NASHUA – The majority of Democratic-Party candidates for president this term – including the front-runners – are in favor of eliminating the Electoral College, opting instead for selecting the commander in chief by popular vote.

The Electoral College, established by the U.S. Constitution, is a body of 538 electors charged with selecting the president and vice president. The winner is determined by an absolute majority of 270 electoral voters.

In two of the past five presidential elections, though, the winners – President George W. Bush in 2000 and President Donald Trump in 2016 – won their White House bids without taking the top spot in the popular vote, spurring concerns that the Electoral College is a flawed and outdated system.

One local Republican, Steve Negron, is concerned about the prospect of eliminating the Electoral College, noting that it puts the power to elect with larger, more populous states. This, of course, also threatens New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary status.

“I think that the very basic premise is that in every other endeavor we take, plurality wins. Everything else we do is 50, plus one,” Negron said. “That’s the way it is. I believe that our framers knew that. In this one case, in this one specific instance of electing a president of the United States, each state is like a sovereign entity.”

“They have their own government. They have their own way of doing business where every state in the Union has their own say,” he added. “When you look at plurality, and they (the Founding Fathers) absolutely looked at popular vote – James Madison looked at it – and said if you go down that path (the Electoral College), it’s not perfect, but it’s the best form of electing a president.”

Negron, who will once again be running for a U.S. House seat this year, echoed Madison’s thoughts, noting that only three elected presidents (George W. Bush, Trump and Benjamin Harrison in 1888) have won the Electoral College vote but lost the popular vote.

Former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg has went as far as saying the Electoral College is “undemocratic,” while U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., has suggested a constitutional amendment is in order. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., also is in favor of abolishing the Electoral College, saying it’s, “hard to defend the current system.”

“If you do that (eliminate the Electoral College), then larger states and larger cities will dictate to the rest of the country,” Negron said. “That is worse than having the off chance of having someone win the popular vote, but not win the electoral vote. The Electoral College, I believe, is working the way it was intended to work.”

“I personally would say that we leave it as is,” added Negron, who said he is supporting Trump for president. “It’s not perfect, but it allows a state, a semi-sovereign entity, to believe that every one of their citizens has impact on the electorate. I believe it’s the right thing to do for our country, and the other thing, if you go to a plurality, quite frankly, there won’t be a first-in-the-nation (primary). Everything will be California, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio. Then, we (New Hampshire) would have to just sit and wait for the results without having a say. As imperfect as it is, we at least have an ability to have a say so in electing our president.”

Especially so for New Hampshire, where presidential candidates spend significant time, often one-on-one, with voters. Granite Staters also have a penchant for “house parties,” which are intimate settings where candidates speak with everyday citizens in living rooms and back yards in communities both large and small.

“You will have somebody that will have a presidential candidate come into their living room and sit and talk to you,” Negron said. “We do retail politics better than anybody else in the country. It’s about these people trying to earn your vote one vote at a time.”

“There is a very famous story, I think it was Bush the second, he looked at a guy and said, ‘do I have your vote?’ The guy said, ‘Oh, Mr. President, I’ve only talked to you three times,'” Negron added. “So, it is that fundamental belief that in our state you earn every vote. You come in here, and you talk to people at these small gatherings. It happens on a much smaller scale here.”

As for Negron’s run, he says he building on the momentum he gained in 2018, noting that he received 42% of the vote while facing three-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Annie Kuster, D-N.H.

“What happened, unfortunately, is that we got no help from the top,” Negron said. “I’m not pointing fingers; I’m just stating some facts. The RNC didn’t help us. The NRCC didn’t help us. Our state party was in shambles. The chairwoman quit in June. The governor was in a fight for his life, which he never should have been.”

“Even though we had all of those obstacles and were outspent eight-to-one, we took 42% of the vote. In a bad year, by the way, where 115,000ish Republicans stayed at home. We know now that we needed to come back in 2020 – 113,990 people voted for us. We are going to get the money and, quite frankly, Annie Kuster is going to have to answer to the Second Congressional for things like voting for impeachment, like administratively blocking the infanticide bill from coming to the House floor and supporting Pete Buttigieg, who wants to eliminate the Electoral College.”

The U.S. Air Force veteran said he plans on running a clean and respectful campaign, one that will foreshadow his efforts in healing a divided nation where politicians often are mired in bipartisan squabbling and finger-pointing.

Negron added that he would like to see the Democratic Party return to its true form of 35-plus years ago, where politicians like U.S. Rep. Tip O’Neill, D-Mass., could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of President Ronald Reagan and agree to disagree, but still get key legislation pushed through that would benefit the American people.

“I remember Reagan and Tip O’Neill in the Rose Garden … talking about great legislation, and President Reagan saying, ‘Hey, if we agree with each other 80% of the time, we’re not enemies.’ We have gotten to the point of just discord. I think that the idealogues are like, it’s got to be my way or the highway. I would welcome open dialogue. I would welcome open debate. At the end of the day, that is what produces the best results on both sides.”

“Put your personal issues aside and try to get the best deal you can. I think that’s an art. That’s why President Reagan was so good,” Negron added. “People forget that he (Reagan) was the president of the Screen Actor’s Guild. He had to negotiate with MGM, with Fox and all those guys. It’s about the art of the negotiation. It’s about the art of the deal, and I think we need to get back to that. I think that is what is going to help this country.”

Negron promised, above all, to defend and retain the Electoral College and the state’s first-in-the-nation primary, something that makes the Granite State a very special place.

“I think we need somebody that is going to fight and defend not only the first-in-the-nation, but defend to keep the Electoral College, because that makes New Hampshire important and viable in a presidential election. It’s knitted into the fabric of New Hampshire, and nobody is going to take that away.”

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