Mighty California, the Super Tuesday kingmaker? Don’t bet on it

A crowded, fractious field of Democratic presidential candidates is likely to split California voters and reduce the state's influence on the nomination process, say experts at UC Berkeley. (Image: NBC News) The Democratic presidential field is divided and public opinion is fragmented and in flux. For California primary election voters, it's an opportunity to step up on Super Tuesday to cast a vote that could propel one candidate into the frontrunner's position. That was the vision of California policymakers in 2017 who moved the state's primary from its traditional slot in June to Super Tuesday in early March, in hopes of giving the state more influence in choosing their party's nominee. Those hopes, this year at least, appear dashed, according to UC Berkeley political experts. Among the challenges: A muddled Democratic field and a divided California electorate that is unlikely to anoint a clear primary winner, and competition from the 13 other states voting on Super Tuesday. "It's difficult to see California as being decisive in the way that people who moved the primary forward hoped it would be," said Jack Citrin, a professor of political science and former director of the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies (IGS) who has long studied California politics and voters.