Biting attack ads between Republican gubernatorial candidates Meg Whitman and Steve Poizner have been consuming the airwaves for months, but voters who head to the polls for the June 8 primary will be caught off guard if they think determining their party’s nominee for governor is the only item of interest on the ballot. Whitman’s personal eBay fortune has given her the luxury of spending freely in a down economy (she’s spent a record $59 million so far), and overshadowed a host of other significant races and four statewide propositions as well. To put things in perspective, there are a total of 23 candidates on the ballot for governor, among them Attorney General Jerry Brown, the Democratic Party pick.
While the partisan contests decided on primary day are just a prelude to the heated battles which will eventually culminate in the November general elections, nonpartisan races, such as the one for state superintendent of public instruction, and many being held on the local county level, will be final if a candidate wins a majority (50 percent plus one) of the vote on June 8. If not, the top two vote-getters will face off in November.
State Contests of Note
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, who dropped his bid for governor in October and later jumped into the lieutenant governor’s race, faces three other Democrats in his primary bid. On the GOP side, the race got more interesting on April 28, when Republican legislator Abel Maldonado was officially sworn in as lieutenant governor at the capitol. The office had been empty since November when John Garamendi was elected to Congress. Now, Maldonado gets the advantage of running against his five other Republican foes as the incumbent. Other statewide offices on the primary ballot include secretary of state, controller, treasurer, attorney general, and insurance commissioner, with a total of 36 candidates in all.
Barbara Boxer faces two Democratic opponents in her senate primary, which also features five Republicans and six third-party candidates. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, predicted to take the GOP spot on the ballot, is hoping to give Boxer the run of her life in November.
Closer to Home
District 4 Republican Tom McClintock faces retired military commander and entrepreneur Michael Babich, who declares on his website that the district needs ‘citizen-legislators with real world experience.’ Green candidate Benjamin Emery and Democrat Clint Curtis are on the ballot as the sole members for their respective parties for the congressional seat.
Republican State Assemblyman and Placer resident Ted Gaines faces off against challenger Joseph Kammerer in the District 4 primary. Members of Congress and California State Legislators are re-elected every two years, so for Gaines and McClintock, campaigning is a never-ending proposition.
Game On in Nevada County
While Placer County voters won’t find any contested races for nonpartisan offices on their ballots, things are heating up in Nevada County. The battle for clerk-recorder, in which incumbent Gregory Diaz is being challenged by Barry Pruett, is definitely on. Pruett says he’ll bring stability to the clerk-recorder’s office, which he calls out on his campaign website as ‘the most unstable office in Nevada County.’ A small business owner and attorney, Pruett is an advocate of the Vote Safe Initiative, which seeks to require all voters to provide proof of identity before voting. Pruett is endorsed by the Nevada County Republican Council and several well-known Truckee residents, including commercial real estate broker Tom Watson and business owners Brian and Siobahn Smart.
Diaz, who was appointed to the clerk-recorder post by a unanimous vote of the board of supervisors in 2007, says on his website that with nearly three decades in the field, he’s among the ‘most experienced, best-trained county clerk-recorders and registrars of voters in California.’ Diaz ran for the post in 2006, losing to Kathleen Smith, who he eventually replaced after she resigned amid a small scandal. Diaz has the support of former Truckee Mayor Maia Schneider, current Truckee councilmember and former Nevada County Supervisor Barbara Green, and host of other elected officials throughout the county.
The treasurer/tax collector race is also contentious with four candidates: Dai Meagher, Darlene Woo, Rick Nolle, and Tina Vernon. Vernon, an analyst in the Nevada County executive office, is endorsed by retired Tax Collector E. Christina Dabis. Vernon has chosen not to accept any donations for her campaign. Nolle holds an MBA from DePaul University and is a businessman and real estate broker with over 30 years of experience in the high-tech industry. Meagher (full name pronounced Day Mahar) is a CPA who also owns an accounting systems installation business. Woo is a finance officer for the Nevada County Probation Department.
Another fierce battle is underway for Nevada County assessor in a race that pits former Supervisor Sue Horne against real estate broker/ appraiser Rolf Kleinhans. Horne, who served on the board from 2001 to 2008, is a Lake of the Pines resident and small business owner who is endorsed by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, CATT, and Tom McClintock, among others.
