Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders will visit San Diego to speak on behalf of congressional Democratic candidates Mike Levin and Ammar Campa-Najjar later this month as part of a nine-day nationwide pre-midterm blitz.

Rallies and events for the Sanders tour, which begins October 19, will include support for candidates in Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Iowa, Wisconsin, Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and California.

Details of his appearances have yet to be announced, although it seems probable–based on news reports about the itinerary–Sanders’ local events will occur just prior to his final stop in Oakland on October 27.   [Read more…]

Mail-by-vote ballots will be arriving at homes in California next week and, after posting more than three dozen articles about candidates and issue since the June primary, it’s time to wrap up this phase of our election coverage.  There were lots of contests I wanted to cover, but couldn’t for lack of time.

My parting shot in this series involves a short-but-sweet essay warning folks about some people NOT to vote for. There are people running for office who you shouldn’t vote for, and then there are candidates are so bad you should consider crossing the street to avoid them if you see them coming your way.

On Monday, we’ll be posting the San Diego Free Press Progressive Voter Guide. The editorial board met last week to consider endorsements; those will be announced in the Guide. We endorsed 14 ballot measures and 37 candidates. Three candidates were so bad they deserved special mention.   [Read more…]

Three of San Diego’s five Congressional districts are, for now, dominated by Democratic incumbents. Electoral contests in the 51st (Vargas), 52nd (Peters), and 53rd (Davis) all include no-name, no-cash–Republican challengers.

Today I’ll focus on the noisy political contests in the 49th and 50th congressional districts, with a cursory listing of the candidates for the non-competitive seats at the end of the column.

The current version of history says the 49th’s retiring Republican Congressman Darrell Issa saw the handwriting on the wall following a surprisingly close election in 2018 and regular protests outside his Vista office.

While I’m sure both things played a role, a personal drama may have played a role in that decision.   [Read more…]

Democrats controlled three of the seven Assembly seats in the county going into 2018, and that’s about to change. The voter registration advantage Republicans have traditionally held in two suburban North County districts has dissipated.

Assemblyman Rocky Chavez opted not to run for re-election and fell short in an attempt to grab a spot on the fall ballot race for Rep. Darrell Issa’s seat. His 76th district ended up putting two Democrats on the November ballot, a result that would have been unthinkable just a few years back.

Over in the 77th Assembly District, Democrats have taken the lead in voter registration, and party leaders now see newcomer Sunday Gover’s campaign as one of their best opportunities in the state.     [Read more…]

San Diego County is represented in Sacramento by four Senators, three of whom face re-election this year.

The 40th District, including the southern part of the county and all of Imperial County, is represented by State Senator Ben Hueso. The incumbent Democrat’s general election contest is a repeat of the June 2018 primary, where Hueso won more than 60% of the vote.

Of more interest from a competitive standpoint are the 36th & 38th Districts where two Republican incumbents –Pat Bates and Joel Anderson–face vigorous opposition from Democratic candidates. A victory for either challenger would help negate the possibility of the GOP playing a strictly obstructionist role in the legislature.     [Read more…]

In the conclusion to this series on statewide propositions, we’ll look at two measures that aren’t what they seem to be and one that is what it seems to be, even though opponents claim otherwise.

Prop 10 asks voters to repeal the law prohibiting communities from regulating what landlords can charge residential tenants. Prop 11 asks voters to legalize a questionable labor policy. And Prop 12 ups the ante on the treatment of animals raised for human consumption.

On Monday, I looked at Propositions 1 through 4, and yesterday it was 5 through 8. If you’re wondering about Prop 9–aka the billionaire scheme to split California into three parts–you won’t find it.

 The “Three States Initiative” was removed from the ballot by California Supreme Court” because significant questions have been raised regarding the proposition’s validity and because we conclude that the potential harm in permitting the measure to remain on the ballot outweighs the potential harm in delaying the proposition to a future election.”

 Alas, venture capitalist and cryptocurrency investor Tim Draper has declared he’ll no longer be interested in this form of political tinkering by 2020.   [Read more…]

Grannies, potholes, sunshine, and healthcare. We sure do get to vote on a lot of interesting things in California.

Prop 5 changes the way property taxes are calculated for certain classes of (mostly wealthy) people. Prop 6 amounts to a Republican temper tantrum. Prop 7 wants to settle some timely questions. And Prop 8 is a more-complicated-than-it-seems battle of the Titans.

Yesterday I looked at Propositions 1 through 4, and on Thursday I’ll finish off the state ballot props, examining 10 thru 12. Some of the details/wording in this article is borrowed from a ’first look’ column I posted in late August; I’ve had the opportunity to do some more study and am sharing my findings.   [Read more…]

Today I’m writing about the first four of California’s 2018 Ballot Propositions for the general election.

What the first four ballot offerings have in common are requests to use taxpayer money for things proponents would like us to believe are for the common good.

Prop 1 would authorize borrowing for housing. Prop 2 would ask voters for permission to use a previously authorized tax revenue stream to include building housing for mentally ill people. Prop 3 wants voters to authorize bonds for water-related infrastructure. Prop 4 wants voters to authorize bonds for updates and construction of children’s hospital facilities.

On Wednesday I’ll delve into Props 5-8, and Thursday will conclude this series with 10-12. Some of the details/wording in this article is borrowed from a ’first look’ column I posted in late August; I’ve had the opportunity to do some more study and am sharing my findings.   [Read more…]