What to expect on the General Election ballot? Well, although we are still early in the candidate nomination period, we still have some idea of what to expect.

With the “Top Two Primary” going into effect this year, the number of candidates on the General Election ballot will be capped at 315 this year, although we’re likely to see a few less than that. In recent years, we have seen around ten races each year that have only one candidate, so expecting about 305-310 candidates is probably reasonable. The candidate numbers break down;

7 candidates for U.S. President
2 candidates for U.S. Senator
106 candidates for U.S. Representative (2 per district for 53 districts)
40 candidates for (2 per district for 20 districts)
160 candidates for State Assembly (2 per district for 80 districts)

We should find out who the candidates are (with the exception of the Presidential nominees) in two waves;

• In races with only one or two candidates, we should know who will be appearing on the November ballot shortly after the end of the filing period (on or before March 24th).
• In races with three or more candidates, we will have to wait until after the Primary Election (June 5th) to see which two candidates received the most votes and will continue to the General Election.

If not before, Presidential nominees should become apparent after each of the party conventions;

• American Independent nominee to be selected at convention by April 21.
• Libertarian nominee to be selected at convention by May 6.
• Americans Elect nominee to be selected online by July 1.
• Green nominee to be selected at convention by July 15.
• Peace & Freedom nominee to be selected at convention by August 5.
• Republican nominee to be selected at convention by August 30.
• Democratic nominee to be selected at convention by September 6.