A legal quirk might force CA to pick between two MAGA candidates for governor

Despite being an overwhelmingly Democratic state, a quirk in California’s election laws may result in California voters needing to choose between two pro-Trump Republicans in the upcoming governor’s race.

“The current system allows the top two candidates, regardless of party, to move on to the runoff,” reported Los Angeles Times' Dakota Smith on Monday. “That has led to instances in which two Democrats or two Republicans have faced off in the general election.”

Smith added, “The state's gubernatorial election, for example, has prompted concern that two Republicans could shut out the Democratic candidates. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton have polled high in various surveys and are facing a large field of Democrats.”

In an attempt to prevent a situation like this from happening in the future, political consultant Steve Maviglio filed an application to state officials on Friday arguing that California’s voting system should revert to a traditional primary. In Maviglio’s proposal, each party’s top candidate will appear on the ballot during the general election.

"It was extremely scary to envision the November ballot for governor with Republicans on it," Maviglio said.

Democrats continue to struggle with finding a single candidate to rally behind in the upcoming gubernatorial race. One initial frontrunner, Rep. Eric Swalwell, exited from the race in disgrace after multiple women accused him of various forms of rape and sexual misconduct. A number of other candidates remain, including billionaire Tom Steyer, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, former Rep. Katie Porter and former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra. Californians who do not want a Republican governor, like Maviglio, are therefore concerned that the large field of well-known Democrats could split their party’s vote in such a way that the two finalists are Hilton and Bianco.

Further complicating matters is the fact that Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, Democratic Party Chair Rusty Hicks, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have all declined to endorse a candidate and thereby elevate them above the pack.

Bianco, though not endorsed by Trump, has closely embraced the Republican’s legacy of MAGA politics, particularly by arguing that he would be a tough on crime governor. Instead of Bianco, Trump endorsed Hilton, a former Fox News host who in 2019 told this journalist for Salon that he views Trump as a “fierce” patriot.

“In those days it was all about America: ‘We are being ripped off, America should be doing better,’” Hilton told this journalist at the time. “It’s a fierce kind of patriotism, and a belief in America, I think. ‘America First,’ therefore, is the closest thing I think you’re going to get to a defining idea of Trumpism. And that does connect trade issues and immigration issues.”

At the same time, Hilton argued that “I think the president himself would be the first to say that the notion of a sort of philosophical approach is somewhat alien for him. That’s not how he sees things. He really is, I think at heart, a pragmatist. He’s like, ‘OK, there’s a problem here. How do I fix it?'”