On August 11, Greenville, South Carolina, held an open primary for Republicans running against each other for city council. There was no Democratic primary because no Democrats filed.

This was the first partisan primary Greenville had held for city office in several years. Greenville had partisan city elections in the past, but the city council switched them to nonpartisan elections a few years ago. But then voters who prefer partisan elections submitted a referendum petition to go back to partisan elections, and the city council reinstated them.

At the primary yesterday, the only incumbent council member who was defeated, Susan Reynolds, had supported nonpartisan elections. See this story.

The reinstatement of partisan elections gives the Greenville County Republican Party a new opportunity to return to court, if it wishes. The county Republican Party had challenged the open primary on the grounds that the party is required to pay for the administration of primaries for city office. The party argued that if the party pays for the primary, it should have the right to prevent members of other parties from voting in the Republican primary. But while the lawsuit was underway, the city had switched to nonpartisan elections, so the Fourth Circuit had dismissed the lawsuit on the grounds that it was moot. But, now it isn’t moot.