Hold Your Nose and Vote by June 7, 2022

[mithriltabby]

This is a primary election running under California’s jungle primary system, where the top two vote-getters go on to a runoff in November. If you want a more sensible system— such as one where you can rank all the candidates in one election— I commend your attention to FairVote and Californians for Electoral Reform.

Here are links to the resources I used to figure out how to fill out my ballot. I give my conclusions, and I invite you to come to your own, and I hope this effort saves you a headache. $ means an order of magnitude of money backing a candidate, starting at the thousands, so $$$$ means a candidate has single-digit millions of dollars in their campaign.

I’m not thrilled with some of the candidates, but I keep in mind that a vote is not a valentine. You aren’t confessing your love for the candidate. It’s a chess move to get closer to the world you want to live in.

I will not be linking to Republican candidates’ web sites. Being a member of the party that has turned against democracy— from voter suppression to sedition— should be disqualifying for any elected office, and the party needs to go the way of the Whigs. Any remaining Republicans with integrity should start putting together the infrastructure for a new party, because the current one does not look salvageable.

Voter-Nominated Offices

State

Governor

There are 26 candidates, most of whom have no hope of winning. Voter’s Edge has the gory details, as does the CalMatters VoterGuide. Noteworthy candidates:

• Luis Javier Rodriguez. (Green Party) Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Gavin Newsom (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, California Democratic Party, Equality California, NARAL Pro-Choice California.
• Michael Shellenberger (none). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Zachary Siegel: Michael Shellenberger’s narrative of California homelessness is seductive. It’s also dangerous.
• Brian Dahle (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. There is controversy over his endorsement taking place two days after a $40,500 transfer to the state party.
• Jenny Rae Le Roux (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ CalMatters.

Lieutenant Governor

CalMatters Voter Guide.

• William Cavett Skee Saacke (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• David Hillberg (none). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Angela E. Underwood Jacobs (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party. Voter’s Edge.
• David Fennell (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Eleni Kounalakis (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, California Democratic Party, Equality California, NARAL Pro-Choice California, EMILY’s List.
• Mohammad Arif (Peace and Freedom Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Jeffrey Highbear Morgan (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Clint W. Saunders (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

Secretary of State

The office that counts the ballots. CalMatters Voter Guide.

• Gary Blenner (Green Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Rob Bernosky (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Shirley N. Weber (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, California Democratic Party, NARAL Pro-Choice California, EMILY’s List.
• James JW Paine (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Rachel Hamm (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ No endorsement by the party. Candidate Rachel Hamm told delegates on Saturday that despite what they may have heard, she was not a Satanic witch.
• Matthew D. Cinquanta (none). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Raul Rodriguez Jr. (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

Controller

CalMatters Voter Guide. A difficult choice.

• Malia M. Cohen (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by California Democratic Party, NARAL Pro-Choice California, EMILY’s List. Coverage in CalMatters.
• Steve Glazer (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the Mercury News. Coverage in CalMatters. How do you have $2M in your campaign and run it from senatorglazer.com? More seriously, his web site talks about his record, not his plans.
• Ron Galperin (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Equality California, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters. Coverage in CalMatters. I was going to go with Galperin over Cohen for having more detailed plans on his web site, until I found on CalMatters that he wants to look at private equity funds for CalPERS and CalSTRS investments, and while private equity funds are making money in the short run, they’re a disaster in the long run.
• Yvonne Yiu (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Coverage in CalMatters.
• Laura Wells (Green Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$ Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Lanhee Chen (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the Los Angeles Times. Coverage in CalMatters.

Treasurer

CalMatters Voter Guide. No endorsement from the San Francisco Chronicle.

• Meghann Adams (Peace and Freedom Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Andrew Do (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$
• Fiona Ma (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ Endorsed by California Democratic Party, Equality California.
• Jack M. Guerrero (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

Attorney General

CalMatters Voter Guide. George Skelton: Attorney General race is worthy of California voters’ attention.

• Anne Marie Schubert (none). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters.
• Nathan Hochman (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
• Dan Kapelovitz (Green Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Rob Bonta (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ CalMatters. Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, California Democratic Party, Equality California, California Environmental Voters, Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice California.
• Eric Early (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$

Insurance Commissioner

CalMatters Voter Guide.

• Jasper Jay Jackson (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Robert J. Molnar (none). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$
• Nathalie Hrizi (Peace and Freedom Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.
• Robert Howell (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Greg Conlon (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $
• Veronika Fimbres (Green Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Ricardo Lara (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by California Democratic Party, Equality California, California Environmental Voters, Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice California.
• Marc Levine (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, Mercury News, Los Angeles Times.
• Vinson Eugene Allen (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$

Member, State Board of Equalization: District 2

CalMatters Voter Guide. The San Francisco Chronicle says the Board should be eliminated, and gives a nod to Sally Lieber without a full endorsement.

• Sally Lieber (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, California Democratic Party, Equality California, Sierra Club, San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters. I’ve talked policy with Sally at many local events and she’s quite competent.
• Michela Alioto-Pier (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the Mercury News.
• Peter Verbica (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$

United States Senator, Full Term

There are 23 candidates.

