Hello Everyone:
It is a beautiful Wednesday afternoon and time for Blogger Candidate Forum. Taking a quick look at the headlines: Good news, bad news for a pair of Mr. Donald Trump's nominees. The good news, controversial Secretary of State-designate and former Central Intelligence Agency head Mike Pompeo is on his way to a confirmation vote by the full Senate. The bad news, the president's nominee for Secretary of Veteran Affairs, Dr. Ronny L. Jackson appears to be spectacularly flaming out amid reports of drunken behavior and overprescribing medicine. Next, DACA lives. A federal judge ruled that the United States must keep DACA and accept new applications. However, Travel Ban 3.0 is headed to the Supreme Court. The high court is leaning toward upholding it. Yesterday, Arizona's 8th congressional district held a special election to replace former Representative Trent Franks, who resigned in December. The race saw Republican Debbie Lesko barely getting by Democrat Hiral Tipirneni. Ordinarily, Democrats would be crying in their beer but the fact that their candidate came very close to flipping this solidly Republican district is cause for celebration and the Republicans are looking nervously over their collective metaphoric shoulder. A sign that tying their political fortunes to the Trump administration, harping on House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and, mysteriously, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is not going to work. Speaking of candidates, The Forum would like take a second pass at California Voting.
The April 4th post, "California Voting," discussed how the path to flipping the House of Representatives goes through "Golden State." Today, the subject is the state races. The inspiration for this was Blogger's quick early morning perusal of the June 5th Primary Guide. The guide offers a summary of the propositions on the ballot and candidate statements. Blogger looked at the candidate statements for governor and senator. Initial impression, "just because you, does not mean you should." Yours Truly seems to be saying that an awful lot since the 2016 election cycle. This election cycle is no different. Of the field of gubernatorial and senate hopefuls, only a tiny handful candidates are actually viable. The governor's race is essentially about two Democrats, current Lieutentant Governor Gavin Newsom and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. The race for the Senate is focused on incumbent Dianne Feinstein and California State Senator Kevin de Leon. In this vein, Blogger would like to take a look at the viable candidates in these races. Shall we begin?
The race for governor is a race between two former mayors: Lt. Gov. Newsom and Mr. Villaraigosa--San Francisco versus Los Angeles. Regardless of the San Francisco-Los Angeles rivalry, both gentlemen are following the typical trajectory for mayors; leaping from City Hall to the statehouse. Mr. Villaraigosa was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began his political in the statehouse as a member of the California State Assembly, representing the 45th district between 1994 and 2000, serving as the 63rd Speaker of the Assembly (1998-2000). After he was termed out, Mr. Villaraigosa was elected to the Los Angeles City Council, representing the 14the district. In 2005, he was elected 41st Mayor of Los Angeles until 2013, when he was succeeded by current Mayor Eric J. Garcetti.
Gavin Newsom is the 49th Lieutentant Governor of California and a Bay Area native. Prior to going into politics, Lt. Gov. Newsom was a businessman who co-founded PlumpJack wine store with family friend Gordon Getty. He began is political career in 1996, when former Mayor Willie Brown appointed him to he Parking and Traffic Commission and as a member of the Board of Supervisors. In 2003, he was elected the 42nd Mayor of San Francisco and served until 2010, when was elected Lieutentant Governor.
In the latest poll, Lt. Gov. Newsom leads the field followed by Republican candidate Certified Public Accountant John Cox and Mr. Villaraigosa, according to the latest poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of Californa (ppic.org; April 2018; date accessed Apr. 25, 2018). Breaking down the numbers, the survey shows that 26 percent of likely voters supported Lt. Gov Newsom. Mr. Cox, from Rancho Santa Fe came in second with 15 percent of likely voters and Mr. Villaraigosa polled at 13 percent of likely voters (latimes.com; Apr. 11, 2018; date accessed Apr. 25, 2018). Among the remaining candidates: Assemblyperson Travis Allen (R-Huntington Beach) is supported by 10 percent of likely voters; state Treasurers John Chiang received 7 percent of likely voters; former state school superintendent Democrat Delaine Eastin received 6 percent of support from likely voters (Ibid)
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