June 5th Primary recommendations for State offices

:vote1:

Anybody have any strong opinions about the various candidates for State offices on the June 5th ballot, including:

Governor? Gavin Newsom has first place locked up. Your vote could determine who gets the second place slot.
Lt. Governor?
Secretary of State?
Controller? Betty Yee is the only Democrat.
Treasurer?
Attorney General? Xavier Becerra seems to be doing a good job at fighting Trump
Insurance Commissioner?
Member, State Board of Equalization?
US Senator??? Feinstein or De Leon?? Feinstein is too old. I'm supporting De Leon. Obama is supporting Feinstein.

I'm supporting Delaine Eastin for Governor,
Gayle McLaughlin for Lt. Gov. and
Diane Feinstein for Senate and yes, she's old but wise and look at Ruth Bader Ginsberg--much older and still functioning fully and well.

Lilith

For anyone interested, here is a list of Matt Maguire's election picks for the 2018 Primary. Matt Maguire is well-known locally for his Progressive activism and knowledge:

Greetings all-

OK, folks, here it is. Attached is my voter guide (in .pdf form) for the upcoming primary election, which is to be held on Tuesday, June 5th this year.

My list of recommended candidates and issues is based on my unabashed left-wing political stance. I’m sending this out early to give everyone plenty of time to review, comment on and share it. This should be the final form, but in the past I have made minor changes based on feedback. If that should happen this time, I will re-send as soon as possible.

If you want this in Word form, let me know. Also, if you know someone that should be or wants to be on this list and isn’t, send me (or have them send me) their email address and I’ll add them on. If course, since you can’t see who this email is going to, you’ll actually have to ask your friends if they got it. (All part of my nefarious plot to generate some buzz!)

I hope this is helpful, and feel free to share it with your friends. Just don’t forget to vote! The situation is dire and we all need to turn the ship of state, together. Thank you for doing your part!

- Matt
mmaguire@crcnetworks

Matt’s June 5th, 2018 Primary Election Picks

It’s gotten as weird as can be, folks. Strike a blow for sanity, equality and democracy: go vote!
Here are my picks. These are based on residence in Petaluma and surrounding areas:

State and Federal Offices:
US Senator: Kevin De Leon
US Representative: Jared Huffman
Governor: Gavin Newsom (If he’s too tame for you, vote for Delaine Eastin. Not at all likely to even come in 2nd, but a good woman.)
Lieutenant Governor: Gayle McLaughlin
Secretary of State: Alex Padilla
State Controller: Betty Yee
State Treasurer: Fiona Ma St.
Attorney General: Xavier Becerra
St. Insurance Commissioner: Ricardo Lara
St. Board of Equalization: Malia Cohen
St. Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond
State Assembly: Dan Monte
County Offices:
Superintendent of Schools: Steven Herrington
Supervisor, 2nd Dist.: David Rabbitt is running unopposed.
Auditor/Controller/ Treasurer/Tax Collector: Erick Roeser is running unopposed. Clerk/Recorder/Assessor: Deva Marie Proto
District Attorney: Scott Murray
Sheriff/Coroner: JOHN MUTZ!
State Measures:
68: Yes
69: Yes
70: NO!
71: Yes
72: Yes
Regional Measure:
Measure 3: Yes

There you go. Go forth and multiply (these votes)!
Thanks, Matt

Feinstein selection is well thought out.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

US Senator??? Feinstein or De Leon?? Feinstein is too old. I'm supporting De Leon. Obama is supporting Feinstein.

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Posted in reply to the post by Lilith Rogers:

...Diane Feinstein for Senate and yes, she's old but wise and look at Ruth Bader Ginsberg--much older and still functioning fully and well.

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Feinstein is 84 and RBG is 85. I don't think RBG would rule that as "much older" ;)
Feinstein is easier to replace than RBG.

thanks, Lilith...I think it is , however, incorrect to compare her to Ruth Bader-Ginsberg..
Feinstein is one of the corporate Democrats...she's ok on some issues...but, absolutely
favors the uber rich against the rest of us on so many issues...RB-G. seems to understand
the dangers of MONEY UBER ALLES....I don't think DiFi does, she is very much one of them.

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Posted in reply to the post by Lilith Rogers:

I'm supporting Delaine Eastin for Governor,
Gayle McLaughlin for Lt. Gov. and
Diane Feinstein for Senate and yes, she's old but wise and look at Ruth Bader Ginsberg--much older and still functioning fully and well.

Lilith

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“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.”

― Frédéric Bastiat

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Posted in reply to the post by markwjam:

thanks, Lilith...I think it is , however, incorrect to compare her to Ruth Bader-Ginsberg..
Feinstein is one of the corporate Democrats...she's ok on some issues...but, absolutely
favors the uber rich against the rest of us on so many issues...RB-G. seems to understand
the dangers of MONEY UBER ALLES....I don't think DiFi does, she is very much one of them.

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Posted in reply to the post by Barry:

US Senator??? Feinstein or De Leon?? Feinstein is too old. I'm supporting De Leon. Obama is supporting Feinstein.

