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$89.2 Million Spent in ‘Same-Party’ Races Following Passage of Prop. 14 in California

September 16, 2014 -- In 2010 California voters approved Proposition 14, a constitutional amendment changing all non-Presidential elections to a nonpartisan “top two” blanket primary. Under this system, all candidates run in a single primary open to all registered voters, with the top two winners facing each other in a run-off during the general election.

Since Proposition 14 was passed, there have been a total of 52 “same-party” races in California for the California State Senate, Assembly, and U.S. House of Representatives. In 36 races, a Democrat faced a Democrat in the November election; in 16 races, a Republican faced a Republican.

According to data obtained from the Federal Election Commission, the California Secretary of State, and the California Fair Political Practices Commissioner, Democrats raised or spent a total of $69 million in these 36 races, compared to $20.2 million for the 16 races among Republicans.  For every dollar spent or raised by Republicans in these intra-party contests, $3.42 was raised or spent by Democrats.

Read our full report here.