Democrats worried about an expensive primary war for Dianne Feinstein's seat

[Virginiá]

When are Democrats ever not worried about something? Talk about overreaction. The Republican Party was subject to a hostile takeover last year and they constantly have competitive, divisive, expensive primaries (occasionally even in swing states and blue states!) Clearly that's really taking a toll on them politically.

At the very least, you could say it doesn't help to have candidates tied up in expensive primaries, at least in competitive states. But in general I think I have to agree with you. Obviously a party should want to avoid bitter intra-party feuding, but then again a party will never evolve if it doesn't have these fights from time to time. After all, the feuding in the Democratic Party isn't petty. It's an ongoing fight over the direction of the party, ideologically and strategically.

[Virginiá]

I fail to see the downside of a CA General being a firey, high-energy showdown between Feinstein and de Leon. It'll drag dems to tje polls and might make Republicans stay home, which is great for House candidates.

If the general election is Feinstein vs de Leon, that would be amazing. However, to really get the benefit of depressed Republican turnout, the Governor's race needs to be DvD as well, or maybe at least Democrat vs Ultimate "Some Dude," although I'm not sure how bad that would be for the CAGOP in terms of turnout.

While not as interesting, I'd also note that Republican state legislative candidates in California would be in trouble if no Republican made it to the GE in CA's Senate/Governors races. They rely on ticket splitting and optimal Republican turnout to stay afloat in Romney/Clinton or Obama/Clinton districts. If they see lower turnout and more straight ticket voting in 2018, Democrats could really sweep legislative races and build a comfortable supermajority.

[Virginiá]

The advantage, if they both make the top two, is that it would depress Republican turnout in House elections, although I question how ethical this strategy is.

Maybe it would push the CAGOP to invest in a ballot initiative that would scrap jungle primaries. I really don't like it myself, and Republicans would be wise to try and get it removed while they still can.