Dem
51
GOP
49
California's law requiring all-party primaries with the top two finishers advancing to the general election has a well-known problem that sometimes the general election is between two Democrats or two Republicans, leaving millions of voters with no one from their party even on the ballot. But there is another (less-well-known) problem as well. What if the race for second place is an exact tie? Can't happen, you think. Think again. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-CA), who represents part of Silicon Valley, is retiring. Her district is D+26. Not surprisingly, a number of Democrats decided to jump into the primary.
In the primary, former San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo (D) came in first with 38,489 votes, so he made it to the November ballot. Next were state Assemblyman Evan Low (D) and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian (D), each with exactly 30,249 votes. Oops. Now what? Toss a coin? Nope. California law specifically states "in no case shall the tie be determined by lot." A tie for first place wouldn't be a problem. Both candidates would then duke it out in November. But a tie for second place with no tiebreaker is tough and has never happened before. To make it worse, as absentee ballots drifted slowly in, the lead shifted multiple times during the counting process. It was quite the roller coaster for the candidates. People who didn't vote are now thinking: "Maybe I shoulda voted."
What appears to be the solution is to have a three-way race in November. But since California does not have runoffs, it is possible for the top candidate to win with only 34% of the vote, not exactly a mandate.
This is not the only California race giving California Secretary of State Shirley Weber a headache. Assemblyman Vince Fong (R) is running simultaneously for reelection to the Assembly and also for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy's old House seat. Weber doesn't believe that is allowed and is challenging Fong in court. In the end, the California Supreme Court will have to figure out what to do. In the meantime, maybe the state legislature ought to make a law stating that no candidate may be on the same ballot for two different offices, forcing candidates, not the courts, to make the choice. (V)