Kleinhans holds an MBA in real estate and finance and has the endorsement of the Nevada County Association of Realtors and the Nevada County unit of the California Republican Assembly. His other endorsements include a wide range of public officials of varying stripes including Supervisor Ted Owens, who initially planned to run for the position himself, Truckee Mayor Carolyn Wallace Dee, and councilmember Barbara Green.
Don’t Forget the Propositions!
No California election would be the same without a host of confounding ballot initiatives, and June 8 is no exception. Here’s a brief summary sourced from the most current information on Ballotpedia.com.
Prop 13
Ballot title: Limits on property tax assessment. Seismic retrofitting of existing buildings. Legislative constitutional amendment.
Official summary: Provides that construction to seismically retrofit buildings will not trigger reassessment of property tax value. Sets statewide standard for seismic retrofit improvements that qualify.
Estimated fiscal impact: Minor reduction in local property tax revenues related to the assessment of earthquake upgrades.
Key supporters: The California Democratic Party
Key opponents: No opponents submitted arguments to the state’s voter guide
Prop 14
Ballot title: Elections. Increases right to participate in primary elections.
Official summary: Encourages increased participation in elections for congressional, legislative, and statewide offices by reforming the procedure by which candidates are selected in primary elections. Gives voters increased options in the primary by allowing all voters to choose any candidate regardless of the candidate’s or voter’s political party preference.
Estimated fiscal impact: The data is insufficient to identify the amount of any increase or decrease in costs to administer elections.
Key supporters: California Chamber of Commerce, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Lt. Gov. Abel Maldonado.
Key opponents: The chairs of the California Republican Party and California Democratic Party.
Prop 15
Ballot title: California Fair Elections Act.
Official summary: Creates a voluntary system for candidates for secretary of state to qualify for a public campaign grant if they agree to strict spending limits and no private contributions. Each candidate demonstrating enough public support would receive the same amount. Participating candidates would be prohibited from raising or spending money beyond the grant.
Estimated fiscal impact: Increased revenues (mostly from charges related to lobbyists) totaling over $6 million every four years. These funds would be spent on public financing for campaigns of secretary of state candidates for the 2014 and 2018 elections.
Key supporters: California Common Cause, California Democratic Party, Sen. Mark Leno, League of Women Voters.
Key opponents: California Chamber of Commerce, California Fair Political Practices Commission, California Department of Finance.
Prop 16
Ballot title: Imposes new two-thirds voter approval requirement for local public electricity providers. Initiative constitutional amendment.
Official summary: Requires two-thirds voter approval before local governments provide electricity service to new customers or establish a community choice electricity program using public funds or bonds.
Estimated fiscal impact: Unknown net impact on state and local government costs and revenues — unlikely to be significant in the short run —due to the measure’s uncertain effects on public electricity providers and electricity rates.
Key supporters: California Taxpayers Association, California Chamber of Commerce, the Oakland Jobs and Housing Coalition, former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. Special note: As of May 2, Pacific Gas & Electric has given $34.5 million to the campaign for a ‘yes’ vote, making them the only donors to the ‘yes’ campaign.
Key opponents: League of Women Voters, California Democratic Party, Utility Reform Network, Truckee Donner Public Utility District.
Prop 17
Ballot title: Allows auto insurance companies to base their prices in part on a driver’s history of insurance coverage. Initiative statute.
Official ballot summary: Changes current law to permit insurance companies to offer a discount to drivers who have continuously maintained their auto insurance coverage, even if they change their insurance company, and notwithstanding the ban on using the absence of prior insurance for purposes of pricing.
Estimated fiscal impact: The fiscal estimate provided by the California Legislative Analyst’s Office says, ‘This measure could result in a change in the total amount of insurance premiums, and therefore state tax revenues. The extent to which insurance companies would offer the new discount on premiums, however, is unknown.’ The short fiscal impact summary says, ‘This measure would probably have no significant fiscal effect on state and local governments.’
Key supporters: The Cal-Fair coalition includes Mercury Insurance, California Chamber of Commerce, Consumer Coalition of California.
Key opponents: California Democratic Party, California Labor Federation.
Participate!
There’s still plenty of time to research the issues and the candidates and perhaps even take another step in getting more involved by becoming a poll worker. ‘This is the first election where we’ve had a back-up list of poll workers,’ said Nevada County Assistant Clerk Recorder Gail Smith, ‘but we’re always looking for more!’ Either way, don’t let June 8 come and go without exercising your right to vote.
