Posted on 03/08/2026 1:13:58 AM PST by Libloather
A crowded field of eight California Democrats is splitting the race for governor, as the coalition behind outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom begins to fracture.
The result could be unthinkable: Republican victory in November.
Party leaders tried, and failed, to convince some of their own gubernatorial candidates to drop out of the race before Friday’s filing deadline.
The warning was blunt: Too many Democrats will split the vote and allow two Republican candidates to qualify for the general election under the rules of California’s “jungle” primary.
California adopted its unique primary system, also known as the “top-two” system, through a statewide ballot measure in 2010. All candidates appear on the same primary ballot, regardless of party, and the two candidates who receive the most votes advance to the general election.
The reform was supposed to weaken party machines and reward moderation. Instead, it sometimes leaves parties scrambling to control their own candidates and avoid electoral accidents.
Democrats have reason to worry. They faced this same scenario in the 2014 race for California controller, where a crowded Democratic field of prominent candidates nearly produced a Republican-only general election in one of the bluest states in America. Democrats ultimately avoided that embarrassment, but only barely.
More than a decade later, the Democrats see the same dynamics emerging.
Polling shows several Democratic gubernatorial candidates clustered within just a few percentage points of one another — while two Republicans, Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, remain ahead of the pack.
Each of the Democrats represents a different faction within the party. Each is strong in his or her own right. Each can make the case for staying in the race.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Dear FRiends,
We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.
If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:
Click here: to donate by Credit Card
Or here: to donate by PayPal
Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794
Thank you very much and God bless you,
Jim
It’s a crowded field for the Dems because they know how corrupt the state is and how financially lucrative it is for the winner, nothing to do with “service”. Just a bunch of greedy crooks who want to steal state tax money for themselves and their families.
The Dem Party is a disparate pastiche of crackpots, haters and opportunists. It’s not surprising that their primary is splintered as to which pet cause a particular candidate panders to.
The LORD works in mysterious ways. This might be the beginning of the end for rank(ed) choice voting and “top two” and other such elections abominations.
The saying hoisted by their own petard comes to mind here….
Fact checking the assertion in the article that California’s Top-Two primary system is unique. It is not. From Chat GPT:
In the United States, the top-two primary system (sometimes called a “jungle primary”) places all candidates from all parties on the same primary ballot, with the two highest vote-getters advancing to the general election, regardless of party. It is most commonly used for congressional and statewide offices.
Only a few states use this system today.
State Year Implemented First Election Using It Notes
California 2010 (Proposition 14 approved by voters) 2012 elections Applies to U.S. Senate, U.S. House, and most state offices. Replaced the earlier blanket primary system struck down by the Supreme Court.
Washington 2004 (Initiative 872 passed) 2008 elections Known as the “top-two primary.” Candidates list a party preference but are not formally nominated by the party.
Nebraska 1934 (legislative races) 1936 elections Used only for the state legislature, which is officially nonpartisan and unicameral. The top two candidates advance regardless of party affiliation.
Alaska 2020 (Ballot Measure 2) 2022 elections Slight variation: top-four primary followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election.
A few historical notes
The **U.S. Supreme Court case California Democratic Party v. Jones (2000) ** struck down the earlier blanket primary used in California and Washington.
Washington responded with Initiative 872 (2004), creating the modern top-two system that survived later court challenges.
California adopted a similar model with Proposition 14 in 2010.
Alaska later expanded the concept to a top-four system paired with ranked-choice voting.
States that tried but abandoned similar systems
State System Years
Louisiana “Jungle primary” (majority-wins system where a candidate can win outright in the primary) 1975–present for most state and federal offices
California Blanket primary (not top-two) 1996–2000 (struck down by Supreme Court)
Washington Blanket primary 1935–2003 (ended after court rulings)
In practice today:
California and Washington are the only states that use the true top-two primary for most partisan offices.
Nebraska uses it in a nonpartisan legislative system.
Alaska uses a related top-four variant.
California has it’s own swamp a governor has no chanct to make things right.
“The result could be unthinkable: Republican victory in November.”
Yeah, “unthinkable,” as in a continuation of Jerry Brown and Gavin Newson’s democrat policies that have drivin California into the ground.
Re: Gas prices that are $2.00 above the national average, more businesses fleeing, more billions poured into the “train from nowhere to nowhere” (and that’s just for starters...).
As a Californian, nothing would make me happier than to have the worthless CA Dems hoisted on their “jungle primary” petard. I pray for it.
Great news Steve and Chad are both amazing...
The best way to have done this would have been for all conservatives to also run as Democrats - render it a nonpartisan ballot.
They could just run on the issues, not be hindered by people against them purely because of a “Republican” party label, and the ads could say “(Candidate Name) - a common sense Democrat for governor (or Congress, Senate, etc.)”. The candidates could appear on all of the conservative talk radio shows to get a base of Republican voter support, and then there is the handful of voters who would just pick a random “Democrat” on the ballot, and then others who just vote based on name ID - you could possibly put together a winning number of votes.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.