Republicans in Missoula County may be considering switching ballots and voting in the democratic primary because so many local races have no republican candidates, but Republican Party Chairman and Missoula county resident Will Deschamps says republicans should keep to their own primary.

"I certainly understand folks having a concern about having a say in a race where a republican is not running, however, we have contested races at the statewide level that I think that we should really, really take hard looks at. I would hate to have a candidate win the primary that was not of the consensus of Republicans in Missoula county."

Deschamps worries that ballot switching could lead to weaker republican candidates that could fail when the big match-ups come in November.

"I'm encouraging republicans to pull the republican ballot and vote the republican ballot," Deschamps said. "We have a contested U.S. Senate race here in Missoula. We have the two contested state-wides, the U.S. Senate and House race, and I think republicans ought to honor their commitment to vote for whomever they want, but to make sure they have a say in the republican party."

Lopsided ballots aren’t an issue in Missoula County alone, in neighboring Mineral County, the coin is flipped as no democratic candidates have filed for local races.

Will Deschamps:

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