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I'm just getting into researching things today. I have had a lot of differences with Feinstein's policies over the years... I heard she changed some policy positions in the run-up to this election to try to assuage some of the more progressive voters' concerns with her, but especially with such a long track record, statements likely done more for political expediency don't convince me she has much conviction on those things.

I am not concerned about her age. If for some reason we had to have a special election, we'd very likely get a more progressive replacement elected.

What does concern me is the top-two primary (without further reforms such as ranked ballots, something that would make any kind of election more democratic and eliminate the need for strategic voting).

What are the chances that splitting Democrat and progressive votes will give us a choice between only right-wing candidates in November? This is what concerns me most in my choice here. I wonder if any surveys have been done on how voters are looking at this issue and planning to vote...

On the plus side for her, to the extent she shares our values, her relative influence in committees and the Senate as a whole is an asset.

Your concern about splitting the Dem. vote brings up a good point.

In the 2016 national election, poll after poll showed that Sanders had a better chance of beating Trump than Clinton did, yet all the Establishment Dems I know voted for Clinton in the primaries for reasons you mentioned in your post: "

On the plus side for her, to the extent she shares our values, her relative influence in committees and the Senate as a whole is an asset."

Clinton won the nomination (no small thanks to Wasserman-Schultz's manipulations) and then went on to lose the election.

I see a similar situation with Feinstein and DeLeon. I have no fondness for Feinstein--I've disagreed with many of her stances/votes. She and her husband are very wealthy and she hasn't hesitated to increase their wealth during her time in office (neither has Pelosi), and I agree that her sympathies will always come down on the side of the very wealthy.

We finally have an opportunity to vote her out and I think we ought to do just that. Dems played it cautious before and we got Trump. Let's not make the same mistake again and end up with a Repug in sheep's clothing. Given the political makeup of the state (about 75% Dem) even with the split vote, I think we will end up with at least one and probably two Dem. candidates on the Fall ballot.

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Posted in reply to the post by Asa:

...What are the chances that splitting Democrat and progressive votes will give us a choice between only right-wing candidates in November?....

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Why vote for Gavin Newsom and give up your vote for Delaine Eastin? She is sooooo much a better choice! I especially don't understand since Maguire say of himself (below), that he (Maguire) has an "... unabashed left-wing political stance". Really makes me wonder...

I really appreciate this discussion!

Obviously I'm voting for DELAINE EASTIN for GOVERNOR

definitely MUTZ for SHERIFF and

DAN MONTE for STATE ASSEMBLY!

And, btw, no one at all replied to my post/interest in attending or being a part of an in-person group to discuss the candidates etc.. on our ballots...
Dusty (gaiasophia)

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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:

...Governor: Gavin Newsom (If he’s too tame for you, vote for Delaine Eastin. Not at all likely to even come in 2nd, but a good woman.) ...

There you go. Go forth and multiply (these votes)!
Thanks, Matt

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I am sooooooooooooooo tired of "our" 2 party system!!!!

WE NEED

RANKED CHOICE VOTING (RCV)

AKA

INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING (IRV)

NOW !!!

Other places around California and the rest of the USA have it, we need it everywhere. Then we can vote for our choices in the order we prefer them, without fear of "splitting the vote" etc. etc. etc. !

Perhaps the clusterf*ck that the "Top 2" system has turned out to be will open the door to RCV/IRV.

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Posted in reply to the post by gaiasophia:

I am sooooooooooooooo tired of "our" 2 party system!!!!

WE NEED RANKED CHOICE VOTING (RCV)

AKA INSTANT RUNOFF VOTING (IRV)
...

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Posted in reply to the post by wisewomn:

Clinton won the nomination (no small thanks to Wasserman-Schultz's manipulations) and then went on to lose the election.

I see a similar situation with Feinstein and DeLeon.

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We finally have an opportunity to vote her out and I think we ought to do just that. Dems played it cautious before and we got Trump. Let's not make the same mistake again and end up with a Repug in sheep's clothing. Given the political makeup of the state (about 75% Dem) even with the split vote, I think we will end up with at least one and probably two Dem. candidates on the Fall ballot.

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Thanks for your thoughts on this.
I just checked the registered voters statistics, and as of January, California has 44.6% registered Democrats, 25.4% Republicans, 25.0% Independents, and 5.0% other (more statistics). However many Democrat voters that makes, I think you're right not to worry about splitting the progressive vote.

I tried to model some possible outcomes based on the above voter demographics, guesses about the behavior of independents, and extrapolating from a late April poll. Feinstein seemed likely to get more votes than the number of Republicans that are likely to vote in total, including undecided voters. DeLeon, however, had less than half the support of Republican Patrick Little in the poll.

Feinstein can afford to proportionally lose substantial support and still make it through. DeLeon would have to gain much more support, though. From the numbers, it looks like only an outside chance that he'd be able to pass Little. If he did, it would be a turnaround since that poll, and its hard to see where he'd get the numbers to pass him by much even then -- even if Feinstein lost a good amount of support.

DeLeon may be looking like a longshot. But not one where voting for him seems at all likely to lose the chance of having at least one Democrat primary winner.

