This little internal party skirmish highlights the absurdity of our primary system.

Had we passed the Instant Runoff ballot proposal in 2000 supported by (4 of the 5 political parties at the time), Alaskans could choose from among all candidates for a given office and be able to prioritize their ballot choices on one ballot that would eliminate the need for a primary election.  

The majority of ALL registered Alaska voters belong to NO political party.  If political parties want to use a primary system, or some other method to weed out competition, let the parties pay for it.  

The state only needs to pay for one election that could include all primary candidates.  It would also eliminate statewide ballot propositions from appearing on primary election ballots where the voter turnout is much lower than the general elections.