• Alex Padilla (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ Endorsed by the Mercury News, Los Angeles Times, Equality California, California Environmental Voters, NARAL Pro-Choice California.
• John Parker (Peace & Freedom). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party.

United States Senator, Partial/Unexpired Term

An unusual opportunity to vote for the same candidate twice on the same ballot. 8 candidates.

• Alex Padilla (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

United States Representative, District 17

• Joe Dehn (Libertarian Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Ritesh Tandon (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$
• Stephen Forbes (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Rao Ravul (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Ro Khanna (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Equality California, California Environmental Voters, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.

State Senator, District 10

• Raymond Liu (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Jamal Khan (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$
• Lily Mei (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the Mercury News.
• Aisha Wahab (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, California Democratic Party, Equality California, California Environmental Voters, Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice California, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.
• Jim Canova (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $
• Paul J Pimentel (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$

Member of the State Assembly, District 26

Sunnyvale has been yoinked from Marc Berman’s district into Evan Low’s. We Draw the Lines CA has the new district boundaries, which include Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, and apparently Evan’s chunk of Campbell.

• Tim Gorsulowsky (Republican Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Evan Low (Democratic Party, incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$ Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, California Democratic Party, Equality California, Sierra Club.
• Long Jiao (Democratic Party). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $

Nonpartisan Offices

School

Superintendent of Public Instruction

This is a nonpartisan race, which means that the candidates’ parties aren’t listed on the ballot. CalMatters Voter Guide. SF Chronicle: Schools have dominated elections for the past year. So why is the state superintendent race such a snooze?.

• Marco Amaral. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$ Endorsed by the San Francisco League of Pissed Off Voters, Peace & Freedom Party and Green Party. Interview in Puntorojo.
• George Yang (ran as a Republican in 2014 and 2016). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$
• Tony K. Thurmond (former Democratic Assemblyman; incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$$$ Endorsed by the San Francisco Chronicle, California Democratic Party, Equality California, Sierra Club, NARAL Pro-Choice California.
• Lance Ray Christensen (conservative/libertarian). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $$ Endorsed by the California Republican Party.
• Joseph Guy Campbell (Nonpartisan). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Montessori publisher runs for office to increase Montessori education raises my corruption hackles, but he might just be that enthusiastic about Montessori education. He doesn’t have an explanation for why this won’t enrich him written in large, friendly letters on his web site, though, and he really ought be savvy enough to do that if he’s running for public office.
• Jim Gibson (opposes Critical Race Theory, which isn’t taught in K–12). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. $
• Ainye E. Long (Nonpartisan). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

County

Assessor

• Andrew M. Crockett. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Sure, Larry Stone would be much more competent at the job, but Andrew Crockett hasn’t tried to kill my friends in the assessor’s office by forcing them to come in to the office unnecessarily during a pandemic.
• Larry Stone. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Mercury News. Censured by the Silicon Valley Democratic Club.

District Attorney

• Daniel M. Chung. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Santa Clara County Republican Party.
• Jeff Rosen (incumbent). Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, Mercury News. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte: 100% pro-choice. Devout enough not to campaign on a Saturday.
• Sajid Khan. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by Planned Parenthood Mar Monte.

Sheriff

• Kevin Jensen. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Robert Bob Jonsen. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Endorsed by the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, Mercury News. When he came to the Sunnyvale Democratic Club, he said sensible things about use-of-force training focusing on de-escalation.
• Anh T. Colton. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.
• Sean Donte Allen. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte: 100% pro-choice. Spoke at the Sunnyvale Democratic Club.
• Christine Nagaye. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge. Planned Parenthood Mar Monte: 100% pro-choice. I like what I saw of Nagaye at the Sunnyvale Democratic Club. She campaigned on restoring integrity to the agency, and I hope she gets a chance to get the experience to run for sheriff again.

Measures Submitted to the Voters

District

Santa Clara Valley Water District

• Measure A: Term Limits Measure. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supporting	Opposing
  	Mercury News Santa Clara County Republican Party

  In 2010, voters approved Measure C, limiting the board tenure to three successive 4-year terms, with more possible if they take 4 years off. I see no need to raise the limit. No.

School

Fremont Union High School District

• Measure G: Bond Issue. Ballotpedia. Voter’s Edge.

  Supporting	Opposing
  Mercury News Santa Clara County Democratic Party

  A good public education system is important to the health of the community. And also makes my house more valuable. Yes.

Comments are screened. I’m not in a mood to argue.

Comments

[calimac]

Thanks for doing this. Glad to see we've come to the same conclusions regarding state senator and sheriff.

That isn't part of Campbell in the 26th district. The unlabeled city on the map is part of San Jose. Whether the rules allow non-resident candidates, and if not what Evan Low is doing about it, are not known to me.

[goobergunch]

He moved to Sunnyvale.

Also thanks for doing this

[(Anonymous)]

I've just spent several days going over the non-Republicans' records to see who seems best to me. While we may disagree on a few, I really appreciate your POV (and thank the friend who pointed me your way). It has seemed harder to find actual records or position statements (as opposed to 'statements' that are clearly trying to say what they think people want to hear) this year, so this service you have done is more important than ever.

[canyonwalker]

Thanks as always for doing this. Very helpful.

--CW/Bill