Former Lt Gov Abel Maldonado Under Attack

CALIFORNIA
Central Coast Republican looks to mobilize opposition against Abel Maldonado's congressional run (by Christopher A. Guzman, CAIVN) With California's top-two open primary system and redrawn congressional districts almost certain to play a major role in the 2012 election, San Luis Obispo financial planner Matt Kokkonen is on a mission to ensure that former Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado is kept from winning the state's 24th congressional district.

California Court Upholds Labels for Ballot Status Parties in Top Two Elections; Arizona Independents Want Fair Access to Primaries

This ruling upholds a distinction between ballot status parties and other parties or candidates in how candidates are listed on the new Top Two election ballots in California. This distinction is a dubious one for third party advocates like Richard Winger, the country's leading ballot access expert. At a time when parties are losing favor among the electorate, at least part of the controversy over California's new open primary system seems to rest on the listing of party labels.

Where do you line up on my little survey?

A. Listing a party is important because it indicates the ideological position on a left-right political spectrum.
B. I don't like parties, I vote for the candidate.
C. What's ballot status and who benefits from that?
D. Other ________ (Tell me what you *really* think!)

Let me know what you think!

PROP 14
U.S. District Judge Upholds California’s Discriminatory Ballot Label Law (Ballot Access News) The opinion says that California has an interest in maintaining the distinction between qualified parties and unqualified parties, and cites various opinions from systems in which parties nominate candidates.

And meanwhile.....
OPEN PRIMARIES 
Tucson Independent voters in danger of being left out of Primary (Fox 11 AZ) It wasn't clear that the Independent voters needed to request a ballot.  So, yes we did make a mistake in that," said city spokesman Michael Graham. That mistake has since been corrected. The city says it mailed Independent voters a postcard on May 16 warning them they'd have to pick a party to vote in the primary.

Arizona Independents Have to Pick a Party for Primary Vote

OPEN PRIMARIES

• Independent voters can't remain independent in primary (By Bud Foster, KOLD News 13 CBS) For the first time, the city of Tucson is holding an all mail in primary election. It's designed to save money and increase voter participation. But for the independent voter, it's an uneasy feeling. On May 25, the city clerk's office sent out a post card telling independents if they wanted to vote in the primary, they had to request a GOP, Democrat, or Green Party ballot. Nearly 8,600 have done so. But that leaves 61,000 who have not.


• Editorial: California's Republicans should stop whining, build the party (The Monterey County Herald) Since the last redistricting a decade ago, the Republican share of California voters has fallen by 4percent to less than 32 percent. The Dems' share also dropped but only by 1 point, to 44 percent. Twenty percent of registered California voters now call themselves independents, but that should drop when open primaries begin in June. The secret to keeping the GOP from becoming a third party of sorts is for it to offer up more moderate candidates and fewer partisans who pledge to vote the party line and to vote against any tax increases no matter how necessary or logical.


• Ron Bancroft: For Class of 1961, time running short to turn nation around (By RON BANCROFT, Portland Press Herald - OR) Such redistricting will likely lead to a better balance of both parties in more districts – a good thing that diminishes extreme partisanship. The single open primary now being used in the state of Washington is meant to do the same thing. In a single primary, all candidates contest on one ballot. The primary is open to all voters. The top two vote-getters go on to the general election. Again, the theory here is that those candidates who appeal to a broader range of voters are more likely to achieve top positioning.

California Top Two Open Primary May Bring Bigger Cultural Changes Than Elimination of Partisan Gerrymadering

CALIFORNIA
November 2012 Targets - Part One: The Assembly (By Allan Hoffenblum, Publisher of the California Target Book and owner of Allan Hoffenblum & Associates, Fox & Hounds Daily) Somewhat surprising, it's beginning to appear that the top-two open primary may do more to change the culture in Sacramento than the elimination of the partisan gerrymandering.

Voters Want Top Two Open Primaries

OPEN PRIMARIES

• California’s Golden Opportunity at Bipartisanship (Reid Wilson, National Journal/On the Trail) The second development, ironically, gives the parties much less say in selecting a nominee. Under a 2010 voter initiative, the top two finishers in a primary advance to the general election—regardless of their party affiliation. That means there is no guarantee a Republican or Democrat makes it through to November; a primary could just as easily produce two Republicans, or two Democrats (That was almost the case in a recent special election in California's 36th Congressional District, where a Republican businessman made it to the general election by a scant margin).
• Group seeks single primary to counter Ariz. party extremists (by Mary Jo Pitzl, The Arizona Republic) The Arizona Open Government Coalition wants to replace those traditional primaries, which they largely blame for what they describe as the state's extremist politics, with a single-primary system open to all voters. Under its proposal, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party affiliation, would advance to the general election.

California Top Two Open Primary Creates Opportunity

CALIFORNIA
Editorial: Who'll fill void left by Nielsen and LaMalfa? (Redding Record Searchlight) Last but far from least, no current incumbent lives in either the Assembly or the Senate district, though some might well move. That — along with the new open primaries next year — raises the prospect of wide-open legislative races in the districts that include Shasta County. And that means opportunity. Shasta County once routinely supplied the political leaders who represented the north state in Sacramento, but the area lost its mojo about a decade ago.