PACIFIC PALISADES, CA — The 2024 presidential primary election season in California is officially underway, but the real excitement in California comes in the form of down-ballot races.
The election is March 5, but most Golden State residents already have their mail-in ballots in hand.
With presidential frontrunners former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden expected to win their nominations handily, all eyes in California are on the hotly contested primary race for the seat vacated by the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein as well as a slew of local races.
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Los Angeles voters will decide on one referendum, Measure HLA, which would require the city to install or change certain safety features — such as sidewalks, bike lanes or bus lanes — when crews are already working on a street, such as for a paving project.
The Palisades is within state Assembly District 42. Incumbent Democratic Assemblymember Miguel Santiago is not seeking reelection. In the running for that seat are Democrats Mark Gonzalez and John Yi and Republican Elaine Alaniz.
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City Council District 11, which includes Pacific Palisades, is not up for election.
The District 4 board seat of the LA Unified School District, which includes the Palisades, is not up for election.
Presidential Primary
The primary will decide which candidate gets California’s 169 delegates — the largest haul of any state — to the Republican and Democratic national conventions, to be held in July and August, respectively.
All three top contenders have been stumping in California. President Joe Biden and Republican contender Nikki Haley visited Southern California earlier this month. Biden is slated to return Feb. 20 for a series of campaign events in the Los Angeles area. GOP frontrunner Donald Trump campaigned in the Golden State days after skipping the Republican debate in September.
There were notable changes to California’s primary this year. It moved up from June to Super Tuesday in March with 13 other states.
In California, the political parties determine whether they will have open or closed presidential parties, meaning only the party’s registered voters can pick the winning candidates.
The Green Party, the Peace and Freedom Party, and the Republican Party are all holding closed primaries in California
Furthermore, the state’s GOP changed the rules to winner-takes-all, so that any candidate who gets a majority wins all of the delegates. Previously, the delegates were divided up based on the number of congressional districts each Republican won.
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The change, pushed by the Donald Trump campaign, raises the stakes in California’s primary and favors the frontrunner in the Republican primary, which also happens to be Trump.
The American Independent Party, the Democratic Party, and the Libertarian Party hold a modified-closed primary, which means they allow No Party Preference voters to vote in their primaries.
Click here to check your voter and party registration status.
Statewide Primary Elections
All 52 of California’s congressional districts will have primary races March 5 along with one U.S. Senate race. With frontrunners Trump and Biden expected to sail to victory in California’s presidential primary, the real suspense centers on the Golden State’s senate race.
For the senate race, California has an open primary, which means only the top two vote-getters in the primary election, regardless of party affiliation, move on to the general election.
All election season, polls have shown Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Burbank) in the lead with former Los Angeles Dodger Steve Garvey (R), Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine ), and Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland) vying for second place to make it into the general election.
According to a California Elections and Policy Poll released in February, Porter and Garvey are deadlocked in the race for second place.
Schiff went into February far in the lead with 25 percent of likely voters while Porter and Garvey, each garnered support from 15 percent of likely voters. Lee was polling in fourth place at 7 percent of the vote, according to the poll.
It’s been decades since a Republican won statewide office in California, and that may be why the Schiff campaign is expending considerable capital to raise Garvey’s profile among Republican voters through a series of expensive Fox News ads, touting him as too conservative for California.
Garvey, with just over $300,000 in his war chest, can’t afford such ads.
Porter blasted the tactic as a “brazenly cynical” bid for Schiff to handpick his opponent in the general election, counting on deep blue California to reject any statewide Republican candidate in the general election.
According to Politico, Porter and Schiff booked a staggering $25 million in airtime. Schiff has nabbed the bulk of the Democratic establishment endorsements such as Nancy Pelosi, United Farm Workers and the Los Angeles Times editorial board. Porter, a darling of progressives, garnered endorsements from Sen. Elizabeth Warren, CA Attorney General Rob Bonta, and consumer advocacy groups.
The senate candidates are:
How To Vote
California voters have three options to vote.
Mail in ballot: Voters can mail in the ballots they received in the mail by signing them, sealing them and placing them in either a mailbox or an approved drop box. Approved drop box locations are listed on county websites. Google “drop box locations” and your county, and a list should pop up.
Early voting: Each county will have at least one location where voters can vote in person or drop off ballots at least 10 days before primary election day. See here to find your nearest early voting location.
Traditional in-person voting: Polls will open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on March 5. See here to find your polling location. Polling locations will also be mailed to voters with their ballots.
2024 Election: Endorsements And Voter Guides
Key 2024 Election Dates In California
Here’s what you need to know about the 2024 election calendar in California:
Mail-in voters in California now have a way to track their ballots to make sure their votes are counted. The California Secretary of State is now offering Where’s My Ballot? for voters to track and receive notifications on the status of their vote-by-mail ballot.
With Where’s My Ballot? Voters who sign up will receive notices via email, text, or voice message from the county elections official regarding the status of the voter’s vote-by-mail ballot including:
Patch Staffer Michael Wittner contributed to this report.
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