Susan von Seggern
In California, the results of Tuesday’s June 2 primary have not been finalized. However, they reveal something critical: At the state level, voters looked for stability, but more locally, particularly in LA, many sought a "firebrand."
Two different elections. Two different stories.
Yet, both were possible under nonpartisan election models that allow voters to freely express themselves in primary elections, especially when they seek one kind of candidate in one race but a different kind of candidate in another.
Chad Pleace, legal advisor for the Independent Voter Project and President of IVC Media, was brought on Jim Herlihy’s podcast, The San Francisco Experience, to talk about the primary results and the attacks from party operatives on “Top Two.”
Peace noted that Xavier Becerra—who has secured the top spot in the race—was a “safe” option at the statewide level. But in the Los Angeles mayor’s race, Spencer Pratt ran a different kind of campaign. He became a “vessel” for voter frustrations.
Not just with Republicans, but disgruntled Democrats and independents as well. And now, there will be a runoff in that election and Peace believes Pratt will hold onto his second-place spot after all the votes are counted.
“Most importantly, and what even the pundits nationally don’t fundamentally understand, is how much the nonpartisan primary changes the dynamics of elections, which---at the end of the day---put the power in the hands of the voters to decide," he said.
Leading up to the primary, party operatives used the scare tactic of a “Democrat lockout” to build the “Undo the Top Two," lead by its sponsor, Democratic consultant Steve Maviglio.
Maviglio was soon joined by former California GOP Chair Ron Nehring and Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio.
Yet, despite their continued claims that the system has failed, their own polling shows 70% of Californians like the freedom of choice they have with nonpartisan primaries and want an open system.
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“Why would these unusual bedfellows that hate each other about everything unify in undoing the TopTwo?” Peace remarked.
“They know when they put the power in the hands of partisan stakeholders and special interests, it is much easier to get their candidates through a closed primary. When they have to compete in a nonpartisan primary, they can’t pick the winner.”
Peace explains all of this with Jim Herlihy and more, including IVP’s role in sponsoring the Top Two initiative in 2010, the legal fight for independent voter rights that has reached the steps of the Supreme Court, and a path forward for people who want more choice in California that doesn’t take the state back to a system of party control and voter disenfranchisement.
Listen above.