Democratic strategist launches effort to repeal California’s two-top primary
A Democratic strategist has launched an effort to overhaul California’s primary system in 2028, citing fears that the fractured field of governor candidates could lead to two Republicans advancing from the June 2 primary and locking Democrats out of the November general election in the U.S.’s most reliably liberal state.
Sacramento consultant Steven Maviglio submitted his “Undo the Top Two” proposal Friday with Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office. If it successfully gets on the ballot, voters would decide whether to repeal the state’s 16-year-old “open primary” law in 2028 and reinstate a system, starting in 2030, where one candidate from each political party would advance from the primary to the general election.
A narrow majority of voters passed Proposition 14 in 2010, which allows the top two vote getters in the primary to proceed to the general election regardless of party affiliation. Proponents at the time claimed Prop. 14 would undercut polarization and allow more independents to win elections.
“The experiment failed. Political partisanship is worse than ever in both Washington D.C. and Sacramento,” Maviglio said in an accompanying letter to Bonta’s office. “Special interests have more control over our politics than ever.”
Maviglio is a former Gov. Gray Davis spokesperson turned strategist8. He is advising down-ballot candidates but does not have a client in the governor’s race, which has eight major Democratic challengers and two Republicans, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and Fox News pundit Steve Hilton.
Maviglio has long advocated for the state to revamp its primary system, which is sometimes referred to as a “jungle primary.”
For months, Democratic leaders worried that the race to succeed outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom would result in a matchup between Bianco and Hilton because no one Democrat had captured enough support to emerge as a decisive frontrunner, even though Democratic voters outnumber Republicans by a nearly 2:1 ratio.
While Newsom has declined to take a public stance on the race, California Democratic Party chair Rusty Hicks has repeatedly said lower-polling candidates should drop out of the race to prevent a shutout by Republicans.
Those fears have eased in recent weeks as former Democratic Attorney General Xavier Becerra has vaulted to the front of the pack, though polls still put him, Hilton, and Democratic climate activist Tom Steyer within the margin of error.
Maviglio’s initiative is likely to receive backing not only from fellow Democrats, but labor unions, Republicans and independents. In 2018, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy told the New York Times he “hated the top-two.”
In a March post on X, California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez, a former legislator, called the top-two primary system a “failed experiment.”
“The jungle primary (top 2) in California is trash,” she wrote. “Worst political reform in semi-recent California history.”
