Republicans avoided disaster

Republicans had their own worst-case scenario in mind: A top-two primary that left the GOP entirely out of races for the governorship and Dianne Feinstein’s (D) Senate seat.

Feinstein will likely face a fellow Democrat, former state Senate President Kevin de Leon, in November, though plenty of votes are left to be counted. But in the race for governor, businessman John Cox (R) secured a spot in November’s general election against Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Cox is not going to win in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by an almost two-to-one margin. But the fact that there is a Republican on the ballot in the first place is enough to give Republican voters a reason to show up, avoiding a turnout collapse that could have been a catastrophe for every Republican farther down the ballot.