California voters have selected incumbent Jerry Brown (D) and Republican Neel Kashkari to face off in California's gubernatorial race, The Associated Press reports.
Under California's new primary system, the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Brown finished with 54 percent of the vote, while Kashkari bested fellow Republican Tim Donnelly for the second spot, 19 percent to 15 percent.
Brown is expected to easily win another term in the statehouse, but that didn't stop the battle for the second spot on the ballot from taking a contentious turn.
The Huffington Post's Amanda Terkel and Samantha Lachman reported Monday:
Republicans reportedly fear that if conservative state Assemblyman Tim Donnelly (R) makes it past the primary, his anti-immigration stance could drive Democratic voters to the polls, upending competitive down-ballot races across the state. Former Assistant Treasury Department Secretary Neel Kashkari (R) has put more than $2 million of his own cash into his campaign and been endorsed by Romney, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. That may not be enough to beat Donnelly, a former head of the state’s anti-immigration Minutemen border patrol group. The state assemblyman, who has called himself a "threat to the country-club Republicans," was arrested in 2012 for bringing a loaded gun into an airport and has compared the Minutemen’s fight against illegal immigration to a “war." He also accused Kashkari, who is Hindu, of supporting Sharia law.
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