California jungle – With the state primary ending Tuesday, California Democrats are moving fast to stop a repeat of a political nightmare the jungle primary has produced for years: the chance that voters from one party could be locked out of a major general-election race. Rusty H
When California’s primary wraps up on Tuesday. the political fight around the state’s nonpartisan “jungle” primary system won’t end. For many Democrats, the panic is no longer theoretical. The fear is that the system that was supposed to reduce polarization may instead decide who gets to compete for power at all.
Since 2012. California has used a nonpartisan jungle primary in which candidates from all parties run against each other. with the top two finishers advancing to the November general election. Proposition 14 was sold as a way to reduce polarization and increase the odds that moderate and independent candidates could win. Instead. opponents say it has rewarded gamesmanship by high-profile candidates and. at times. left party-affiliated voters unable to vote for the candidate they actually want in the general election.
The impact has been most severe in a state that. as the current political landscape makes clear. is dominated by Democrats. In both 2016 and 2018. voters in California’s Senate races were left to choose between two Democrats for the state’s Senate seats. The same pattern has repeated in congressional and state legislative races across multiple election cycles since the nonpartisan system went into effect.
But in 2026, Democrats say the risk sharpened into something closer to an emergency. The early spring polling—driven by Republican gubernatorial candidates Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco—left Democrats scrambling as the Democratic vote appeared splintered across a field of candidates described as uninspiring. The prospect of a Republican winning governor of the largest U.S. economy and one of the most Democratic states in the country triggered what one Democratic leader called a five-alarm response and a scramble to rethink how the jungle primary works.
Early in 2026. GOP candidates Sheriff Chad Bianco and political consultant Steve Hilton threatened to block Democrats from the general election in California’s gubernatorial race. Rusty Hicks. chair of the California Democratic Party. said on May 1. “The current system we have does not work. ” adding. “It needs to be revised or repealed.”.
Days later, Democrats moved their own pieces. Democratic strategist Steven Maviglio—former press secretary for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis—filed a ballot initiative for the 2028 election to repeal Proposition 14 and return to partisan party primaries. Maviglio said. “Even though the scenario of two candidates from one party has played out numerous times in legislative races. we haven’t seen it for the governor’s race.” He added. “This really put a spotlight on the dangers of the system.”.
To back the effort, Maviglio recruited former California GOP Chair Ron Nehring and support from the Libertarian and Green parties. Third parties. who have often been locked out of the general election under the nonpartisan system. have already sued to overturn it. Maviglio’s initiative would need more than 850. 000 signatures to qualify for the 2028 ballot. though he suggested he would refile the proposition after Tuesday’s primary election. which would require a slightly lower number of signatures.
The governor’s race itself has become a case study in how quickly the jungle primary turns into a fight over who ends up on the November stage. The risk that Democrats would be locked out of the governorship receded after President Donald Trump endorsed Hilton. It also eased after former Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell withdrew after facing rape accusations. In the reshaped race. former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra and the left-wing billionaire Tom Steyer have emerged as leading contenders as they work to consolidate Democratic voters.
Even so, Democrats have leaned into the same kind of strategic pressure the jungle primary encourages. The Democratic Governors Association boosted Hilton by spending more than $1.5 million on mailers to Republican voters “attacking” him for receiving Trump’s endorsement—an attempt to shape who Republicans see as the more favorable option going into the general election.
Under the jungle primary system, the rules don’t just select winners. They force campaigns to manage matchups. That’s why gamesmanship has become a recurring feature rather than an accident. In Los Angeles. supporters of incumbent Democratic Mayor Karen Bass have run ads that purportedly attack Republican Spencer Pratt but. in the words of Bass’ left challenger. function as promotional material for Republican voters. Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman. a Democrat running for mayor to Bass’ left. accused Bass and her allies of “promoting the campaign of a MAGA Republican” during a debate on May 5. Raman asked, “Is he preferable to you as a competitor to me?. Is he preferable to LA?”.
Northern California has seen similar tactics. A Democratic super PAC dropped $100,000 to boost the Republican running against longtime Democratic Rep. Doris Matsui after her campaign urged supporters to do so. Matsui is also facing a more serious challenge from her left, from Sacramento City Councilmember Mai Vang.
Democratic Rep. Derek Tran also sent out mailers promoting one of the five GOP candidates running against him by “attacking” his support for Trump’s agenda. Meanwhile, a GOP super PAC is promoting the more progressive Democrat seeking to unseat incumbent GOP Rep. David Valadao.
The same dynamic has helped Democrats prevent unfavorable matchups in recent history. Democrats say Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff avoided running against Democratic Rep. Katie Porter in his 2024 Senate campaign by boosting Republican Steve Garvey into the general election.
To defenders of the jungle primary. the system’s promise remains straightforward: independent voters would have a greater voice in a nonpartisan primary than in party-run primaries. Supporters also argued that it would push elections toward moderation. If two candidates from other parties advanced to the general election. the locked-out party’s voters could then choose the more moderate option.
But elections, opponents say, don’t consistently follow that idealized script. In the two Senate races in which only Democrats advanced to the general election. Republicans did not vote based on ideology or moderation. They chose instead to vote for the candidate challenging the preferred party nominee—picking Rep. Loretta Sanchez over Attorney General Kamala Harris in 2016, and then choosing Kevin De Leon, who challenged Sen. Dianne Feinstein from the left, in 2018.
That kind of decision-making, according to critics, shifts attention away from political outsiders and toward candidates with the most organizational muscle. The system can reward party-connected, well-funded campaigns capable of manipulating who reaches the top two.
A May poll of likely primary voters in California brought that tension into sharper focus. In a local publication’s survey conducted through Capitol Weekly. participants described how they vote in practice: “I voted for the person I thought had the best chance of winning not necessarily the person I liked best. ” one Democratic participant said. A Republican participant said, “I like two candidates and voted for the one that was polling better.”.
The poll also showed voters growing dissatisfied with the system itself. Fifty percent said they would like to modify the system, while 29% said they would eliminate it. Just 21% said they would keep it with no changes.
By the time Tuesday’s primary ends, California’s jungle primary will still be in place. But the political momentum around changing it—driven by a Democratic scramble to avoid the kind of lockout that could define a governor’s race—has already turned into a ballot fight for 2028.
California jungle primary Proposition 14 nonpartisan election system Rusty Hicks Steven Maviglio Ron Nehring Gavin? (none) 2028 ballot initiative Steve Hilton Chad Bianco Donald Trump Xavier Becerra Tom Steyer Eric Swalwell Adam Schiff Katie Porter Loretta Sanchez Kamala Harris Kevin De Leon Dianne Feinstein Karen Bass Nithya Raman Doris Matsui Mai Vang Derek Tran David Valadao Capitol Weekly poll