Twenty-six of the 69 California state legislators running for re-election this year—21 Democrats and five Republicans—face contested primaries. This is fewer than the 37 incumbents in contested primaries in 2018 and 2020, but more than in earlier cycles.
California began using top-two primaries in 2012, where every candidate, regardless of party affiliation, appears on the same ballot, and the top-two vote-getters advance to the general election. In 2010 and before, California held partisan primaries where candidates from each party competed against one another to win their parties’ nominations for the general election.
