I have this piece in the Los Angeles Times entitled “California’s election rules make it hard to hold politicians accountable.” It begins:

On Dec. 18, when the House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump, some members of California’s congressional delegation voted “yea” and some voted “nay.”

You might want to run against your representative in the 2020 election if you disagree with the way he or she voted that day. But thanks to California’s top-two primary and its March primary date, you’d have to wait until 2022.

As of Dec. 11, no one could throw his or her proverbial hat in the ring from California. In other words, every member of California’s House delegation was insulated from challengers before the impeachment vote happened. That’s not a good system for political accountability.