California’s ‘jungle primary’ sets off party scrambling
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Across televisions in Orange County, a flashy ad slams GOP congressional candidate Rocky Chavez for supporting a California climate change program and a massive state budget.
But it’s not one of Chavez’s Republican rivals who’s criticizing him for siding on issues with Democrats such as Gov. Jerry Brown. It’s Democrats themselves.
Welcome to Tuesday’s “jungle primary,” where the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance to the general election. That means neither Democrats nor Republicans are guaranteed a spot on the November ballot. Candidates and parties are scrambling to avoid potential shutouts.
Democrats worry two Republicans could make the runoff in several U.S. House contests, which explains why a national Democratic campaign organization is airing ads aimed at undermining Chavez with the GOP base. Republicans are all but guaranteed to be locked out of the U.S. Senate contest and are fighting tooth and nail to win a slot in the governor’s race.
“It’s definitely been a disruptive force in California politics, and we’re just learning about some of the pros and cons,” said Mark Baldasarre, president of the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California. Californians voted to create the top-two primary system in 2010 at the urging of supporters such as then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who said it would encourage candidates to adopt more moderate positions rather than appeal to their party’s most extreme voters.
But there’s little evidence that’s happening, according to PPIC researcher Eric McGhee, who found GOP candidates aren’t becoming more moderate. Democrats are in some cases, he said, but that could be due to factors such as redistricting.
Only Washington state uses a similar system, which some call the “jungle primary” because of the free-for-all nature of having all candidates running against each other on one ballot.
In the governor’s race, San Diego businessman John Cox is courting hardcore conservatives. He is promoting his endorsement from President Donald Trump and promising to scale back protections for immigrants living in the country illegally, though such stands don’t appeal to a broad segment of California voters.