The Direct Primary in New York State

Governor Hughes first made the direct primary a state-wide issue in New York. It was in no gentle terms that his speeches and annual messages arraigned the nominating system then in vogue. His message to the legislature in 1909 gave wide publicity to the flagrant evils of the primaries and added a constructive plan of reform. Apart from his suggestions for important changes in the methods of administering the primaries, his plan included a system of direct nominations which combined responsibility in the party machine and initiative in the party membership. Designations were to be made by elected party representatives meeting as a party committee for this purpose; but if their designations proved unsatisfactory to the members of the party, ample opportunity was to be afforded the latter for nominating contesting designations by petition. The final choice of the party nominee was to be decided by a direct vote of the members of the party

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