California State Capitol Building – Credit Pixabay
Today: California Statewide Offices & Local Legislative Seats
The OB Rag and San Diego Free Press are pleased to present part three of our 2018 Primary Election Progressive Voter Guide. As usual, we tried not to let perfect be the enemy of good in our decision making. This year we’re breaking it into parts to make it more digestible.
We endorsed (or didn’t) contests where editors and contributors had some working knowledge of the contests. Generally speaking, we didn’t endorse in non-competitive races with a Democratic incumbent (who you should probably vote for). Candidates with low fundraising totals or no campaign organization were not included.
Endorsements or lack thereof reflect a majority opinion of the Editorial Board, which includes: Brent Beltrán, Anna Daniels, Frank Gormlie, Patty Jones, Rich Kacmar, Annie Lane, and Doug Porter.
Democratic Candidates are Blue * Republican Candidates are Red
Many candidates names are linked to their websites.
An asterisk (*) next to a name indicates an incumbent.
A Summary of Our State of California ?Endorsements?
(our endorsements have question marks around their names – why question marks? Because of a glitch in our graphics)
Governor – John Chiang
Attorney General – Xavier Becerra
Controller – Betty Yee
Treasurer – Fiona Ma
Secretary of State –Ruben Major
Insurance Commissioner –Ricardo Lara
Superintendent of Public Instruction –Tony Thurmond
Senate District 36 – Marggie Castellano
Senate District 38 – Jeff Griffith
Assembly District 71 – James Elia
Assembly District 75 – Alan Geraci
Assembly District 76 – Tasha Boerner Horvath
Assembly District 77 – Sunday Gover
State Executive Offices
Governor
Our Endorsement – ?John Chiang?
The two top vote-getters, regardless of party, will move on to the November election. There are links embedded in each name if you want further information.
Why John Chiang? There are lots of things to like about most of the high-profile Democrats running for Governor. John Chiang appeals to us because he’s the total package; somebody who’s good at figuring out how to pay for innovative policies and programs based on progressive ideals.
Democrats: Akinyemi Agbede, Juan Bribiesca, Thomas Jefferson Cares, ?John Chiang?, Delaine Eastin, Robert Davidson Griffis, Albert Caesar Mezzetti, Gavin Newsom, Amanda Renteria, Michael Shellenberger, Klement Tinaj, Antonio Villaraigosa. John Chiang & Delaine Eastin are favored by many progressives. Gavin Newsom is the choice of party regulars. Antonio Villaraigosa’s flirtations with corporate charter school types have hurt him in many circles.
Republicans: Travis Allen, John Cox, Yvonne Girard, Peter Yuan Liu, Robert Newman
Travis Allen wants to scare everybody about the ‘illegals’. John Cox thinks pot smokers should be hospitalized.
Green Party: Christopher Carlson, Josh Jones
Libertarian: Zoltan Istvan, Nickolas Wildstar
Peace & Freedom Party: Gloria La Riva
No Party Preference: Shubham Goel, Hakan “Hawk” Mikado, Desmond Silveira, Jeffrey Edward Taylor, Johnny Wattenburg
Lt Governor
No SDFP Endorsement – No candidate received a majority of votes from the editorial board
A mostly ceremonial position, and a great launching pad for higher office. Indy candidate Gayle McLaughlin is popular with progressives.The Dem candidate raising the most money is Eleni Kounalakis. Ed Hernandez has key progressive union support.
Democrats: Jeff Bleich, Cameron Gharabiklou, Ed Hernandez, Eleni Kounalakis
Republicans: David Fennell, Lydia Ortega, David Hernandez, Cole Harris
Libertarian: Tim Ferreira
No Party Preference: Gayle McLaughlin, Danny Thomas
Attorney General
Our Endorsement – ?Xavier Becerra?
Democrats ?Xavier Becerra?*,Dave Jones
Republicans: Steven Bailey, Eric Early
Controller
Our Endorsement – ?Betty Yee?
Democrat: ?Betty Yee?*
Republican: Konstantinos Roditis
Peace & Freedom: Mary Lou Finley
Treasurer
Our Endorsement – ?Fiona Ma?
Democrats ?Fiona Ma?, Vivek Viswanathan
Republicans: Greg Conlon, Jack Guerrero
Peace & Freedom: Kevin Akin
Secretary of State
Our Endorsement – ?Ruben Major?
Democrats: Alex Padilla*, ?Ruben Major ?
Republicans: Mark P. Meuser, Raul Rodriguez Jr.
Green Party: Michael Feinstein, Erik Rydberg
Libertarian: Gail Lightfoot
Peace & Freedom: C.T. Weber
Insurance Commissioner
Our Endorsement – ?Ricardo Lara?
Democrats ?Ricardo Lara?, Asif Mahmood
Peace & Freedom: Nathalie Hrizi
No Party Preference: Steve Poizner
Superintendent of Public Instruction
Our Endorsement – ?Tony Thurmond?
Steven Ireland
Lily Ploski
?Tony Thurmond?
Marshall Tuck
California State Senate
Most of these seats are not competitive. Incumbents are marked with an asterisk (*). Clicking on the district name will take you to a page about that contest, including a map. We don’t endorse in non-competitive races with a Democratic incumbent (who you should probably vote for, anyway).There are links embedded in each name if you want further information.
Senate, District 36: Patricia Bates*, ? Marggie Castellano ?
Senate, District 38: Joel Anderson*, ? Jeff Griffith,? Antonio Salguero (L)
Senate District 40: Ben Hueso*, Luis R. Vargas
California State Assembly
District 76 is an open seat, due to Assemblyman Rocky Chavez’s decision to run for U.S. Congress. Clicking on the district name will take you to a page about that contest, including a map. We don’t endorse in non-competitive races with a Democratic incumbent (who you should probably vote for, anyway). There are links embedded in each name if you want further information.
Assembly, District 71: ?James Elia?, Randy Voepel*, Larry Wilske
Assembly, District 75: Marie Waldron*, ?Alan Geraci?
Assembly, District 76: ?Tasha Boerner Horvath?, Elizabeth Warren, Philip “Phil” Graham, Thomas E. Krouse, Maureen “Mo” Muir, Amanda Rigby, Jerome Stocks, Brian Wimmer
Assembly, District 77: Brian Maienschein*, ? Sunday Gover?
Assembly, District 78: Todd Gloria*, Maggie J. Campbell
Assembly, District 79: Shirley Weber*, John Moore
Assembly, District 80: Lorena Gonzalez*, Lincoln Pickard
Already Published:
Progressive Voter Guide for County of San Diego Elected Offices
A Summary of Our County ?Endorsements?
Judicial Office #37– Victor Torres
Assessor/Recorder/Clerk – Matt Strabone
Sheriff – Dave Myers
District Attorney – Geneviéve Jones-Wright
Board of Supervisors District 4 – Omar Passons
Board of Supervisors District 5 – Michelle Gomez
Community College Board – Maria Nieto Senour, Craig Milgrim, Rafael Perez
SD County Board of Education – Alicia Munoz, Rick Shea
San Diego City Council | Progressive Voter Guide 2018
A Summary of Our San Diego City Council ?Endorsements?
City Council District 2 – No Endorsement
City Council District 4 – Monica Montgomery
City Council District 6 – No Endorsement
City Council District 8 – Christian Ramirez
Upcoming:
Monday-Federal Offices, plus Ballot Measures
Tuesday: Voter Guide Crib Sheet (All Contests)
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