Two politicians who have staked their reputations on advocacy of top-two primary systems have been defeated. In Washington state, according to this story, it is likely that Republican Rob McKenna has lost the Governor’s race. McKenna is the current Attorney General, and a very strong supporter of top-two in his state. He personally argued in the U.S. Supreme Court in defense of Washington state’s top-two law in 2007. This year, he used his influence in the Republican Party to persuade the party not to put its name on the cert petition filed by the Washington state Democratic and Libertarian Parties. UPDATE: McKenna conceded on November 9.

In California, former Lieutenant Governor Abel Maldonado, who forced the California legislature to place Proposition 14 on the ballot at the June 2010 election, has lost his Congressional race. The California Secretary of State’s web page shows that with all precincts reporting (although many absentee and provisional ballots remain to be counted), Maldonado polled 45.2%, losing to incumbent Democratic congresswoman Lois Capps, who has 54.8%.

Montana Libertarian nominee Mike Fellows polled 42.45% of the vote in his race for Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court. This is a partisan statewide race. Fellows’ only opponent was the Democratic incumbent, Ed Smith. Fellows’ showing is the largest percentage of the vote that a statewide Libertarian nominee has ever polled in any state, in the party’s history. Fellows carried at least 17 counties, and as this is written, many counties haven’t reported results yet.

Minnesota voters have defeated Constitutional Amendment 2, which would have added a section to the Minnesota Constitution, requiring voters at the polls to show government photo-ID to vote at the polls. The vote as of 4 a.m. Minnesota time is: 1,318,253 in favor, and 1,500,205 opposed.