Re: Jeff Stone LOSES Republican primary for State Senate You're not from California, are you... Crikey, Orange County, Riverside County and east San Diego County is as Republican as it gets. Apparently some Democrat was running against Stone, Anderson, Dickson et. al. and got absolutely no press. Nobody is even running against him. A Democrat running in district 36 is like tits on a boar hawg.
Re: Jeff Stone LOSES Republican primary for State Senate The difference between having a Democrat on the ballot (who will lose anyway) vs 'two Rs with no Democrats' on the ballot (or vice-versa, in, say San Francisco) is that: Democrats will be discouraged in coming out to the polls- since the only options are two people they wouldn't vote for anyway. In lopsided races in lopsided counties, this leads to effective disenfranchisement and greater voter apathy. It helps lock-in the incumbents and popular pols, and has reverberations across non-partisan or cross-partisan issues- e.g. libertarians who might side with R on some issues, D on others- more inclined to stay home and not vote. For "Conservative" Democrats, "Moderate" Republicans- crossing the aisle becomes less appealing and the elected politicians end up with less incentive to address the concerns of a demographic they no longer need to propitiate. its bad/bad except for incumbents and partisan idealogues.
Re: Jeff Stone LOSES Republican primary for State Senate Let's not forget that most of the California governors have been Republican. The last Democrat, Gray Davis, was successfully recalled from office by voters and replaced with Ah-nold.
Re: Jeff Stone LOSES Republican primary for State Senate While there are some solidly Republican areas, overall California is heavily Democratic. So for local office you could win as a Rep. You could even win in a state seat. But forget running for governor or running for the US Senate if you're an R. Does this law apply only to state elections or federal elections as well?
