The appearance of impropriety

After a strong second-place election night performance, LA mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt is now projected to finish in third place behind incumbent Karen Bass and far-left challenger Nithya Raman, meaning he won’t advance to the general election. In November, Angelenos will get to choose between a former junior communist terrorist-in-training and a DSA member for mayor. Democracy works!This peculiar matchup is possible because Los Angeles holds so-called “jungle primaries” where the top two candidates advance to the general election regardless of party. Many commentators on the right consider this form of primary an abomination because it means that there is usually no republican on the ballot in cities like LA, which swings +50 D in federal elections. But personally I think it makes sense: if you know for a fact your city will never elect a republican, then at least give people a choice of two democrats in the general, rather than letting rabidly partisan primary voters effectively…