San Diego, Statewide Results on Propositions, Legislative & Federal Offices
By Doug Porter
Voters in the State of California opted for more progressive choices when it came to elected officials than most of the rest of the country.
Nationally, it should be noted marijuana measures did well (except Arizona), as did minimum wage increases, and paid sick leave, along with reform-oriented local prosecutors.
(It’s a two-column day, folks. Look for coverage of protests & calls for action in a subsequent piece, posted as fast as I can type.)
Keeper of the Nation’s Future
The reaction of the State Legislature’s leadership to the election of Donald Trump as President was also encouraging.
Following is the statement from Senate President pro-Tempore Kevin de León and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon:
The first Bear Flag with its designer, Peter Storm, ca 1870, via Wikipedia
Today, we woke up feeling like strangers in a foreign land, because yesterday Americans expressed their views on a pluralistic and democratic society that are clearly inconsistent with the values of the people of California.
We have never been more proud to be Californians.
By a margin in the millions, Californians overwhelmingly rejected politics fueled by resentment, bigotry, and misogyny.
The largest state of the union and the strongest driver of our nation’s economy has shown it has its surest conscience as well.
California is – and must always be – a refuge of justice and opportunity for people of all walks, talks, ages and aspirations – regardless of how you look, where you live, what language you speak, or who you love.
California has long set an example for other states to follow. And California will defend its people and our progress. We are not going to allow one election to reverse generations of progress at the height of our historic diversity, scientific advancement, economic output, and sense of global responsibility.
We will be reaching out to federal, state and local officials to evaluate how a Trump Presidency will potentially impact federal funding of ongoing state programs, job-creating investments reliant on foreign trade, and federal enforcement of laws affecting the rights of people living in our state. We will maximize the time during the presidential transition to defend our accomplishments using every tool at our disposal.
While Donald Trump may have won the presidency, he hasn’t changed our values. America is greater than any one man or party. We will not be dragged back into the past.
We will lead the resistance to any effort that would shred our social fabric or our Constitution.
California was not a part of this nation when its history began, but we are clearly now the keeper of its future.
A Warning: Beware of False Prophets
I feel the necessity to issue a warning about the many opportunists trying to leverage the emotional reaction to Trump’s election. Some of us remember the chaos and indecision these types wreaked on the Occupy movement. It would be nice to win with more than a footnote in the history books this time.
Democratic establishmentarians, anti-vaxxers, conspiracy freaks, and people with narrow personal/political grievances are once again seeking to link their causes to a popular uprising.
While people of many persuasion should be welcomed to join in the fight for a better world, there need to be minimum standards for acceptance into leadership or public relations roles.
Above all, a recognition of the intersectionality of systems of discrimination or disadvantage and the need for inclusive leadership must be part of the picture.
These areas need to include (in alphabetical order, and not necessarily using these exact words):
- Economics— job place rights, fair pay & benefits, pensions & health care, progressive taxation system
- Environment— ending dependence on carbon-based energy production
- Gender— overt/covert discrimination, LGBTQ rights, safe spaces
- Racism— overt/covert discrimination, voting rights, immigration, criminal justice
There are other issues, and some of them are important to the people who advance them, but the point here is that anybody who cannot acknowledge and support progressive positions on these issues will always end up being a problem if given an overly large role.
The latest in a long line of causes to waste time and money on is CalExit, a proposal for secession backed by a coterie of Silicon Investor types. It sounds cute, kinda like asking a Republican Congress to impeach Trump before he’s even inaugurated. Don’t be fooled by the latest media darling.
Voting Results
(With a few comments)
STATEWIDE PROPOSITIONS
Percentages listed are those relevant to the outcome. The State figures are only rounded to a tenth, local figures are rounded to a hundredth. There are still many votes to be counted, but it’s unusual for the final results to change significantly. I, of course, will update in the event this happens.
Proposition 51 $9 billion in bonds for education and schools
PASSED – 54.0% CA, 52.87 SD
Proposition 52 Extends fees protecting MediCal funding
PASSED – 69.6% CA, 69.13% SD
Proposition 53 Voters must approve revenue bonds more than $2 billion
REJECTED – 51.4% CA, 49.13% SD
Proposition 54 Conditions under which legislative bills can be passed
PASSED – 64.30% CA, 63.40% SD
Proposition 55 Personal income tax rate continues on incomes over $250,000
PASSED – 62.10% CA, 59.48% SD
A victory for education in California.
Proposition 56 Increase the cigarette tax by $2.00 per pack
PASSED – 62.90% CA, 61.09% SD
The tobacco industry spent over $71 million to defeat this, and failed.
Proposition 57 Sentencing Reform
PASSED – 63.60% CA, 66.03% SD
Get ready for every criminal act in the state to be blamed on sentencing reform. Note that the biggest gainers on Wall Street following Trump’s victory were private prison companies.
Proposition 58 Bilingual education in public schools
PASSED – 72.40% CA, 71.02% SD
An injustice righted.
