And once for State Senate 35 and other endorsements
Having just received my sample ballot I found a curious anomaly this year.
I can’t recall when we got to vote twice on the same ballot for the same seat of a US Senator. It’s not a mistake; it’s not even a typo.
So, what’s up with this?
As you recall, Sen. Diane Feinstein died last year at the age of 90 after serving 31 years in office. Gov. Gavin Newsom then appointed Laphonza Butler — the president of the nation’s largest organization dedicated to electing women, EMILY’s List — to complete the United States Senate term of the late Senator, which runs through the end of 2024.
However, that appointment is only temporary because of a new California law signed shortly after Alex Padilla’s appointment to the Senate after Kamala Harris became Vice-President, which gives voters a chance to decide whether a person appointed to a U.S. Senate seat should serve out the remainder of the term. Thus, voters this time get to vote for one candidate to fill the full regular six-year term, which begins in Jan. 2025 and the remainder of the one that ends in Jan. 3, 2025. Senator Butler is not running to keep the office.
On one ballot, for what’s called the “short term,” there are seven candidates and then for the “full term” everybody who’s ever wanted to be a senator (there are 26 candidates running), but there are only four on each ballot who could be considered real contenders. Barbara Lee, Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and former Dodger star Steve Garvey. Garvey’s playing the odds that the three democrats will split their votes and he’ll get into the runoff by name recognition alone, since he has no policy background and baseball isn’t politics.
On the other hand, Lee, Schiff and Porter are all seasoned congressional representatives. Lee, most notably for her singular vote against the war in Iraq, Schiff for his role in the first impeachment of Trump, and Porter for flipping that Orange County district to Democratic and then holding it.
It would be interesting if Porter was elected to the short term and Schiff to the full term or vice versa. You never know what a confused electorate might do, but one thing is certain – if Garvey (a Trump Republican) magically gets into the runoff in November, he’d lose against any Democrat running against him.
State Senate Dist. 35
Then there’s the state senate contest, the 35th Senate District, with a cast of mostly unknowns and at least one, Lamar Lyons, who doesn’t have the qualifications to even run a neighborhood council meeting. Of those eight contenders, only four of them even responded to a brief questionnaire put out by our newspaper (see page 3 on this issue) and read for yourselves. My guess is that Laura Richardson and Michelle Chambers will end up in the runoff to replace Sen. Steve Bradford with Albert Robles (the former mayor of Carson who got in trouble for holding two offices at once?) coming in a distant third.
Are there any real contests for Congress?
In the local congressional races, Rep. Nanette Barragán (D-CA 44th) is running against a relatively unknown Republican in a largely Democratic district and former Mayor of Long Beach, Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA 42nd) is running against two Democrats and one Republican. Both appear to be set for an easy reelection. Gone are the days of Republicans like Dan Lungren (1983-1989) or Dana Rohrabacher (1989-1993) representing a Long Beach-centric district. The politics of both Long Beach and San Pedro have decidedly shifted to the left in the last 30 years starting with Alan Lowenthal’s defeat of Rudy Svorinich, Jr., for the 54th assembly seat. That signaled the decline in Republican representation on the local level. Republican voter registration in this area comes in third just barely behind the decline-to-state registration.
In the local assembly races, Assemblymember Mike Gipson is running for his final term with zero opposition, and Assemblymember Josh Lowenthal, yes the son of Alan, is running for reelection in the 69th Assembly District, on the other side of the San Pedro Bay. Josh is easily a chip off the block of his father with a good skill set for getting things done in Sacramento. He’s one on the way up and deservedly so.
County Government
Nobody is really quite sure what LA County does until something goes wrong, but the one candidate for the 4th District, who has always stood out and stood up for the right things is Supervisor Janice Hahn. In my 45 years of covering politics, she is one of the few who has the core moral compass to do what’s right, even under trying circumstances. I don’t always agree with her trying to find the middle ground compromise, but she has stood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the homeless crisis and started the march to return Bruce’s Beach to its rightful heirs.
Her opponent, former Sheriff Alex Villanueva, didn’t do what he promised as LACO Sheriff and can’t be trusted with the supervisor’s power.
George Gascón, the District Attorney, has received a really bad rap from just about everybody in the DA’s office and anyone else who is running against him. The only thing is he ran the first time on a platform of restorative justice, and bail reform and kept his word. How often does that happen? He comes from a law and order background but has learned the hard way that throwing poor people in jail just isn’t justice, but a form of injustice. Bail reform isn’t perfect because law enforcement isn’t perfect by far but Gascón is just the prosecutor and what he’s done to prosecute the bad apples in the police departments is nothing short of amazing.
Oh, and by the way, to the man who stopped me at the coffee shop on Sunday, yes I’m biased against Donald Trump, there’s never been a man more unfit for office, who is a greater threat to our democracy and who actually should be in jail. One can’t be unbiased to a candidate who has exhibited fascist tendencies and inspired an insurrection against the constitution he has sworn to protect. People like this should be given no quarter of unbiased coverage from any news organization that actually believes in democracy!
If it comes down to an election between President Joe Biden and him there’s absolutely no question who I endorse, and neither should you–Joe Biden may be old but at least when he says he’s going to do something he gets it done as opposed to promising a wall that doesn’t get built.