Feinstein will have many voters that will vote for her by default no matter what. One person who I asked voted for her already, because they have a positive impression of her and can never remember at voting time that Feinstein is on the other side, historically, of several issues that they care deeply about. I think there are a lot of voters the momentum of the status quo will sway to vote for Feinstein again, rather than try to understand the alternatives.

It's also interesting to see that Republican Little didn't publish a candidate statement in the voter guide, which I suspect will lose him potential casual voters.

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Posted in reply to the post by gaiasophia:

And, btw, no one at all replied to my post/interest in attending or being a part of an in-person group to discuss the candidates etc.. on our ballots...

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:(

Quote:

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Posted in reply to the post by gaiasophia:

WE NEED
RANKED CHOICE VOTING (RCV) [...]
NOW !!!

Other places around California and the rest of the USA have it, we need it everywhere. Then we can vote for our choices in the order we prefer them, without fear of "splitting the vote" etc. etc. etc. !

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I so agree! This is the most essential and common-sense electoral reform possible. I'm very encouraged by it finally beginning to be implemented in some jurisdictions. I once was not sure Repubs and Dems would ever loosen their grip enough to let it happen, but now I think momentum could finally be building on this. I don't think universal application is probable to come very soon, but I think progress is likely -- with more activism and increasing public experience with it. Then, some more radical reforms, perhaps...

Yea to Muntz for sheriff, which I consider the single most important office to vote on. Remember the murder of innocent Andy Lopez, which the last sheriff rewarded the deputy who killed him. For those who can, also vote for Nils Pallson for Congress. He works for Transition US. I heard him recently and he is a true progressive.

In response to the last paragraph below, Marilyn Madrone has organized a discussion of who to vote for today and tomorrow at Coffee Katz in Sebastopol, to which all are welcome, as noted below.

Hello, voters!
Feel free to spread the word about two options for 60 to 90 minute conversations to help fill in a few blanks in our info about propositions and candidates ,

Location and times of both conversations:

Coffee Catz, Sebastopol Ave.

Sunday, June 3 10:00AM
andMonday June 4 2:00PM

Please bring sample ballots and any voter's guides.
It's hoped that we busy folks will have found some time to study a bit.
.
One idea is to begin with discussion, moving in a circle, of the five state propositions and two local measures, then move on to the county and schools candidates, then widen out to the state offices.

My "two cents": if info is lacking, just refrain from voting on that proposition or candidate; allow voters who have the info do the deciding.

I can only guarantee that I will be present at least 15 minutes ahead. Maybe others will join me so that there is a lively interchange.

Today, Saturday, I will drop in to tell Coffee Catz of our plans. Out of respect for Coffee Catz, may all who participate also purchase something to eat or drink.

Democracy is not a spectator sport. Thom Hartmann
Marilyn Madrone 799-8029c

At a meeting yesterday, a group of us agreed on the following:
Yes to Props. 68, 69, 71, & 72 and no on 70.

The Sierra Club recommends Newson for gov., Jeff Bleich for Lt. Gov., Xavier Becerra for Attn. Gen., Alex Padilla for Sec. of State, Betty Yee for Controller, Ricardo Lara for Ins. Com., and Tony Thurmond for Sup. of Public Instruction.

As for Senator, we felt that Kevin DeLeon would be best, Proto for County Clerk, and Mike McGuire and Jared Hoffman for state senators.

If any of you have other recommendations, please let us know.

If you voted for John Mutz for sheriff, you would be welcome to join us at his victory party in Santa Rosa at the Stout Brothers Irish Pub, 2nd floor, 527 Fourth St., 8-11 p.m.

If you are interested in carpooling from Sebastopol, perhaps some of us could meet at 7:45 at the front door of Community Market in the Barlow and go together. If that might interest you, please give me a call at 829-8185. Now I am into the field to prepare my boysenberry harvest, which should start next week and last for only about 6 weeks.

I voted for Roni Jaccobi instead of Mike McGuire, btw. Really liked her when she was a Santa Rosa City Council member.

here is the link to election results, Sonoma County. Absentee should be up soon, but not yet. You can keep checking and refreshing it, as it gets updated.

https://vote.sonoma-county.org/conte...d=1009&id=2456

Sonoma County
Consolidated Primary Election - 06/05/2018
June 5, 2018


Election Results as of 05/23/2018 at 10:22:43 AM

Thanks, Michael, for posting this, and thus saving us the time to find these important results. They seem basically good, with some notable exceptions. The victory party for John Mutz for sheriff last night was terrific. It was the most multi-cultural gathering that I have been at in my 25 years living in Sonoma County. I saw many progressive friends whom I have not seen for a long time. Mutz is low-key, humble, strong, and listens well. One of the best speakers was a retired police officer. I am glad that Mutz at least came in second, though I wish he had won. Among the many good things that I heard was the following: "John listens to women."

Seems like Mike McGuire has done a fabulous job. Anything in particular you don't like about him?

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Posted in reply to the post by MikeH:

I voted for Roni Jaccobi instead of Mike McGuire, btw. Really liked her when she was a Santa Rosa City Council member.

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