Democrats Fighting Democrats: Top-Two Primary Shakes Sacramento

image
Published: 13 May, 2013
1 min read

Calbuzz covered much of the infighting going on in the California Democratic Party as a result of the new top-two primary. Only a short few months ago, the popular sentiment on California's political street was that "top-two primary didn't change anything."

The reason the media and the party consultants they talk to didn't think the top-two primary changed anything is because they speak the same binary code that measures every bill, every race, and every action in the capital by the letter next to the winners and losers. What top-two primary is doing, as the advocates and authors of the bill have said for a long time, is make representatives more responsive to the broader electorate, rather than the partisan base.

Are shades of blue and red beginning to appear?

In other words, the top-two primary introduced most competition; competition for votes of non party-loyalists. Naturally, this will upset those in positions of power that thrive on party loyalty.

We also know that we’ll see lots more of this kind of thing in the future — in both Democratic and Republican races — as the top-two primary system encourages moderate candidates with guts and gumption to take on left- and right-wingers in hopes of getting into a run-off election where independent and other-party voters can provide the margin of victory.

Read the rest of the article from Calbuzz, which includes a detailed and insightful analysis of how the competition of California's top-two primary is creating divide in some traditional camps, including Richard Bloom's narrow victory over Democratic favorite Betsy Butler and the surprisingly narrow victory of Marc Levine.

You Might Also Like

Hillcrest
'Build, Baby, Build!' is NOT the Answer to Housing Crises
Can San Diego build its way out of its three-part housing crisis – supply, affordability and homelessness? Some of elected officials think so and are leading the charge. I have been in the real estate industry for 50-plus years, and I say they are on the wrong track....
27 Oct, 2025
-
4 min read
Isn't It Weird That Congress Feels No Urgency to Re-Open the Government?
Isn't It Weird That Congress Feels No Urgency to Re-Open the Government?
The U.S. has entered Day 22 of the latest government shutdown with no end in sight. As pundits expect it to surpass the 35-day record set during Trump’s first term, a new Gallup poll shows voters’ approval of Congress has plummeted in the last month. Yet, for congressional leaders, there isn’t any urgency to re-open the government. House Speaker Mike Johnson and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries trade jabs back and forth in the media, but the blame game continues to be prioritized over solutions....
22 Oct, 2025
-
5 min read
Proposition 50 voter guide
California Prop 50: Partisan Power Play or Necessary Counterpunch?
November 4 marks a special election for what has become the most controversial ballot measure in California in recent memory: Proposition 50, which would circumvent congressional districts drawn by the state’s independent redistricting commission for a legislative-drawn map....
01 Oct, 2025
-
9 min read