Democrats suddenly aren’t so welcome to the ‘jungle’ primary system |
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Democrats suddenly aren’t so welcome to the ‘jungle’ primary system
Democrats are defenders of democracy — except when they lose. Then they want to change the rules.
That’s what may happen in California.
California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks has decided that the state’s odd primary system — the “top two” or “jungle” primary — does not work.
That’s odd, because it has been a huge boost to Democrats — until now.
Under the “jungle” system, the parties no longer hold separate primary elections. Instead, all of the candidates are pooled into a common primary. The top two finishers advance to the general election, regardless of party.
That means, in theory, that two Democrats could run against each other, or — more rarely — two Republicans, in the November election.
Republicans have not won a single statewide office since the “jungle” primary was introduced.
So Democrats should be........