Bill Proposes Changes in New Open Primary Law

California’s lively political debate about how voters should select party nominees has erupted again, with a group of centrist lawmakers offering a plan that--in some cases--would eliminate general elections for state offices.

The bill introduced this week by state Sen. Richard Rainey (R-Walnut Creek) would amend the new Proposition 198 election rules that allow voters in the next primary to cast a ballot for any candidate--not just the one from their party.

Rainey’s plan would declare a winner for any open primary in which a candidate received more than 50% of all the votes cast. If no candidate received 50%, the top vote-getters from each party would compete in the November general election. “When a candidate has the support of more than 50% of the voters in an open primary election, the people have clearly spoken,” Rainey said.

His plan could benefit Republicans, whose voters traditionally turn out at a higher rate in primaries. For that reason, Democrats predicted that the bill’s chances of passage are “very, very slim,” said Sandy Harrison, spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward).

Both the state Republican and Democratic parties have filed a legal challenge to the new rules. The case is pending in court.

For Republicans particularly, the issue has split conservative opponents of the open primary and moderate supporters. Moderate candidates are expected to be favored in an open primary because they have the best chance of attracting voters from other parties. Fearing that, conservative Republican leaders last week suggested a new plan in which GOP nominees would be selected by a caucus voting system.