That's right. They cannot withdraw their names.
So whoever won this primary (probably Brian Bilbray) will still be subject to negative ads by his Republican primary opponents.
This gives Francine Busby an opportunity she normally wouldn't have.
Hopefully some candidates with lower percentages will endorse Roach or Bilbray for the Primary, thus keeping the campaign cleaner, but even if it's a dirty campaign I really doubt Busby can pick up any significant number of Republican votes, especially because most non-Bilbray votes were for more conservative candidates (Roach, Kaloogian, Morrow, etc.).
True, but there is yet another factor which hasn't been discussed. Democrats have a spirited primary for Governor and most of the downballot state offices. By contrast, the GOP only has a few competitive statewide primaries, none of them high-profile.
That means that registered Democrats will be more motivated to vote in the June 6 primary.
All that needs to happen is a small percentage of the GOP Conservative base to simply NOT vote for either Busby or Bilbray and Busby gets the special. I don't think it's an impossibility.