PD Editorial: Governor’s race offers a case study for the top-two primary

California voters wisely enacted a series of political reforms in recent years, including a top-two primary system that can make elections more competitive.

Under top-two, which took effect in 2012, the names of all the candidates for state and congressional offices appear on a single primary ballot. The two receiving the most votes advance to the general election, regardless of their party affiliation.

The goal is straightforward: create an incentive for candidates to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters and, in turn, avoid races where one candidate has virtually no chance of winning in November.

Neither of the major political parties likes the top-two system, and calls to dump it are as predictable as the swallows returning to San Juan Capistrano.

To date, nearly all of the general election contests between two Democrats or two Republicans have taken place in legislative or congressional districts where voter registration overwhelmingly favors one party or the other.

The gubernatorial primary on the June 5 ballot offers voters a prime opportunity in a statewide contest to use the top-two system as it was envisioned.

It's a near certainty that the top finisher will be Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has topped nearly every public opinion poll for more than a year, including a Press Democrat Poll that shows him with a 30-point edge in Sonoma County.

Newsom is an unabashedly progressive Democrat, who made headlines as San Francisco mayor when he authorized same-sex weddings at City Hall in 2004, a decision that eventually led to a U.S. Supreme Court decision in favor of marriage equality. As mayor, he worked with activists and the business community to address homelessness and expand health care options - issues he promises to focus on as governor.

“I'm always going to be a guy to advance audacious goals,” he told The Press Democrat editorial board. “I think the worst thing you can do is have small-ball goals and actually meet them. I'd rather miss audacious goals, because in the process you discover what's possible.”

With Newsom's wide lead in the polls, the crucial question in the June 5 primary is whether he'll have a serious challenge in November.

The leading contenders are former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, a Democrat, and Orange County businessman John Cox, a Republican. Democrats John Chiang and Delaine Eastin and Republican Travis Allen lag behind in most polls.

No Republican has won a statewide election in California since 2006, and GOP voter registration has sunk to 25 percent, barely exceeding the number of voters who aren't affiliated with any political party.

Cox not only faces the burden of running in an overwhelmingly blue state, his platform includes repealing the gas tax increase and vehicles fees that are generating $5 billion a year to rehabilitate roads and highways. That would be a big step backward for California.

Villaraigosa has an impressive track record as Assembly speaker and mayor of the nation's second-largest city. As mayor during the Great Recession, he made touch choices to keep L.A. out of bankruptcy - cutting popular programs, furloughing employees and reforming the city's pension program over the objections of public employees unions. That wasn't an easy step for a former labor organizer. Neither was taking on the powerful teachers union, which opposed his push for more charter schools in Los Angeles.

“I was willing to make the tough calls,” he told the editorial board.

To be clear, we aren't prepared to endorse a candidate for governor at this time.

We want to hear more about housing, homelessness, climate policy, infrastructure, overhauling the state's tax and pension systems and other issues from Newsom and whichever other candidate advances to the Nov. 6 general election.

Given the political realities of the Golden State, Villaraigosa has the best chance to make it a closer race, which would encourage both candidates to compete for all the voters, regardless of their party affiliation. That's how the top-two primary is intended to work.

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