{"id":5769,"date":"2026-05-13T14:01:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5769"},"modified":"2026-05-13T14:01:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T14:01:58","slug":"a-bipartisan-effort-to-reform-californias-top-two-primary-system-is-underway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5769","title":{"rendered":"A bipartisan effort to reform California\u2019s top-two primary system is underway"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A bipartisan effort to reform California\u2019s \u201cjungle primary\u201d system \u2014 where the top two vote-getters in the primary, regardless of party affiliation, advance to the November general election \u2014 is underway, spurred by concerns that this rare way of doing things can leave candidates from an entire political party shut out from the general election.<\/p>\n

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Veteran Sacramento-based Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio has teamed with former California Republican Party Chair Ron Nehring to launch the \u201cUndo the Top Two\u201d campaign, with the goal of getting an initiative onto the November 2028 ballot to reform the system.<\/p>\n

California\u2019s way of determining which two candidates get to move on to the general election \u2014 the result of Proposition 14 in 2010 \u2014 is uncommon. Voters that year approved changes, which were pushed by then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an attempt to give moderate candidates in each party a greater chance at advancing to the general election.<\/p>\n

But Maviglio, who opposed the jungle primary concept from the start, said the intended effect never panned out \u2014 and this year\u2019s gubernatorial race has put a spotlight on its flaws.<\/p>\n

The crowded field of Democratic candidates for governor in 2026 raised concerns among some party insiders that Democrats might split the vote enough that two Republicans would end up in the top spots and advance to the runoff while Democrats get shut out of the November election.<\/p>\n

Given the attention placed on that potential scenario \u2014 albeit a slim one \u2014 Maviglio said he decided now would be a good time to try and correct what he described as an \u201cunfair\u201d situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought: strike when the iron is hot,\u201d he said in an interview about his decision to try to pass a ballot initiative to repeal Proposition 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years, I\u2019ve seen the consequences of it (the top-two primary system), legislative districts with two Democrats running in a district that\u2019s overwhelmingly Republican and vice versa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Nehring, in a statement, called the top-two primary system \u201ca failed experiment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for it to go. Every Californian deserves the option of voting for a candidate of any party in the general election,\u201d said the former CAGOP chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a good reason why no other state has adopted a top-two primary system since California did,\u201d he added. \u201cNo one can look at this crazy system and say it\u2019s producing good results, or working as intended.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Sarah Hill, an elections administration expert who teaches at Cal State Fullerton, said the intention behind the top-two system \u2014 to help more moderate candidates \u2014 has not worked as intended. People who generally turn out in primary elections tend to be party loyalists, she said.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWhat it has done, in a few cases \u2014 like what folks are concerned about in the governor race \u2014 you have two people in the same party in the general election,\u201d she said. Case in point: The 2018 U.S. Senate race, which pitted incumbent Sen. Dianne Feinstein against fellow Democrat Kevin de Le\u00f3n in the general election.<\/p>\n

Hill expects an effort to change California\u2019s primary system would be successful if it ends up on a ballot. After all, discontentment with the state\u2019s top-two system is a rare case where both parties actually agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cNeither one wants to risk their party being shut out of a general election, which has happened on occasion,\u201d said Hill. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t really had the hoped-for impact, but it can lead to some strange results.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just members from the two main political parties who want to see change, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe top-two system effectively shuts out third-party and independent candidates by preventing them from reaching the general election ballot,\u201d former California Libertarian Party Chair Mimi Robson said in a statement. \u201cA repeal would restore a system where voters can consider a full range of political perspectives, not just those of the two dominant old parties.\u201d<\/p>\n

Only a few other states have systems similar to California\u2019s, though they\u2019re not exactly the same. In Alaska, the top four candidates advance to the general election, where winners are decided based on ranked choice voting.<\/p>\n

Maviglio, who recently filed paperwork with the state attorney general\u2019s office to start the process of getting an initiative onto a future ballot to repeal Proposition 14, said once state officials give the OK, he\u2019ll start collecting the hundreds of thousands of valid voter signatures required to qualify the proposal for the 2028 ballot.<\/p>\n

He summed up, in seven words, his belief that California\u2019s top-two primary system must end:\u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s a matter of democracy and fairness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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A pair of veteran political strategists hope to get an initiative on the 2028 ballot to end the state’s ‘jungle primary.’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5768,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nA bipartisan effort to reform California\u2019s top-two primary system is underway - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=5769\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A bipartisan effort to reform California\u2019s top-two primary system is underway - 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