If We Did Not Have a California Open Primary

image
Author: Chad Peace
Published: 14 Jun, 2012
Updated: 21 Nov, 2022
1 min read

Allan Hoffenblum, from Fox and Hounds, wrote a great piece on the effect of the Top-Two Primary. While much of his analysis is tongue-in-cheek, the article does a serious job of highlighting why the California Open Primary has a big effect on politics and election game that is played by those in power.

If we did not have the top two Open Primary Election on June 5 …Brad Sherman would be returning to Washington, D.C. as David the Giant Slayer.Pete Stark would have been guaranteed at least two more years in Congress.Former GOP Assembly Member Rico Oller would be thanking his tea party supporters for returning him to one final term in the Assembly.Assembly Members Michael Allen and Betsy Butler would be on the phone thanking Assembly Speaker John Pérez for his help in their being reelected... 

Instead, California will see competitive races in otherwise partisan districts for the first time.

Sherman will go one on one with fellow Democrat Howard Berman in November, redistricting having placed them in the same congressional district.Octogenarian Stark will face a stiff challenge from young Dublin City Councilman/Alameda County prosecutor Eric Swalwell.Oller will be squaring off against the less doctrinaire Madera County Supervisor Frank Bigelow.Allen and Butler, both who had to move into their new district to run, will be challenged by a popular local elected official … San Rafael Councilman Marc Levin against Allen, and Santa Monica Mayor Richard Bloom against Butler.

Hoffenblum adds that low voter turnout an low interest in the primary election likely kept independent candidates from making a strong showing. He argues that the real test for the California Open Primary in terms of No Party Preference candidate viability will be in 2014.

Regardless, the Top Two Open Primary is here. Competitive elections have increased. And candidates in many district have to open their ears to people outside their partisan base for the first time.

Latest articles

Crowd in Time Square.
NYC Exit Survey: 96% of Voters Understood Their Ranked Choice Ballots
An exit poll conducted by SurveyUSA on behalf of the nonprofit better elections group FairVote finds that ranked choice voting (RCV) continues to be supported by a vast majority of voters who find it simple, fair, and easy to use. The findings come in the wake of the city’s third use of RCV in its June 2025 primary elections....
01 Jul, 2025
-
6 min read
A man filling out his election ballot.
Oregon Activist Sues over Closed Primaries: 'I Shouldn't Have to Join a Party to Have a Voice'
A new lawsuit filed in Oregon challenges the constitutionality of the state’s closed primary system, which denies the state’s largest registered voting bloc – independent voters – access to taxpayer-funded primary elections. The suit alleges Oregon is denying the voters equal voting rights...
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read
Supreme Court building.
Supreme Court Sides with Federal Corrections Officers in Lawsuit Over Prison Incident
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 30 that federal prison officers and officials cannot be sued by an inmate who accused them of excessive force during a 2021 incident, delivering a victory for federal corrections personnel concerned about rising legal exposure for doing their jobs....
01 Jul, 2025
-
3 min read