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Abel Maldonado is not really a fan of the California Republican Party--it has defeated him for statewide office, denounced him for voting to raise taxes and angry with him for being the lead supporter of an effort to end political parties in California--and he does this on the basis of "fixing" the political process. How has that worked out in other States?
"In other races in Washington in 2008, the "top-two open primary" mostly just seemed to make life easy for incumbents. Out of the 123 state legislative races, the eight statewide state office races, and the eight U.S. House races, only one incumbent (a state legislator) lost in the primary, and he had a scandal and would probably have lost under any system. Only five legislative seats switched between the two major parties. (By contrast, in 2006, when Washington had used a normal system in which each party had its own primary ballot and its own nominees, seven legislative seats had switched parties.) All the U.S. House members were re-elected.
Backers of the Maldonado proposal have other arguments in favor of the idea. They say it would improve voter turnout in primaries. However, when Washington state used the system in 2008 for the first time, turnout dropped, relative to 2004. According to the Washington Secretary of State, 2008 primary turnout was 42.58 percent, but 2004 was 45.14 percent. (Washington elects all its statewide offices in presidential years, so the midterm years are pretty sleepy affairs.) "
With a $36 billion deficit, close to $200 billion in debt, I would suggest Abel forget the politics and work to save the State.
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"In other races in Washington in 2008, the "top-two open primary" mostly just seemed to make life easy for incumbents. Out of the 123 state legislative races, the eight statewide state office races, and the eight U.S. House races, only one incumbent (a state legislator) lost in the primary, and he had a scandal and would probably have lost under any system. Only five legislative seats switched between the two major parties. (By contrast, in 2006, when Washington had used a normal system in which each party had its own primary ballot and its own nominees, seven legislative seats had switched parties.) All the U.S. House members were re-elected.
Backers of the Maldonado proposal have other arguments in favor of the idea. They say it would improve voter turnout in primaries. However, when Washington state used the system in 2008 for the first time, turnout dropped, relative to 2004. According to the Washington Secretary of State, 2008 primary turnout was 42.58 percent, but 2004 was 45.14 percent. (Washington elects all its statewide offices in presidential years, so the midterm years are pretty sleepy affairs.) "
With a $36 billion deficit, close to $200 billion in debt, I would suggest Abel forget the politics and work to save the State.
More...