Scott Lay, editor of the well-read California politics blog Around the Capitol, here discusses this year’s race for the State Senate, 26th district. Scroll down to the third entry that is labelled “SD 26.” In June 2014, seven Democrats and one independent appeared on the ballot. Two Democrats came in first and second and will oppose each other in November.

Proponents of the top-two system say this is how their system operates at its best, because the more “moderate” of the two Democrats will win the votes of centrist independents and Republicans. But, Lay points out that if one of the two Democrats is then perceived as someone who is uninterested in the principles and interests of Democrats, the other Democrat will gain an advantage in the general election by pointing this out. A majority of the voters in the district are supportive of the Democratic Party. Lay also points out that it appears a very large proportion of the Republican voters in the June primary simply left the office blank.

One of the two Democrats who will be on the November ballot is Sandra Fluke, who became nationally famous (at least briefly) when Rush Limbaugh referred to her as a “slut” after she testified in Congress about health insurance and contraceptives.

On July 9, a Wall Street Journal/Channel 4 poll was released for the New York gubernatorial race. It shows Green Party nominee Howie Hawkins at 6%. See it here. If the actual results in November are even close to what the poll shows, the Green Party almost surely would then be granted the third line on the ballot in 2016 and 2018, ahead of the Conservative, Working Families, and Independence Parties. That would be the first time since 1936 in which a party that doesn’t cross-endorse Democratic and Republican Parties nominees enjoyed the third line on New York ballots. The Socialist Party lost the third line in November 1936, having had it since 1918. Thanks to Michael for the link.

Nicholas Di Ioria, Republican nominee for U.S. House in New York’s 12th district, hopes to be the subject of a reality TV show. The show would not air until after the election. Nevertheless, it is not certain that the Federal Election Commission will let him proceed. See this story. The 12th district consists of the east side of Manhattan, plus part of Queens. In 2012, Mitt Romney only received 22% of the vote in this district. The show’s producers are interested in a reality show for a candidate who is assumed to have no chance of winning.