cannot vote for a Republican in one contest, and a Democrat in another, even if those candidates best represent their views (Macomber 2023). Additionally, they create more significant gaps between Democrats and Republicans which leads to candidates focusing more on targeting likely voters (Troiano 85–86). Partisan primaries are decided by voters who are more ideologically extreme than those who participate in the general election (Allen). This is horrifying as it leads our roster of choices for general elections in the hands of these extreme voters. Additionally, this lose-lose-lose system, as Troiano coins it, not only affects voters but also political representatives who don’t fit the extreme views that other American voters hold that vote in partisan primaries. The phenomenon of partisan primaries has led to a scenario where a small minority of voters hold a disproportionate influence over the outcome of the vast majority of elections, thereby leading to an extreme political landscape. This system leads elected leaders to be wary of facing challengers from their party during primaries, also known as being “primaried” where they feel the need to cater to the extremes of their political base.
The manner in which Troiano explains his main argument allows the ordinary reader to have a better understanding that abolishing partisan primaries doesn’t mean abolishing primary elections entirely. Troiano’s solution to the Primary Problem is easy to understand and seems attainable. Abolishing partisan primaries would not require an act of Congress or an amendment. Instead, Troiano offers three possible paths toward the Primary Solution: (1) the nonpartisan primary, (2) no primary elections, with general elections runoffs, (3) and majority winner voting. With states showing favorable results in the different paths that Troiano argues for, he strongly believes that bringing these possible paths to fruition to the rest of the country and its states will help revamp the functionality of our government and will lead voters to have the freedom to vote for any candidate regardless of their party affiliation. Through advocating for party-neutral reforms that improve representation, increase accountability, and put voters first (Macomber 2023), our country will not only flourish but be a country in which every voter will never feel that their vote is spoiled.
Nick Troiano discusses the dangers behind party primaries — which have led to empowering extremists and fueling dysfunction within our government. The values that this country has built its government on have been “of the people, by the people, for the people.” Yet, Troiano explains that party primaries were not only not created by our founding fathers nor was it established in the Constitution. Instead, they were against political parties to begin with and saw them as “corrupt relics of the monarchical British system that they wanted to discard in favor of a truly democratic government” (Pruitt). As such, this history explains the shift towards the electoral system in place which has led to extreme party interests.
Troiano’s use of detail when discussing the history and origins of party primaries is both riveting and surprising. To the average American voter, we have been led to believe that party primaries have existed in the electoral system of this country since its inception. However, party primaries were invented as a result of party candidates being chosen by “party bosses,” ultimately leading to dissatisfaction with this form of candidate nomination process. Troiano’s detailing of this shift does more than just inform; it challenges the reader to reconsider assumptions about American democracy and the electoral systems that are in place. As such, it is why Troiano positions party primaries as empowering extremism and fueling governmental dysfunction, which adds to Troiano’s argument of why our current electoral system is in need of reform. He connects the origins of partisan primaries to the polarization that characterizes modern American politics which serves to aid his argument of supporting different types of nonpartisan primaries.
Troiano’s argument for implementing nonpartisan primaries, as discussed in his book, is also riveting and addresses the challenges he outlines. Troianos uses certain states that have adopted some form of nonpartisan primaries as evidence for which why nonpartisan primaries should be implemented. California, Washington, and Nebraska advance top 2 primary finishers to the general election. Alaska advances the top 4 primary finishers to the general election. “Top Four” model was adopted in 2020, where voters used ranked-choice voting. More recently, in 2022, Nevada supported an amendment to adopt a top-five nonpartisan primaries but needs to be passed in 2024 for final approval. More recently, Alaska has shown promising results with the implementation of the “top four” model. As Troiano states, “Alaska voters got a much wider range of options across the board, compared to the previous year” (Troiano 186). What happened here that was different from other states is that Alaska uses ranked-choice voting or RCV. RCV is an alternative voting system that gives voters more voice, choice, and power in the electoral process. In 2022, Bill Walker, former governor of Alaska, sought a rematch against incumbent Republican governor Mike Dunleavy. In using the four-way general election, Dunleavy won with 50.3% which meant that his reelection represented the will of the voters (Troiano 187). Troiano provides this case study to show why implementing nonpartisan primaries leads to a system that represents the will of the people. He uses Alaska as evidence to support his argument for the effectiveness of nonpartisan primaries and how it is possible to “abolish partisan primaries.”
Yet, there are some pitfalls in Troiano’s argument for implementing nonpartisan primaries. Although Troiano’s advocacy for nonpartisan primaries is clear, the book does overlook the challenges that can occur in implementing such systems. Troiano fails to fully develop counterarguments to his arguments. More specifically, though Troiano’s goal throughout the book is to have an electoral system that is representative, free of polarization, and where voters don’t ever feel that their vote is wasted on whichever candidate they vote for, he doesn’t leave much space to discuss potential drawbacks of using nonpartisan primaries. Toward the end of his book, Troiano discusses the objections that can be made against primary reform which are: 1) primary reform advantages one party over the other, 2) centrism or moderation isn’t the answer to our political problems, 3) parties should get to pick their own candidates, 4) ranked choice voting is confusing, partisan, and flawed, 5) primary reform would hurt communities of color, 6) primary reform has not been proven to reduce polarization, and 7) primary reform is too incremental. Although they are strong counterarguments, Troiano does not offer evidence to support these claims, making the book seemingly biased towards his argument. However, Troiano provides succinct counter-arguments to these arguments made against his claim; he uses evidence such as case studies to provide a powerful argument to these claims.
Although it may seem that Troiano’s book may be biased towards supporting partisan reform, it is important to note that this book was made available to me in an advanced proof state. Additionally, the book expands on many aspects of the Primary Problem and more importantly, ways in which we can solve the Primary Problem and have it applied to real-life examples at the state level. The ending of this book leaves readers wanting to learn more about partisan reform which may lead to the possibility of Troiano publishing a book in which he can further discuss any challenges against his argument of abolishing primaries and implementing different types of nonpartisan primaries in our electoral system. As such, it is important to give a bit of leniency to Troiano as this topic is something that is vast in political nature and is new to electoral systems in our country.
To me, The Primary Solution was a very interesting read in which I saw a lot of intersections as an intern on the Research Team at Unite America. Being an intern at Unite America may leave me, as the book reviewer, a bit biased toward my boss (LOL) but at the same time as being new to learning about partisan reform, I found this book to be quite interesting and refreshing. I did not feel at any time to be invalidated by any preconceptions of having supported partisan primaries. Instead, I found this book to be refreshing and informational. Additionally, I felt empowered to support partisan reform as an American voter and be inquisitive to question the electoral systems in place. This is a book that is a profound informational read that should be read by every American voter and for that matter, anyone interested in the electoral system of this country.
References
Allen, J. (2024, February 13). How did we get here: Primaries, polarization, and party control.
Protect Democracy. https://protectdemocracy.org/work/how-did-we-get-here-primaries-polarization-and-party-control/
C-SPAN. (n.d.). Washington Journal: Nick Troiano discusses overhauling political primaries in the U.S. Nick Troiano on Efforts to Reform U.S. Political Primaries. https://www.c-span.org/video/?534235-5%2Fnick-troiano-efforts-reform-us-political-primaries
Macomber, C. (n.d.). Types of Primary Systems, Explained. Unite America https://www.uniteamerica.org/articles/types-of-primary-systems-explained
Pruitt, S. (n.d.). The founding fathers feared political factions would tear the nation apart. History. https://www.history.com/news/founding-fathers-political-parties-opinion
Troiano, N. (2024). The primary solution: Rescuing our democracy from the fringes. Simon & Schuster.
