As a citizen of Washington I don’t know much about California politics. However, the post office delivered a Primary Election pamphlet for California to me by mistake. I found it interesting that my neighbor is getting one. It is addressed to his home across the street from me. I knew that he moved here from California. Seems odd that the Secretary of State of California is sending voting materials out of state. Makes me wonder how many people who don’t live in California are still voting in California.
There are 62 people running for Governor. Of those, 24 are listed as Democratic, 13 are Republican, 23 have no party preference, 1 is Peace and Freedom, and 1 is Libertarian. Only 30 candidates provided statements. How does one choose among so many candidates? That is only one race.
I asked Grok about the California system. It is called a “Jungle Primary”. It is the same as Washington State. Anyone can vote for any candidate regardless of party affiliation or no affiliation by either the voters or the candidates. The top two vote getters go to the general election. It is possible for the top two candidates in the general election to be from the same party or unaffiliated.
Washington changed to a Jungle Primary in 2004 by passing Initiative 872. In California, the primary process was changed in 2010 when voters approved Proposition 14. The goal was to reduce the influence of political parties.
For those unfamiliar with the process, let me explain. Washington State had a caucus system when I was a precinct officer back in the 1980s. A precinct officer is the lowest level political position. I was initially appointed to fill the seat. Each political party would hold a caucus. Voters could go to either Republican or Democratic caucuses. Precinct officers organized the caucus for their precinct. Candidates would be chosen by the people at the caucus. The parties each select one candidate per position.
Some states have closed primaries. Voters register as Democratic or Republican and can only vote in the appropriate primary contest. The process keeps Democratic or Republican voters from voting for the weakest candidate of the opposing party. It can also reward candidates for loyalty and may result in more extreme positions.
Other states have open primaries. Any registered voter can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. The open primary allows independents to vote for their candidate in the primary. It also allows people to vote for the candidate they think is weakest of the party they oppose on hopes their favorite candidate will win in the general election.
There are certainly problems with the two-party system. It can be difficult for good people to run for office. However, 62 candidates? Really?
I read an article claiming that the political parties are meaningless. The claim was that if we look at politics as a business would look at its target market, we would recognize that party affiliation is not working to predict elections. The author stated the market is now pro Trump or anti Trump. The argument was that some Democratic voters are aligned with MAGA and some Republican voters are against. Based on my conversations, I find that to be true.
A problem occurs when we start with a framework. For example, those who hate or love a politician have a difficult time looking objectively at any of the issues the politician endorses or opposes. They tend to be locked in by the framework. Looking at Trump: People who like him tend to defend everything. People who despise him tend to attack everything. Often neither side can objectively look at issues.
Which gets me back to a key observation: we must think in terms of issues and not parties. We must think and not merely react. Think about business. Think about spirituality. Think about health. Think about personal growth. How can we improve using politics? That is my goal with my articles.
We have to be able to talk with each other. Put the frameworks aside. Focus on the issues. Look for evidence. Try to understand. Share my articles with someone and discuss the issues. You may be surprised.