Subject: George Will: GOP Must ‘Rethink the Business of Open Primaries and Caucuses’

The Republican Party is “going to have to rethink the business of having open primaries and caucuses,” Washington Post columnist George Will urged after noting that Donald Trump has been doing well in “open” primary contests.

Will told host Chris Wallace:

"The Republican Party is going to have to rethink the business of having open primaries and caucuses. Seven of the, what, 19 events so far have been closed. Trump has lost five of them. So the question is, is this, as has been said, a hostile takeover of the republican Party and the Republicans have to think whether they want to go forward year after year vulnerable to this."

Closed primaries are only for those who are registered members of a party prior to election day while open primaries allow for voting by registered voters from any party.

On Monday, Fox News noted that trends find Trump performs better in open primaries, while Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) has done well in the states that hold closed contests.

FoxNews.com reported:

To date, Trump has won a dozen contests, seven of which were open to voters regardless of party affiliation – and two of which have a hybrid system. He has won only three contests that were limited to registered Republicans – Nevada, Kentucky and Louisiana. (His victories in the latter two states were relatively tight.)

By contrast, five of Cruz’s six victories came in closed or semi-closed contests. The only exception was Texas, his home state.

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