California lawmakers continue to offer their opinions of the upcoming Top Two Open Primary initiative in June. Assemblyman V. Manuel Perez briefly presented his views in a recent Q&A session with The Desert Sun.
In a recent interview, newly appointed Lieutenant Governor, Abel Maldonado, advocated the Top Two Primary as a viable reform measure on the 2010 ballot. He believes the open primary will increase voter participation and create a more effective, nonpartisan political process, just as in local elections.
Fred Keeley, Santa Cruz County Treasurer and member of the California Forward Leadership Council, compared his organization's reform model with that of the Bay Area Council. California Forward seeks to institute a longer fiscal planning horizon, to establish greater accountability at the executive and legislative branches, and to generate more timely, sustainable budgets.
The wait is over. Governor Schwarzenegger selected moderate Republican, Abel Maldonado, to serve as Lieutenant Governor. Maldonado replaces now U.S. Rep. John Garamendi, but Maldonado's interim term will be brief, since it appears he'll be competing against Sam Aanestad and Jeff Denham in next year's Republican primary.
At a recent forum called 'What ails California?', state Senator, Loni Hancock, criticized the Top Two Primary which will appear on the June 2010 ballot. In Hancock's view, a Top Two Open Primary will increase the cost of campaigning since candidates would be forced to fund two distinct campaigns, June and November.
