George Skelton, veteran politics reporter for the Los Angeles Times, here bemoans the fact that young people, especially Hispanics and blacks, have far lower turnout rates nowadays in midterm years than in the past. Skelton has been vociferously in favor of the top-two system in California, ever since it was first proposed in 2004.
He does not mention the idea that top-two is one reason why California midterm elections are so boring. In 2014, two very interesting gubernatorial candidates filed, but were kept off the general election ballot because of the top-two system. One was Green Party member Luis Rodriguez, who had gone from being a gang member and drug addict, to one of California’s most celebrated contemporary writers. During 2014 he was poet laurate of Los Angeles. He has published 15 books and won many literary and civic awards.
The other was Cindy Sheehan, famous for having set up “Camp Casey” outside President George W. Bush’s Crawford, Texas, summer white house. She also filed, as a Peace & Freedom Party member, but like Rodriguez, was kept out of the general election campaign season.