California Likely to Have a Very Crowded Gubernatorial Ballot in June 2018

According to the list compiled by Around the Capitol, a California politics news blog, 51 individuals have already either notified the state campaign finance office that they are intending to run for Governor in the June 2018 primary, or have otherwise indicated an intention. Here is the list. Not all of them will actually run, of course. Filing must be complete in March 2018. But probably most of them will get on the ballot. If they pay the filing fee, they only need 65 signatures.

One of the little-discussed disadvantages of the top-two system in California is that it has a general election ballot with far too few choices, but a primary ballot that, for important office like Governor and U.S. Senator, has too many candidates. In the June 2016 primary there were 34 candidates on the ballot for U.S. Senate. This is because all the candidates from all six qualified parties, plus independent candidates, must all appear on the same ballot.


Comments

California Likely to Have a Very Crowded Gubernatorial Ballot in June 2018 — 3 Comments

  1. Since there are ANTI-Democracy minority rule gerrymander regimes in the USA regime and in all 50 State regimes —

    NO big surprise that there are lots of wannabee LAWLESS TYRANT *Leaders* — Prezs, Guvs, Mayors, etc.

    See *Leader* Hitler in Germany in 1933-1945.

    PR and nonpartisan AppV

  2. The petition requirement is too easy for statewide candidates. A better standard would be to base it on turnout for the previous gubernatorial election. If the petition requirement were 1/10 of 1% this would be 7514 statewide. Alternatively, the fee could be based on a reasonable collection rate of say 10 minutes per signature times the minimum wage. This would be $13,149. Signatures and dollars could be mixed, with each signature worth $1.75 off the fee.

    While this might seem high, it would also mean that a full slate of congressional candidates could qualify for the same amount (albeit with a distribution requirement for the signatures and finding willing candidates).

    An average congressional district would be 142 signatures or $248 filing fee. For Assembly it would 94 signatures or $165.

  3. Direct Fee = Min signatures x money amount (perhaps depending on office).

    7514 x $ 1.75 = $ 13,149

    SIMPLE nomination forms –

    I nominate [name, address, party] for [office] at the [date] election.
    Elector signature, printed name, address, date signed.

    IE – in newspapers, internet, print own, etc.

    NO primaries. ONE ELECTION DAY.

    PR and AppV

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.