Hold Your Nose and Vote on Tuesday, June 3, 2014

[mithriltabby]

As usual, I’ve done my research for the upcoming election and written up my notes to share with the rest of the class. I’ve given my conclusions, and invite you to come to your own. Even if we disagree on every issue, I’m happy if this saves you a headache.

Follow the Money don’t seem to have 2014 financing information yet, so it’s not as easy to see who has been bought by whom at this time.

• Voter-Nominated Offices
  • State
    • Governor. SmartVoter. Ballotpedia.
      • Tim Donnelly. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • “Bo” Bogdan Ambrozewicz. Vote Smart.
      • Akinyemi Agbede. Democrat. Vote Smart.
      • Richard William Aguirre. Republican. Vote Smart. $$
      • Robert Newman. Vote Smart. $
      • Cindy L. Sheehan. Peace and Freedom. Vote Smart.
      • Joe Leicht. Vote Smart.
      • Luis J. Rodriguez. Green. Vote Smart.
      • Alma Marie Winston. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Edmund G. “Jerry” Brown. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Bay Guardian, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
      • Janel Hyeshia Buycks. Vote Smart.
      • Andrew Blount. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Rakesh Kumar Christian. Vote Smart.
      • Glenn Champ. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Neel Kashkari. Republican. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the Sacramento Bee.
    • Lieutenant Governor. SmartVoter. Ballotpedia.
      • Jena F. Goodman. Green. Vote Smart.
      • Alan Reynolds. Americans Elect. Vote Smart.
      • George Yang. Republican. Vote Smart. $
      • Eric Korevaar. Democrat. Vote Smart. $
      • David Fennell. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Amos Johnson. Peace and Freedom. Vote Smart.
      • Gavin Newsom. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$$$ Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
      • Ron Nehring. Republican. Vote Smart.
    • Secretary of State. SmartVoter. Ballotpedia. Responses to questionnaire from Californians for Electoral Reform. We have several good candidates this year.
      • Dan Schnur. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee. He doesn’t support proportional representation and doesn’t see the flaws in the top-two primary.
      • Leland Yee. Democrat. Vote Smart. Indicted for trading arms for campaign cash.
      • Derek Cressman. Democrat. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express. I like his work in campaign finance reform.
      • David Curtis. Green. Vote Smart.
      • Alex Padilla. Democrat. Vote Smart. $ Endorsed by the Sacramento Bee, California League of Conservation Voters.
      • Pete Peterson. Republican. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times.
      • Jeffrey H. Drobman. Democrat. Vote Smart.
      • Roy Allmond. Republican. Vote Smart.
    • Controller. SmartVoter.
      • Ashley Swearengin. Republican. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee.
      • Betty T. Yee. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, Sierra Club California.
      • Laura Wells. Green. Vote Smart. $$
      • Tammy D. Blair. Democrat. Vote Smart.
      • John A. Pérez. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$$$ Endorsed by the East Bay Express, California League of Conservation Voters.
      • David Evans. Republican. Vote Smart.
    • Treasurer. SmartVoter.
      • John Chiang. Democrat. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
      • Ellen H. Brown. Green. Vote Smart.
      • Greg Conlon. Republican. Vote Smart. $$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
    • Attorney General. SmartVoter. Ballotpedia.
      • Orly Taitz. Vote Smart. $$
      • Kamala D. Harris. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$$$ Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
      • John Haggerty. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Jonathan Jaech. Libertarian. Vote Smart.
      • Ronald Gold. Republican. Vote Smart.
      • Phil Wyman. Republican. Vote Smart. $$
      • David King. Republican. Vote Smart.
    • Insurance Commissioner. SmartVoter.
      • Ted Gaines. Republican. Vote Smart. $$$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
      • Nathalie Hrizi. Peace and Freedom. Vote Smart.
      • Dave Jones. Democrat. Vote Smart. $$$ Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
    • Member, State Board of Equalization, District 2. SmartVoter.
      • Fiona Ma. Democrat. Endorsed by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California Democratic Party.
      • James E. Theis. Republican. Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
  • United States Representative, District 17. SmartVoter. This is an interesting race, since we have the longtime incumbent, a progressive Democrat, running against a corporate Democrat, both of them with backers trying to help out the Republicans in the race to undermine the other. (Khanna backers have been backing VanLandingham to split the Republican vote; Honda backers have been backing Singh to counter this, and perhaps split the Indian-American vote.) I’m sure both candidates have been scrupulous in their observance of laws against coordination of campaigns with outside backers, and I have a bag of rock salt here for you if you think those rules make one whit of difference. Coverage in Calbuzz and Salon. Plenty of mudslinging. If you’re on the fence and have an hour to spare you can watch the League of Women Voters candidate forum.
    • Joel VanLandingham. Republican. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. My impression from watching the candidate forum is that he’s enthusiastic, has a good heart, and is naïve and utterly unprepared for the job.
    • Mike Honda. Democrat. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. $$$$. Endorsed by the East Bay Express, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California. Honda is a very reliable progressive, and I think he’s better on the environment and helping the poor. I’m not thrilled with his reluctance to debate Ro Khanna.
    • Vanila Singh. Republican. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. $$$ Has avoided showing up to debates and forums. My wife talked to her while she was walking precincts and found nothing innovative in what she was saying about health care reform— pure party line.
    • Ro Khanna. Democrat. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. $$$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Jose Mercury, San Jose Inside. I appreciate Khanna’s policy wonkery, and I think he has good ideas for helping the middle class; helping the poor would more be a matter of trickle-down from there, which is more plausible than doing it by cutting taxes for the rich. I’m deeply suspicious about how much money he’s been burning through to run all those advertisements (especially with all the little digs about Honda’s age, like “Isn’t it time to put the old politics aside?” and “Honda is a politician of the past”), and I have doubts about him having the diplomatic chops to actually persuade other representatives to sign on to his ideas.
  • Member of the State Assembly, District 24: SmartVoter.
    • Greg Coladonato. Democrat. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia.
    • Diane Gabl. Republican. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
    • Richard S. Gordon. Democrat. Vote Smart. Ballotpedia. $$$ Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California. Has a 75% score from Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California.
• Nonpartisan Offices
  • Judicial
    • Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 4. SmartVoter.
      • Stuart Scott
    • Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 21. SmartVoter.
      • Julianne Sylva: endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Mountain View Voice.
      • D A Lempert
    • Judge of the Superior Court, Office No. 24 SmartVoter.
      • Diane Ritchie
      • Matthew S. Harris: endorsed by the San Jose Mercury, Mountain View Voice, San Jose Inside.
      • Annrae Angel
  • School
    • Superintendent of Public Instruction: SmartVoter.
      • Lydia A. Gutierrez. Vote Smart. $$
      • Tom Torlakson. Vote Smart. $$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Bay Guardian, East Bay Express, California League of Conservation Voters, Sierra Club California, Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. I’m currently leaning toward Torlakson; I like Tuck’s attitude as a reformer, but I have doubts about the effectiveness of his plans.
      • Marshall Tuck. Vote Smart. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee. I’d be more enthused with Tuck if charter schools didn’t let anyone fall through the cracks.
  • County
    • Assessor. SmartVoter.
      • Larry Stone
    • District Attorney. SmartVoter.
      • Jeff Rosen
    • Sheriff. SmartVoter. No recommendation from the San Jose Mercury.
      • Kevin Jensen
      • Laurie Smith: endorsed by the Los Altos Town Crier, San Jose Inside.
• Measures Submitted to the Voters
  • State. California Choices.
    • Proposition 41: Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. CAvotes. Ballotpedia.

