Crossover voting in Minnesota’s primaries

There’s bound to be some crossover voting in today’s Minnesota primaries, but how much won’t be known till the final tallies are in. Crossover voting is when members of one political party vote in the primary of another instead of their own. This occurs when they feel their votes will have more weight in another party’s primary.Examples of this year’s primaries attracting potential crossover voters include:

• Minnesota State Senate District 13 — DFLer and Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson is facing a primary challenge from Michael Cruze over gay marriage and state funding for abortions. According to Minnesota Public Radio (MPR):
  

  Conservative political action groups, and Johnson’s opponent Michael Cruze, are sending their message to more than just conservative Democrats. Cruze is also asking independents and Republicans to turn out on primary day to vote for him, a tactic which is allowed under Minnesota’s primary election system.

  See also "Primary Battle in the 13th" in Minnesota Monitor and "Senate candidate using the crossover strategy" in the Star Tribune.

• Congressional District 5 — In a hotly debated contest over who will succeed longtime Congressman Martin Sabo in this acknowledged DFL safe district, whoever emerges from the primary will probably become the next occupier the seat. Hence, the primary stakes are larger than the general election. The potential of the crossover vote in the 5th has been discussed on MN PUBLIUS, Minnesota Democrats Exposed, and The Raven’s Blog.

• Congressional District 1 — There is no contest on the DFL side, but perennial candidate Greg Mikkelson, who ran as the Independence Party candidate in 2004 and as the Green Party candidate in 2002, is challenging six-term incumbent Gil Gutknecht in the GOP primary. While there is no organized push for a crossover vote, some Democrats who are particularly incensed at Gutknecht because of his stance on the DM&E issue have said they will vote on the Republican ballot for Mikkelson.

Inasmuch as voters in Minnesota are as engaged as any in the U.S. as evidenced by the state’s historically high voter turnout and that many regularly vote across party lines in the general election, today’s primary may yield some surprises due to crossover voting.