Unite America Statement on California Governor's Race

Unrepresentative outcomes are possible in all-candidate primaries — but guaranteed in party primaries

As the California Secretary of State prepares to certify the list of candidates for this year’s governor’s race on Thursday, polls continue to show a scenario in which two Republicans could advance to the general election.

Nick Troiano, Unite America Executive Director, issued the following statement about the possibility of a Democratic lockout:

"California adopted a top-two primary to give every voter a meaningful vote, regardless of party. Over the decade-plus it's been around, it has delivered: increasing competition and improving representation.

No election system is perfect. In a deep blue state, a general election for governor between two Republicans would be unrepresentative — but the chance remains highly unlikely. 

California’s top-two system is far superior to a broken status quo. In the 45 other states that still use traditional party primaries, elections are all but guaranteed to be unrepresentative — decided in low-turnout contests that deny millions of Americans a vote that truly matters.

The ‘Primary Problem’ continues to be the most solvable problem in politics today, and open primaries are the most powerful, practical solution."

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Relevant research and context

‍As you continue to cover this race and California’s top-two system, here’s some background research and context that might be useful:

• Report: Top-two primaries have delivered measurable improvements in California. Higher turnout, more competition, and more meaningful participation compared to party primaries.
• Press memo: The impact of top-two primaries. A summary of research on California and Washington’s election systems.
• “Lockout” scenarios are extremely rare. Across an estimated 2,300+ elections in California and Washington under top-two elections, there have been just three documented examples of the dominant party being locked out of the general election. That’s a 0.13% lockout rate.
• ‍Unrepresentative outcomes are routine in party primaries. In 2024 alone, 21 dominant party primaries for safe seats were won with far less than majority support — in four cases, the winning candidate got less than 30% and went on to win an uncompetitive general election.

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Unite America is a philanthropic venture fund that invests in nonpartisan election reform to foster a more representative and functional government.

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