The upcoming open primaries on June 5 will alter California’s political landscape considerably. Will open primaries help end political gridlock? Let's hope so. But they could also lead to serious divisions within parties and might not lead to much change at all.

Every election season, American voters behold the clamor between Republican and Democratic candidates over what they will or will not do in office. The winners then go to Washington DC as members of Congress to sponsor and vote on legislation in order to make more and more of your choices for you, consolidating decision-making, public policy, and power in the hands of a few. Then the next election season, they use these pieces of legislation to show you just how much they've done for you.

Voter turnout rates of women have exceeded that of men in past elections. According to the Reuters Center for American Women and Politics, every presidential election since 1980 has seen the number of female voters surpass that of males by between four to seven million votes.

How much longer will California's pretend-and-extend on the budget continue? Every year it's the same tiresome fiscal train wreck, but nothing changes. The legislature continues its sleepwalking. No lasting solutions are found. The rot and dysfunction continues and worsens.