10 August 2018 — 0507 mdt
When elections are close, Democrats don’t vote for Greens
Democratic leaders live in mortal fear of the Green Party, believing that when Green Party candidates are on the ballot, they steal votes from Democratic candidates. That’s true only for a small number of Democrats, and only when the election is so one-sided that a few defections won’t make a difference. But, as Tuesday’s special election in Ohio’s 12th Congressional District demonstrates, when elections are close, Democrats vote for the Democratic candidate.
In 2016, when Republican Pat Tiberi carried the 12th two to one, Green Party candidate Joe Manchik received 13,474 votes. Tuesday, he received only 1,127 votes (that may change slightly as the provisional and absentee ballots are counted).
Montana’s Democratic leaders, convinced that Democrats would defect to the Green Party candidates, spent plenty of money getting Montana’s Green Party kicked off the ballot. They worried too much. Democrats know the elections for the U.S. Senate and House will be close, and for that reason were not going to cast protest votes for the Green Party. What the MDP did with its lawsuit and attack on the Greens was make absolutely sure that no diehard Green will vote for a Democrat.