On February 9, California Assemblymember Rocky Chavez, a Republican, dropped out of the U.S. Senate race. See this report. This is probably because California’s top-two system injures major parties that have multiple candidates in the primary. With only two well-known Democrats running, and three or four Republicans in the same race, the top-two system would probably result in only two Democrats on the general election ballot. The two Democrats would place first and second, shutting out all the Republicans.

There are still three Republicans running, despite the withdrawal of Chavez: Duf Sundheim, Tom Del Beccaro, and Al Ramirez.

On February 9, the Virginia House Elections Subcommittee killed HB 82 on a voice vote. The bill would have eased the definition of “political party” from a group that polled 10% at either of the last two statewide elections, to 5%. It appears that all the Republicans voted against the bill and all the Democrats voted in favor. The sponsor, Delegate Sam Rasoul, is a Democrat. Thanks to Nicholas Cote for the news.

On February 8, the Virginia Senate passed SB 686 by 34-5. It prohibits political parties from requiring a sign-in sheet before a voter votes in a primary that is administered by the government. The bill has an emergency clause, so if it is signed into law, it takes effect immediately. However, the Republican Party has already cancelled its earlier request that voters who request a Republican ballot must sign a statement that they consider themselves a member of the party, so the bill won’t have any practical effect this year.