The June Ballot, Part 1

The sample ballots aren't out yet, but I was checking the League of Women Voter's Smartvoter web site to get an idea of who is running and what ballot initiatives will be on the table. Keeping in mind this is only a primary election, the state and congressional elections come down to who might be on the ballot come the general election.

Some races have multiple candidates and there's not much info available on a lot of them. I was surprised to see only one Libertarian Party candidate on the ballot. That's in the Attorney General race. Goes to show how far the LP of California has slid over the years. We used to have candidates in most races back in the day. Registration in the party is up, but candidates are almost non- existent. Oh, well.

U.S. Representative, 2nd District. Choices are Democrat Jared Huffman, incumbent. Republican Dale Mensing and Democrat Andy Caffrey. 

I'll likely vote Mensing as I would never vote for Huffman. Not much that I can find about Mensing. 

State Senate, 2nd District: 
Democrats Mike McGuire and Derek Knell. 
Perennial Republican candidate, Lawrence Wiesner 
and what seems to be an unaffiliated Harry Lehmann.

I won't vote for Mike McGuire. From what little I've read about him he sounds like a Huffman clone. Problem is, Republican Wiesner campaigned as War Party back when ran for congress. That doesn't matter now as this is a state race. In the past, when he ran for congress, unless there was an Libertarian candidate in the race, I haven't voted. Not sure what I'll do now. Maybe take a close look at Harry Lehmann?

I don't believe Harry Lehmann is the same Lehman that dropped out of this race earlier on. Who knows? Maybe the guy is a closet libertarian. I've seen that before.

State Assembly, 2nd District: 
Democrats Jim Wood and John Lowry, 
Republican, Matt Heath
Perennial Green Party candidate Pam Elizondo.

Pretty sure I'll go with Matt Heath. It doesn't much matter what his issues are as the Republicans will likely be a minority in the state until the state collapses. 

Pam Elizondo is the wild card in that race. For me, anybody that would wear a sweatshirt to a candidate forum is ok in my book. Unlikely I'd vote for her, though, unless Heath says something really dumb. Even if he does, so what? He'll still be in an ineffective  minority.

 Governor:

Too many candidates to list here and, again, no Libertarian Party candidate. I won't vote for Jerry Brown. I don't think he's all that bad- probably your average California governor- but his insistence on following through with the high speed rail boondoggle gives him an F with me. 

I don't have much of a problem with either of the two best known Republican candidates,Neil Kashkari or Tim Donnelly. I'm also more than open to any of the other Republicans. I'll wait and see if anyone gets me even remotely excited.

Lieutenant Governor:

Too many to list here. Ron Nehring is the only Republican name that rings a bell but I don't recall what news I've read about him. I won't vote for Gavin Newsom. He strikes me as just power hungry. And there's always that Americans Elect candidate, Alan Reynolds. It might be worth looking into him, although I'm a bit suspicious of these populist new party types.

Secretary of State:

Former Republican but now unaffiliated Dan Schnur caught my attention the other day. I'll keep him in mind. The others I don't know anything about and they're not saying!

Controller:

Probably Ashley Swearengin.

Treasurer:

Going with Greg Conlon the Republican who also happens to be a Certified Public Accountant.

Attorney General:

Plenty of candidates in this one, too, so I'll likely throw away my vote on the Libertarian Party candidate, Jonathan Jaech.

Insurance Commissioner:

Quite honestly not sure just what the issues will be here. I can't think of any beef I have with incumbent Dave Jones, but maybe that's cause I wasn't paying attention. I'll have to come up with a reason to vote in this one.

Board of Equalization, District 2:

Probably Republican James Theis, or not voting.

State Superintendent of Schools:

Not voting, unless I catch a candidate forum sometime and one of them impresses me.

Ballot Initiatives:

Only 2 it seems,

Prop 41: Veterans Housing and Homeless Prevention Bond Act of 2014

NO, if only because I'm fed up with the idea of veterans being victims- our latest entitlement group. They already get all kinds of benefits. Besides, didn't we pass a similar veteran home loan bond not long ago?

Prop 42: Public Records. Open Meetings. State Reimbursement to Local Agencies

Looks like this requires local governments to comply with state public access laws, but eliminates reimbursement from the state for the costs of compliance. Sounds like an unfunded mandate to me, but the idea of more open government is certainly a plus. I'll wait and see what arguments develop for and against this one.

That's it for state races and issues. Part 2- local races- is next and will be much shorter.