Will The 'No Kings' Party Overturn An Election?

California Democrats are terrified that a Republican might be governor

Proposition 14, an amendment to the California state constitution, passed in 2009 with the backing of then-governor Arnold Schwartzenegger. The measure was sold to Californians as a way to reduce partisan polarization, empowering moderate candidates from both parties to be more pragmatic.

All candidates for voter-nominated offices at every level appear on one ballot, regardless of party preference, creating a ‘jungle primary’. The top two vote-getters advance to the November general election even if they are both from the same party.

Democrat Gavin Newsom exploited the process in 2018 by strategically boosting Republican John Cox, his weaker opponent, against moderate Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa, his stronger opponent, with a series of attack ads. Newsom then beat Cox in the November general election.

Now in 2026, a fragmented field of unpopular Democrats has made it possible for two Republicans, Steve Hilton and Chad Bianco, to stand on the threshold of making November into an all-GOP runoff.

Suddenly, Gov. Newsom is no longer in favor of the jungle primary system he has used so successfully. Should the election become a Hilton-Bianco runoff, Newsom is prepared to override the will of the people for their own good. Because what could possibly be worse than a Republican being elected governor by plebiscite, according to the laws of California?

“We all have agencies”, Newsom said on Thursday in response to a question about the possibility. “We can shape the future… I don’t anticipate this need to be the case, but there is a ‘break the glass scenario.’ There’s many people that have a deep understanding of what it would look like if Democrats were locked out, and we’re going to do everything to make sure that doesn’t happen. I’ll leave it there.” Watch:

The jungle primary was a key way that Democrats locked Republicans out of power in the state for 15 years. Sen. Adam Schiff has also boosted a Republican opponent to clear the field of his most dangerous Democratic rival. Now that the jungle primary works against Democrats, though, they want to change the rules.

Steve Maviglio, a longtime Democratic operative and the former communications director for Democratic Gov. Gray Davis, first proposed doing away with the jungle primary in a February op-ed as the polls pointed to an all-GOP ballot in November. He filed a new ballot initiative with the state attorney general’s office this month to return California to a party-based primary.

Of course, even if the repeal effort gets on the November ballot and passes, it will not be able to stop the result of the jungle primary because early voting is already underway. That is what makes Newsom’s comment about a “break the glass scenario” so interesting. Which “agencies” would he use to thwart state elections law?

Politico notes that “the Democratic Governors Association recently began sending mail highlighting Republican Steve Hilton as a fierce conservative. The ostensible opposition campaign could drive GOP voters to Hilton, ensuring he consolidates the party’s voters and saps the support of the other Republican candidate” so that Bianco does not finish in the top two.

But what if he does, anyway? Decisions, decisions. Perhaps the party of “No Kings”, that makes so much noise about democracy being spoiled in Virginia, will find a way to annul democracy in California. To, you know, save democracy.

In his budget presentation on Thursday, Newsom — who has so far refused to endorse any Democrat running for his office, since they are all such good friends of his — recalled the time in 2018 when he pulled the same trick that the Democratic Governors Association is doing right now.

Then, Gov. Jerry Brown refused to endorse Newsom. “I developed tremendous animus towards him, and now I offer forgiveness”, Newsom said. See? He really is growing as a person.