The vetoes of some gun bills in the final days of the just-completed state legislative session may have a significant role in the determination of the next Republican candidate for governor.
“It might help the more right-wing candidates because it gives those candidates something to get upset about to motivate their supporters,” Merrill said.
Merrill says it’s the more conservative voters who have traditionally cast ballots in primary elections, noting without a win in the primary a candidate can not appear as a Republican on the General Election ballot.
The governor’s vetoes shot down measures to allow guns in most public buildings and would have prevented local gun laws from being more restrictive than state law.