CBS News has this story about the California top-two system and the 2026 gubernatorial election.

The author misuses the term “runoff”. The California November 3, 2026 is not a “runoff”. It is the election itself. A “runoff” is something that is held when the election itself fails to produce a winner. But the June 2 event is not an “election”, because no one can ever be elected in California top-two primaries. Even if a candidate receives 100% of the vote in June, he or she is not elected. The law was written that way because an 1872 federal law tells all states to hold congressional elections in November of even-numbered years. If California held its congressional election in June, that would violate federal law. The U.S. Supreme Court made this clear in a 1997 opinion, Foster v Love, that told Louisiana to stop electing members of Congress in September.

The New Mexico Secretary of State has determined that Christopher Vanden Heuvel, the only Republican running for U.S. Senate, did not submit enough valid signatures for primary ballot access. He needed 2,351 signatures. The primary is June 2. UPDATE: New Mexico does not permit write-ins in primaries for U.S. Senate.

On February 10, the Maine House passed LD 1666 by 71-52. It expands ranked choice voting so as to include state offices in the general election. Currently Maine uses RCV for state office in primaries but not in general elections. Also currently it uses RCV for federal office in both the primary and general elections.

The House also asked the State Supreme Court to rule on whether LD 1666 would be constitutional.