It’s California Primaries Election Day!
To find out where you should vote head to: lavote.net/locatorbyaddress
California voters can vote to pick general election candidates for state executive offices, all 80 seats in the state Assembly, 20 of the 40 seats in the state Senate, all 53 U.S. House seats, and one of their U.S. Senate seats.
According to Ballotpedia, the primaries have featured fierce battles between the mainline and progressive wings of the state’s Democratic party. The split between the two factions played out in the party’s annual convention, where delegates were unable to agree on an official endorsement in either the gubernatorial or the senatorial elections.[2]
In the U.S. Senate primary, five-term Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D) faces nearly 30 declared challengers, including state Senate President Kevin de Leon (D). The California Nurses Association, which was involved in the state’s single-payer healthcare debate in 2017, is backing Leon, while Feinstein has endorsements from EMILY’s List, the Human Rights Campaign, and political figures including Barack Obama (D), Joe Biden (D), and Nancy Pelosi (D).
Twenty-seven candidates are running in the open seat gubernatorial election. Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) is expected to advance to the general election. The top contenders for the second spot on the November ballot are former Los AngelesMayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), businessman John Cox (R), and AssemblymanTravis Allen (R).
Under California’s top-two primary system, all candidates seeking a particular office, regardless of party, appear on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters advance to the general election.
The system makes it possible for two candidates from the same party to advance. Republicans have sought to avoid being shut out of statewide races, while Democrats face the prospect of a shutout in six of the state’s seven Republican-held seats Hillary Clinton (D) won in 2016.[3][4]