Proposition 59 State’s position on Citizens United
PASSED – 52.30% CA, 51.72% SD
I’m not sure how much good it will do with the GOP in charge, but it felt good to vote for it.
Proposition 60 Require the use of condoms in pornographic films
REJECTED – 53.90% CA, 57.64% SD
Proposition 61 Prescription drug price regulations
REJECTED – 53.70% CA, 54.69% SD
The drug companies put up $110 million to defeat this, mostly by threatening higher prices (who would have been revenge, not driven by actual economic factors other than greed). None-the-less, this law was poorly crafted and creating uncertainty wasn’t not very hard to do.
Proposition 62 Repeal the death penalty
REJECTED – 53.90% CA, 55.59% SD
Proposition 63 Background checks for ammunition purchases
PASSED – 62.60% CA, 60.99% SD
Some of the nation’s toughest gun safety measures. Unfortunately, the nutters have already stocked up.
Proposition 64 Legalization of marijuana and hemp
PASSED – 56.00% CA, 55.58% SD
A few common sense pointers, via VOSD’s Morning Report: “Don’t smoke in public, don’t sell pot to minors and keep in mind that it’ll be tough to legally obtain weed: Medical dispensaries cannot sell to recreational users. Cultivators cannot legally sell it until they get licensed by the state, which won’t happen until January 2018.”
More answers: here, here, and here.
Proposition 65 Would undo parts of the plastic bag ban.
REJECTED – 55.30% CA, 53.83% SD
Proposition 66 Make Death Penalty Easier
PASSED – 50.90% CA, 53.50% SD
Proposition 67 Ban Plastic Bags
PASSED – 52.00% CA, 50.30 SD
Finally.
Federal Offices
Victor in boldface. Parties are color coded: Red=GOP, Blue=Dems
PRESIDENT
Hillary Clinton – 61.5% CA, 56.05% SD
Donald J Trump – 33.2% CA, 38.67% SD
Jill Stein – 1.7% CA, 1.44% SD
Gary Johnson – 3.2% CA, 3.61% SD
Gloria Estela La Riva – 0.4% CA, 0.22% SD
US SENATE
Kamala Harris 62.5% CA, 59.56% SD
Loretta Sanchez 37.5% CA, 40.44% SD
More than 1.1 Million people who voted for president did not vote in the Senate race
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
District 49
Doug Applegate 48.9% Total, SD Vote 53.01%
Darrell Issa 51.1% Total, SD Vote 46.99%
The 49th District includes portions of both San Diego and Orange counties
District 50
Patrick Malloy 35.90%
Duncan Hunter 64.10%
Hunter may be taking a second job to pay off the third mortgage he took out to pay back all the campaign expenses used for personal reasons. Look for him at a convienence story near you.
District 51
Juan Vargas 72.63%
Juan Hidalgo 27.37%
District 52
Scott Peters 56.59%
Denise Gitsham 43.41%
District 53
Susan Davis 66.11%
James Veltmeyer 33.89%
STATE SENATE AND ASSEMBLY
39th State Senate District
Toni Atkins 62.37%
John Renson 37.63%
75th Assembly District
Andrew Masiel Jr 37.60%
Marie Waldron 62.40 %
76th Assembly District
Rocky Chavez 60.33%
Thomas Krouse 39.67 %
77th Assembly District
Melinda Vasquez 42.11%
Brian Maienschein 57.89%
78th Assembly District
Todd Gloria 68.77%
Kevin Melton 31.23%
79th Assembly District
Shirley Weber 63.96%
John Moore 36.04%
80th Assembly District
Lorena Gonzalez 75.58%
Lincoln Pickard 24.42%
Gonzalez had the largest local margin of victory.
More than ever before, we will have to lead in California. Don’t worry, we will. Thank you for re-electing me to the State Assembly.
— Lorena Gonzalez (@LorenaSGonzalez) November 9, 2016
Also Noted: San Francisco, Albany and Oakland joined Berkeley by establishing a tax on sugary drinks. Is it regressive? Yes. Will it save lives and taxpayer health dollars? Yes.
On This Day: 1917 – 41 suffragists were arrested in front of the White House 1933 – A sit-down strike began at Austin, Minn., Hormel plant with the help of a Wobbly organizer, leading to the creation of the Independent Union of All Workers. Labor historians believe this may have been the first sit-down strike of the 1930s. Workers held the plant for three days, demanding a wage increase. Some 400 men crashed through the plant entrance and chased out nonunion workers. One group rushed through the doors of a conference room where Jay Hormel and five company executives were meeting and declared: “We’re taking possession. So move out.” Within four days the company agreed to binding arbitration. 1978 – The Clash’s second album “Give ‘Em Enough Rope,” was released in England. The album would be their first U.S. release
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Doug Porter
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Lots of good news. It’s good to know that California hasn’t yet privatised all its prisons, and that so far it’s not likely our business schools will begin offering courses on Prison Economy. Greater efficiency with lower staffing? Targeting populations? Prisons and Philosophy?
California remains a bastion of sanity and progressivity. I’m glad I live here.