Lopez, Steyer, Sarmiento: stand-outs this month.
Well, people asked, believe it or not. “Where is the damn Orange Juice Voters Guide?” they growl. Ballots are out, so here goes, but I’m going to start with the races I care most about – Assembly 68 and Governor – before I go down the ballot. A lot of these primary races it hardly matters how or if you vote but some it matters bigtime. And I expect to get a lot of feedback and input in the comments section, because I sure won’t pretend to know all these candidates or districts!
AD 68 (SA, east Anaheim, w. Orange) – JESSIE!
I’ve been outspoken about this, it’s where I live and if you’re still not sure about this race, PLEASE READ. This is very much a race between the GOOD side of the Democratic Party (Jessie) and the BAD, big-money side (David Peñaloza, unfortunately backed not only by big money but most of the Democrat Establishment.) It would be tragic, for the Democratic Party, if David beat Jessie, and became the model of the successful 2026 Democrat.
Feeling the opposite way, that it would be tragic for Jessie to beat David, are the special interests who’ve sunk NEARLY A MILLION on this one race so far (which is why you see so many anti-Jessie ads) – Meta (FB/IG), Bitcoin billionaires & corporate landlords. They’re really only spending this much on 2 or 3 Calif. assembly races. Why are these pigs so afraid of Jessie? That really motivates me.
Here’s Fernando’s latest – take it away, Fernando!
ALSO for those in Jessieland: BE SURE TO RE-ELECT SARMIENTO FOR SUPERVISOR – if he beats 50% as he probably will, that race will be over and done, and then we can spend the summer & fall getting Jessie elected and getting rent control in Anaheim!
PS This just in, the NYT looks at David P’s biggest funders: “Crypto Billionaires try to build a “moderate” “Counterforce” in California Politics.” What do the unions who are backing David think about him as a counterforce to unions? They all think they are special.
Governor! I’m with Steyer.
The best thing would be (far from what was expected a month ago) if we can knock BOTH MAGA candidates out of the top two, and spend the next five months with a real contest between Steyer and Becerra. And why not? The polls may not be measuring how dispirited and uninspired California Republicans are this year, as well they should be. But I’m voting Steyer.
Forget about Katie Porter, and not just because she’s a mean person. More than that, she’s a value-free egomaniac. Exhibit Z, she endorsed David Penaloza over Jessie Lopez this year. And she’s a progressive? Exhibit M, she endorsed Kim Nguyen over Vince Sarmiento in ’22. And she’s a progressive? No, she does what she thinks will be good for Katie (never mind that she’s usually wrong about that.) Exhibit A was when she left her hard-won Congressional seat to run for Senate, sinking Barbara Lee and nearly losing us a Congressional seat (we dodged a bullet with Min’s victory, but that was close!) Katie is good at humiliating truth-challenged CEOs. She should have a TV show, I would watch it. Naturally it would be called “The White Board.”
A lot of my friends prefer Xavier Becerra, including Greg. They don’t trust Steyer because he’s “unvetted” and a billionaire, and Greg points out that a lot of the criticisms of XB are exaggerated and dishonest. But to me, Becerra is Biden. More of the same, put in his time, part of the establishment, it’s HIS turn now. All his backers point at his resume and experience – but what can anyone point to that he accomplished in all those years? Xavier is a placeholder when we need a disrupter.
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Mark Halpern https://www.facebook.com/Ayurvedadoc/posts/pfbid02NqWSCZ1CaNujiubbEq9HWfDrHzQ7xjgMnrEqzLauGxZtGHSE1TCzyGrWBMXJYXAol
I endorse Tom Steyer. While I also support Katie Porter, I can not support Xavier Becerra. Here are my reasons.
1. Israel: Tom Steyer is the most vocally opposed to Israel’s policies in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon. He has strongly denounced AIPAC and their subsidiaries as a dark money organizations and supports conditions on military and financial support . He supports a two-State solution. As Governor, he can leverage California’s economic power to pressure Israel.
2. Healthcare: All three say they support creating a single-payer system. I believe Steyer has the greatest likelihood of following through and Becerra the least. Steyer is the most “outside the system” candidate and will be most likely to pressure the Democratic legislature to pass a bill. I think Porter will make a strong attempt as well but is more likely to care what the rest of the Democratic Party in California wants. Much of the party is in bed with the insurance industry.
3. Homelessness: Steyer and Porter both have good plans. Becerra is the weakest in my opinion. Steyer’s approach to building more homes that would expand affordable housing and provide rooms for the un-housed is the boldest.
4. Taxes and the California Budget: Steyer’s plan is best. It will raise nearly 50 billion annually with the money coming from Multinational Corporations, large commercial property taxes, and a one-time Billionaires tax. Porter’s plan will not raise nearly as much and Becerra is the most business-as-usual candidate. Without funding, homelessness and healthcare cannot be addressed.
It is naturally suprising to see my support of the billionaire in the race. However, Tom Steyer has the most progressive plan and a 15 year track record since leaving his financial investment firm of working on environmental and other progressive causes. He has literally put his money where is mouth is.
Other State Offices
- Lite Guv: Michael Tubbs – the Working Families Party swears by him!
- Secretary of State: I have no problem with Shirley Weber getting re-elected, but hell – give Green-Party “Electoral Reform Consultant” Michael Feinstein some love! (And then enjoy Shirley spanking Don Wagner in November. (subtle reference to a pro-corporal punishment article Wagner wrote years ago.))
- Controller: I assume the Dem will win, so give a vote to Peace & Freedom’s Meghann Adams!
- Treasurer – Tony Vasquez. – He would divest from Israel, and Eleni K would not.
- AG: I’m sure Bonta will beat the insane MAGAt Mike E. Gates; Bonta has been a big disappointment, so while you have a chance, give your vote to Green Marjorie Mikels (I did and it felt right.)
- Insurance Commissioner: Jane Kim – the Working Families Party swears by her!
- Equalizer: Full disclosure I signed Bilodeau’s papers cuz he asked me to. Umberg’s nice to me and has done good things and bad things in his long long career, but I’m tired of these career politicians and their musical chairs, and how Tom pushed the worthy progressive Rick Foster out of the race for his old senate seat instead anointing Chris Duncan to take his place (and getting Duncan out of this Eq. race!) We need to look at Martin Arias & Cody Petterson, any input out there? (And as we ask every four years, what do these people even do?)
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