I understand Steve Singiser’s many beefs with California’s top-two primary structure, and I might be convinced that the law ought to preclude the top two coming from the same party. But, overall, I think the problems impact both parties equally, depending on circumstances, and that allows for third parties to have a better shot. To start with, California created the Citizens Redistricting Commission, which greatly expanded the number of competitive seats in the state. But there are still many uncompetitive seats. How do we hold an elected Democrat accountable in a 88% Democratic district? How about having them have to run against someone to their left? With the top-two system, we don’t run into the problem that third parties will doom the Democrat.
While the system creates some perverse incentives and can still result in disaster if too many left-leaning candidates run against too few right-leaning candidates, the normal consequence of a left-wing challenge to a Democrat is that the Democrat still finishes in the top two and has a chance to win the general.
California probably ought to start a progressive party that is sometimes willing to endorse Democrats. I’m almost certain that we’d see progressives elected to Congress from California before we’d see any (exclusively) Working Families members elected from New York’s fusion ballot. And that could form the basis for a viable left-wing third party that has actual representation in the Capitol.
