The article examines California’s “top 2” primary system, the Republican concern that it sometimes locks their party out of general elections, and the irony now that Democrats are pushing to repeal the rule after warnings that it could produce a November ballot with only Republicans for governor.
In April 2025 a Democratic strategist, Steven Maviglio, warned his party could be shut out of California’s 2026 gubernatorial general election and has since filed a ballot initiative to repeal the “top 2” primary system. That move came after a rising fear among Democrats that voters might face a choice between two Republicans in November. Maviglio later told the New York Times, “The fear of having to vote for Steve Hilton or Chad Bianco sent a shiver up my spine.”
The “top 2” system began statewide in 2012 and it was sold as a way to encourage moderation and give all voters more choice. In practice it has often delivered the opposite for many contests by producing November matchups between two candidates of the same party. Examples over the years include cases where voters faced two Democrats for high-profile offices in multiple cycles.
Since the system’s introduction there have been many Democrat-versus-Democrat legislative contests: 100 such state legislative races compared to 26 Republican-versus-Republican races. For statewide offices, observers have counted seven all-Democrat general-election contests, while the state has not produced a general-election contest with two Republicans for those offices. Those numbers are part of why Republicans argue the rule has consistently favored Democrats.
Democrats now raising alarms overlook that they largely benefited from the system for years and did not oppose it when it helped lock Republicans out. Former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez said, “This year’s gubernatorial primary has put the spotlight on the undemocratic top-two primary. The notion that Democrats could wake up to two Republicans on the November ballot, or that Republicans could have the choice of only two Democrats, is unfathomable.”
The original 2010 ballot initiative that created the system passed with 54 percent of the vote and had bipartisan backers, including former Sen. Abel Maldonado and former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, along with the California Chamber of Commerce. Grassroots Republicans and labor unions opposed it then, but it still cleared the ballot and became law in 2012, reshaping how primaries feed the general election field.
There have been occasional exceptions when two Republicans reached the November ballot, including early contests such as the race between Tony Strickland and Steve Knight. Still, the pattern has been tilted toward Democrat-heavy contests, which is why some Democrats are now suddenly calling the system unfair. That shift looks less like principled reform and more like panic about current electoral math.
Labor leaders say the system’s shortcomings are now obvious to many voters. California Federation of Labor Unions president Lorena Gonzalez observed, “Voters understood that a Democrat could get eliminated from even being in the top two. That has really opened up people’s eyes to what could happen.” Such comments reflect changing political calculations and the reality that electoral rules can cut both ways depending on voter turnout and candidate fields.
Republicans point out the irony: a system that frequently advantaged Democrats is suddenly being criticized by the same party when it threatens them. The discussion now centers on whether repeal would restore clearer partisan choices in November or simply shift the same strategic maneuvering into new formats. Either way, the debate over top 2 highlights how institutional rules matter a great deal to which voices make it onto the ballot and to what voters are offered in general elections.
Add comment