By Jonathan Friedman
Associate Editor

June 7, 2016 -- For the first time in many years, national attention will be focused on a presidential primary election in Santa Monica and California as a whole.

Although it likely won’t affect who gets the Democratic nomination, plenty of people are interested to see if Bernie Sanders can finish his long-shot presidential run with a victory over Hillary Clinton in the nation's largest state.

There are also several other items on the ballot for Santa Monica voters, including State and federal legislative elections, various judicial races and a chance to nix the paychecks of badly behaving politicians.

Because the California primary comes so late in the year, there is usually only one candidate remaining in the race from the two major parties. That is true this year for the Republicans, but not the case for the Democrats.

Sanders' insistence on staying in the race despite long odds (the Associated Press declared Monday night that Clinton had secured enough delegates for the nomination) means Santa Monicans' vote could make a difference in this primary.

Both sides of the Democratic presidential battle have campaigned in the bayside city.

Former President Bill Clinton was at Bergamot Station on Friday to support his wife. Several days earlier, Sanders held a rally at Santa Monica High School (“Santa Monica Becomes Bernie Sanders Country as Faithful Flock to Rally,” May 24, 2016).

Sanders was also spotted this weekend on the Santa Monica Pier, campaigning and taking his grandchildren on the historic carousel, according to news reports.

He will also be in the city when the ballots are being counted, holding a nighttime rally at the Barker Hangar. But don’t change your plans to go there, because his campaign’s website says the event is only open to those who already have tickets.

Clinton will be on the other side of the country when results are announced, with an event planned to take place in Brooklyn, N.Y. That choice was likely made because there is a presidential primary taking place in nearby New Jersey.

This election could be a test to determine just how far to the left the residents are in the city sometimes referred to as “the People’s Republic of Santa Monica.”

While both Clinton and Sanders are liberal Democrats, Sanders is the only one who has self-referenced as a socialist.

Who will get more votes is still in question, but who will collect more money is very much settled.

Clinton raised more than $876,000 through April 30 from Santa Monica addresses, according to the Federal Election Commission. Sanders collected a little under $249,000.

Sanders’ Santa Monica sum is significantly more than that of presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump. He took in just $3,220 from five people, and all but $188 of that was collected last year.

All the Republican presidential hopefuls combined received nearly $352,000 through April 30. The vast majority of that money went to Trump’s rivals who have long since left the campaign trail.

Democrats have taken in $1.14 million in that same period, with most of the money going to Clinton and Sanders, and small amounts collected by other candidates who later dropped out of the race.

Green Party candidate Jill Stein received one Santa Monica donation -- $100 from a software developer. No Libertarian candidate collected money in this city.

Also on the ballot is the contest to fill outgoing U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer’s seat. California Attorney General Kamala Harris and U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez from Orange County are the top contenders.

Santa Monica’s lower house representatives in the State and federal government -- Assemblyman Richard Bloom and Rep. Ted Lieu, both Democrats -- each face a Republican challenger.

Since there are only two people in both races, there will be rematches in November regardless of the results.

The lone measure on the ballot is Proposition 50, which authorizes the State Legislature to suspend members without pay. They can currently be suspended with pay.

This measure stems from the situation two years ago when three senators were facing legal troubles and some people were upset they could still collect paychecks during that time.