Polls are open in six states today — California, Iowa, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, and South Dakota. More than sixty names are on the ballot for governor in California alone. It’s the busiest primary day of the year so far.
But here’s the number that should be on the front page tonight and never is: across every election Ballotpedia tracks, 65% have gone uncontested since 2018. Last November, 69% of mayoral races had exactly one name on the ballot. And up to 80% of school board, city council, and judicial races offer voters no real choice at all.
The race that should scare us isn’t the one with too many candidates. It’s the thousands with too few.
My latest for CrowdBlue digs into what today’s contests are really telling anyone eyeing a local seat — and why filing in an uncontested race is the single highest-leverage act in down-ballot politics.
Tonight, while everyone watches the governor’s race, go find the one nobody’s running in. And if you want this kind of analysis regularly, subscribe to our Substack — free.
Jaime Peters
Head of Campaigns
CROWDBLUE
