Court Rejects McKinney Primary Loss Suit

ATLANTA -- A federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit filed by supporters of former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who claimed her loss in the 2002 Democratic primary resulted from wide-scale Republican crossover voting.

A three-judge panel in the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed with a lower court Monday that the Democratic Party is free to hold an open primary.

Former State Court Judge Denise Majette got 58 percent of the vote in the 2002 primary in the 4th Congressional District east of Atlanta, beating McKinney by almost 20,000 votes. She went on to win the general election by a landslide in the heavily Democratic district.

Supporters of McKinney, known for her outspoken and often provocative comments during five terms in Congress, alleged that Majette was a Republican disguised as a Democrat who got as many as 45,000 GOP votes in a "malicious crossover" aimed at defeating McKinney.

more...............

http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/wire/sns-ap-mckinney-lawsuit,0,2939374.story?coll=sns-ap-nation-headlines

it was that rethugs swung the PRIMARY vote. this is why open primaries are silly IMHO.

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Congrats, luv! :thumbsup:

She served ten years and still didn't understand the process? Maybe she can take the time off and use it to learn the process that had elected her for a decade.

It looks that way anyway. Maybe some people like the idea of republicans choosing our Dem pols but I am against it.

As we learned this last primary season, states have an incredible amount of leeway in the methods used to chose their candidates. Even within a state, the 2 parties can have different styles of caucuses.

P.S. I happen to agree with you, I don't think the open form of primary is the best.