The chair of California's Democratic party is sounding an alarm about the state's unusual primary system, warning that it could hand the governor's mansion to Republicans in an election year when Democrats can least afford to lose.
Rusty Hicks says the open primary, which allows any voter to pick any candidate and sends the top two finishers to the general election regardless of party affiliation, is a gamble the state can no longer take. With six Democrats and two competitive Republicans fighting for the gubernatorial nomination ahead of the June 2 primary, Hicks fears a fractured Democratic vote could clear the field for a GOP contender to finish second and face the top vote-getter in November.
"The current system we have does not work," Hicks said in an interview. "It needs to be revised or repealed."
The prospect of such a scenario rattles party leadership at a moment when California Democrats are positioning the state as a bulwark against the Trump administration. Democrats hold a 2-to-1 registration advantage and have not lost a statewide race since 2006. The stakes feel enormous to party insiders.
Hicks has already stirred controversy by urging candidates without a realistic shot at the nomination to withdraw from the race. In March, his open letter prompted blowback from lower-polling contenders who saw the move as heavy-handed interference. Former state legislative leader Ian Calderon, one candidate who later dropped out, pushed back on television, saying he thought Democrats valued choice in their elections.
Hicks has not named a preferred alternative to replace the system, though he suggested the legislature or a well-funded group could put a different model before voters. He mentioned 2026 as a possible target date for change, though he left the door open for it to happen later.
Other prominent California Democrats, including gubernatorial candidates Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, have remained notably silent on Hicks' push. Their quiet suggests they see the issue as politically delicate while the primary contest is still active.
The top-two system, sometimes called the "jungle primary," arrived in 2010 as part of a reform package backed by then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. The goal was to amplify the voice of independent voters, encourage candidates with cross-party appeal, and boost turnout. In practice, critics across the political spectrum say it has either failed to deliver those benefits or created new problems.
"It was supposed to be a way of getting moderation, and an opportunity not to have one party dominate," said Sara Sadhwani, a political science professor at Pomona College. "The reality is that, despite the top-two primary, we have one-party domination in California and not a whole lot of moderation."
The system has already produced strange outcomes. In 2012, two white Republicans advanced to the general election in a heavily Democratic, Latino-majority district east of Los Angeles. Two years later, a swing district near Los Angeles sent two Republicans to the general election instead of one from each party. In 2022, Republicans were shut out of a state senate race in the Sierra Nevada despite 60 percent of primary voters backing the GOP.
These quirks have spawned strategic gamesmanship. Adam Schiff, now California's junior senator, aired attack ads against a weak Republican challenger in 2024 with the apparent effect of lifting that candidate into the general election and knocking out a stronger Democratic rival, U.S. Representative Katie Porter, who would have posed a tougher opponent.
Voting rights advocates suggest the system needs adjustment rather than scrapping. Some point to ranked choice voting as a potential fix for crowded fields. Alaska adopted a model in 2022 where the top four primary finishers advance to the general election and voters rank their preferences to pick the winner. The system has earned praise from good government groups, though Alaska Republicans have tried to kill it.
California has a history of electoral experimentation. The state briefly used a "blanket primary" allowing any voter to pick any candidate, with one winner from each party advancing, until the U.S. Supreme Court deemed it unconstitutional in 2000. The current open primary was the successor to that system.
Author James Rodriguez: "Hicks is right that California's primary could hand the governor's race to a Republican despite overwhelming Democratic advantage, but his call for change rings hollow without a concrete proposal to put before voters."
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