Most states and all presidential elections are conducted under a partisan election process. This means that candidates for political office must run for election first as the representative of their party, before they appeal to the people as a whole. Because of gerrymandering and campaign finance laws that favor partisan candidates, open primaries, that have been enacted in a few states like California, Washington, and Louisiana, allow non-partisan voters to make their voice heard in the all-important primary elections, where most races are decided.
Last year’s partisan primaries cost taxpayers around $400 million, public money went directly to private organizations to conduct these elections.
California State Senator Ricardo Lara (D-Bell Gardens) and Assemblyman Jeff Gorell (R-Ventura County) have introduced identical proposed state constitutional amendments…
Charles Munger, often associated with Republican causes, is defending California’s non-partisan open primary against political party interests.
The University of San Diego hosted the 2nd Annual Community Conference on Restoring Civility to Civic Dialogue on February 20. The 4-hour event, which was free and open to the.
The latest information on the effects Top-Two Open Primary had on the 2012 state and federal elections in California reveals that the new system does, in fact, result in more competition, increased cross-over voting, and leads to more moderates being elected to the State Legislature.
The Republican party has become a party of panderers. They are a mechanical party that says what the reactionaries within want to hear; what the polls say will work; what their leadership says is ok.
The race for California’s 50th Assembly District is still too close to call, but the underdog candidate, Mayor Richard Bloom, is holding on to an 800 vote lead against incumbent Assemblywoman Betsy Butler, a liberal Democrat backed by the Democratic party.