      Supported by	Opposed by
      Yes on Proposition 41 Pete Rates the Propositions Los Angeles Times Sacramento Bee San Francisco Bay Guardian East Bay Express California Democratic Party California Republican Party League of Women Voters of California	Green Party of California Libertarian Party of California

      Increases our bond debt by about $750 million, but this is likely to give us net savings by getting homeless vets off the streets. Yes.
    • Proposition 42: Public Records. Open Meetings. State Reimbursement to Local Agencies. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.. SmartVoter. Vote Smart. CAvotes. Ballotpedia.

      Supported by	Opposed by
      Protect the Public’s Right to Know Pete Rates the Propositions San Francisco Chronicle Los Angeles Times Sacramento Bee San Jose Mercury San Francisco Bay Guardian East Bay Express California Newspaper Publishers Association California Democratic Party California Republican Party League of Women Voters of California	Green Party of California

      “Sunlight is the best disinfectant.” Yes.
  • District
    • Measure AA: Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District. SmartVoter.

      Supported by	Opposed by
      Yes for Open Space San Jose Mercury Los Altos Town Crier Santa Clara County Democratic Party

      Among many worthy projects, they’re going to be improving the wetlands, which will help protect against storm surge as the seas rise. Yes.

Comments

[kalimac.livejournal.com]

I'd be willing to vote for Khanna in an open seat, but his arguments as to why he'd be better than Honda raise a lot of warning flags for me. Everything he says about being up to date and Honda being obsolete suggests that he means that he's "business-friendly" which means screwing over the workers. No thanks. Also, his plan to fix our educational problems by teaching all students computer coding is inane.

The Bee's endorsement of Padilla was a rarity: an endorsement that convinced me not to vote for that candidate. "Sure, he's only running for Sec State to position himself for the Senate! But doesn't that mean he'd have to do a good job?" Quel naive.

[merhawk]

As usual, thank you for the round-up. Quite helpful!

[taeriel.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing your research again! As always, it is very helpful.

[canyonwalker.livejournal.com]

Thanks as always for your comprehensive information gathering.

I am generally reluctant to vote Yes for bond measures. Too many of them propose to borrow funds to build or operate things whose lifetime is less than the term of the loan. It's ludicrous to spend 15 years paying for something we're only going to get 5 years of benefit from. For such short horizon benefits I'd rather see us "pay as we go".

In this particular election, though, I support both of the bond measures. Measure AA secures land and improvements that will provide value for a good long time. Proposition 41 would fail my test of spending much longer paying back loans (15 years) than it spends providing benefits (5 years) except that it doesn't actually authorize new bonds. It just amends a previously approved bond measure to broaden the array of benefits provided to veterans.