Midday Sunday: Election discussion with Raphael 'Raphe' Sonenshein

LOS ANGELES (FOX 11) - This has been an amazing week in American politics.

Two of the three Republican candidates for President dropped out leaving Donald Trump unchallenged while Bernie Sanders, the Democrat challenging Hillary Rodham Clinton, registered an unexpected primary victory in Indiana.

In California, as voters prepare for the June Primary, there are reminders that the primary election process is uniquely complicated. On the primary ballot all the campaigns, from Senator to the local level are open elections or "top two" elections. It means registered voters can vote for any candidate regardless of their party affiliation. The result is that in the November runoff, the two contenders can be from the same political party. However, in the presidential primary, only registered Republicans will be able to vote for one of the Republican candidates. By contrast, Democrats and Independents will both be able to vote for one of the candidates on the Democrat slate.

Raphael "Raphe" Sonenshein joins us to dissect the election, from the process and the candidates to the dynamics of California's demographically broad electorate. Dr. Sonenshein is the Executive Director of the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs at California State University Los Angeles.

Pat Brown was the father of Governor Jerry Brown and a two term California governor.

Information about Dr. Sonenshein and the institute is at www.patbrowninstitute.org.

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