Hold Your Nose and Vote on Tuesday, June 5, 2012

[mithriltabby]

While this is being touted as a primary, don’t be fooled. Thanks to Proposition 14, this is a general election with a mandatory run-off in November. So, as Pete says, you need to vote for the best viable candidate, not for the one you like best.

The SmartVoter ballot.

• Party-Nominated Offices
  • President of the United States: For Democrats and Republicans, the nominee is already a foregone conclusion. I rather like the proposal to reorder primary dates based on percentage voter turnout in the last election...
  • Democratic County Committee, 24th Assembly District: SmartVoter. Vote for no more than six. I’m voting for the ones who have taken the trouble to fill out their SmartVoter profiles or otherwise make themselves accessible online.
    • Alyson L. Abramowitz.
    • Marcene van Dierendonck. SmartVoter.
    • Gilbert Wong. The only link I could find for him was an old site from 2011.
    • Phil Olmstead.
    • Jim Thurber.
    • Diane H. Rolfe. SmartVoter.
    • Brandon L. Sulser. SmartVoter. I know Brandon from the Democratic Club of Sunnyvale and can vouch for him being a sensible fellow.
    • Bill James. SmartVoter.
    • Peter Y. Chiu.
• Voter-nominated offices
  • United States Senator: SmartVoter. Finance numbers from Open Secrets. Coverage in Mother Jones.
    • Elizabeth Emken, Republican. Vote Smart. $$$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
    • Kabiruddin Karim Ali, Peace and Freedom. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Rick Williams, Republican. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Rogelio T. Gloria, Republican. Vote Smart. $
    • Don J. Grundmann, American Independent. Vote Smart. $
    • Robert Lauten, Republican. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Gail K. Lightfoot, Libertarian. Vote Smart. $
    • David Alex Levitt, Democratic. Vote Smart. $$
    • Orly Taitz, Republican. Vote Smart. $$
    • Al Ramirez, Republican. Vote Smart. $
    • Dirk Allen Konopik, Republican. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$
    • Donald Krampe, Republican. Vote Smart. $
    • Mike Strimling, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$
    • Diane Stewart, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Nak Shah, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Nachum Shifren, Republican. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Dennis Jackson, Republican. Vote Smart. $
    • Dan Hughes, Republican. Vote Smart. $$$
    • Greg Conlon, Republican. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$
    • John Boruff, Republican. Vote Smart. $$
    • Oscar Alejandro Braun, Republican. Vote Smart. $
    • Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
    • Dianne Feinstein, Democratic. Vote Smart. MapLight. $$$$$ Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, San Francisco Bay Guardian, California League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood.
    • Colleen Shea Fernald, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $
  • United States Representative, District 17: SmartVoter. Finance numbers from Open Secrets.
    • Charles Richardson. Vote Smart. $
    • Evelyn Li, Republican. Vote Smart. $$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
    • Mike Honda, Democratic. Vote Smart. MapLight. $$$ Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood. Came out to talk to us at the Sunnyvale Democratic Club and seemed quite sensible. He likes to do a rhetorician’s show-off stunt where he asks for half a dozen questions at one go and then answers them all, which speaks of a well-trained memory.
  • State Senator, District 13: SmartVoter.
    • Sally J. Lieber, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$$ Pro-choice. Actually came out to the Sunnyvale Democratic Club to make her case, and spoke with us in previous years as well. I think she and Hill both seem competent; I’m voting for her because she’s been vocal in support of campaign finance reform, but I expect Hill to win, as, after redistricting, he has more constituents in the new District 13 than she does. Endorsed by the California League of Conservation Voters.
    • Jerry Hill, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$$ Pro-choice. Actually came out to the Sunnyvale Democratic Club to make his case. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, California League of Conservation Voters.
    • Christopher Kent Chiang, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $ Leans pro-choice.
    • John H. Webster, Libertarian. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $ Leans anti-choice.
  • Member of the State Assembly, District 24: SmartVoter. Coverage in the Mountain View Patch.
    • Chengzhi “George” Yang, Republican. Vote Smart. $ No response to Planned Parenthood. Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
    • Geby E. Espinosa, Democratic. Vote Smart. $ No response to Planned Parenthood.
    • Richard S. Gordon, Democratic. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $$$ Pro-choice. Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters.
    • Joseph Antonelli Rosas. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. $ Pro-choice.
• Nonpartisan offices
  • Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 5: SmartVoter.
    • Paul Colin. Democrat. SmartVoter. Endorsed by the Palo Alto Weekly, Milpitas Post.
    • Chris Cobey. Democrat. SmartVoter. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury. He and Colin both seem competent and have public service experience, and Colin’s answers on SmartVoter make me feel like he’s brushing us off with a quick PowerPoint slide.
    • Alexis Cerul. Democrat. SmartVoter.
  • Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 7: SmartVoter.
    • Steven R. Pogue. SmartVoter. Endorsed by the Palo Alto Weekly. (Endorsement pulled after they found out he contributed to Proposition 8.)
    • Cynthia A. Sevely. Democrat. SmartVoter. Endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Milpitas Post. She has experience as a DA; I’ll take that over Pogue’s private practice.
  • Member, Board of Supervisors, District 3: SmartVoter.
    • Dave Cortese. No response to Planned Parenthood.
• Measures submitted to the voters:
  • State:
    • Proposition 28: SmartVoter. Vote Smart. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. An out-of-state libertarian group is bankrolling opposition to this one. In-depth information from the League of Women Voters.

      Supported By	Opposed By
      Californians for a Fresh Start San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Bay Guardian San Jose Mercury Sacramento Bee Los Angeles Times California League of Conservation Voters League of Women Voters of California Courage Campaign California Democratic Party Pete Rates the Propositions	Proposition 28 is a complete and total SCAM Orange County Register California Republican Party

      One of our many problems in California is that our legislators get termed out just when they’ve had time to learn the job, and that leaves a lot of inexperienced ones turning to ever-so-helpful lobbyists. This cuts down on their overall time in Sacramento (from a total of 14 to 12 years) while giving them a chance to stay in the same job for a full 12 years if the voters keep sending them back. Yes.
    • Proposition 29: SmartVoter. Vote Smart. Coverage in the San Francisco Chronicle. In-depth information from the League of Women Voters.

      Supported By	Opposed By
      Californians for a Cure San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Bay Guardian San Jose Mercury Sacramento Bee Courage Campaign California Democratic Party Pete Rates the Propositions	No on Prop 29 – Californians Against Out-of-Control Taxes and Spending Los Angeles Times Orange County Register California Republican Party

      This is not a great proposition, but it doesn’t screw up other matters and it does provide a disincentive for smoking. An unenthusiastic yes.
  • County:
    • Measure A: SmartVoter. No one has bothered submitting arguments against it, so this looks like a routine patch.