California Globe

It’s cold and pouring rain in Northern California on Midterm Election Day 2022. Even in solid blue California, voters are excited, and some dare to be hopeful. Today’s weather won’t hamper the election.

And to put a real point on it, a friend commented “this rain will unlikely have an impact on Republican voters who, at this point, would swim through broken glass to vote against one party rule.”

Despite California’s Democrat Supermajority in the State Legislature, as well as nearly every city council and county board of supervisors, there still are races to watch.

First and foremost, show up and vote – especially the down ballot races. And watch your local school board races. The parent revolution is organically taking place by frustrated parents across the state who recognized the need to oust the people who closed our public schools and forced our kids to wear masks during the Covid crisis.

As Shawn Steel reported for the Globe, “Democrats’ COVID-19 policies caused catastrophic learning loss, long-term gaps in reading comprehension and basic math skills, potentially irreversible mental health problems, and ‘the largest increase in educational inequity in a generation.’”

“Public education in California has reached a crisis point,” Frank Xu just reported for the Globe. “While it is true that the Golden State has consistently trailed behind other states in standardized test scores, latest results for 2022 from the Nation’s Report Card show further declines in reading and math scores of students in fourth and eighth grades – well below the national average in each category, these results also represent declines from 2019.”

California’s 2022 Ballot initiatives are predictably misleading once again. And one stands out as particularly injurious to the state: Proposition 1, a Constitutional Amendment to “enshrine the ‘Right to Abortion, Contraception” into the State Constitution. Prop. 1 would provide an absolute right to abortion in the state constitution under any and all circumstances, including the hideous practice of partial birth abortion, Rep. Tom McClintock informed voters.

For a full list, be sure to revisit the Globe’s “What Ballot Initiatives Will Californians Face in the Nov. 8th Election?” Ironically, the only initiative that actually does what its title describes is Prop. 1 – the other initiatives have convoluted ballot titles and summaries. However, Proposition 30 is a tax on the wealthy… another tax on the wealthy, who notably, tend to be the employers in the state. As Rep. McClintock accurately explains, Prop. 30 “adds another 1.75 percent to what is already the highest income tax rate in the country for those earning over $2 million. Then spend that money on electric cars, charging stations and firefighting. Just don’t use the charging stations because we don’t have enough electricity to keep the lights on. And don’t worry about the millionaires; they’ll be fine. There are nine states that have no income tax at all and 40 with lower tax rates, and these millionaires can take their jobs, business and spending with them. They won’t even need to turn off the lights when they leave since they’re already out.”

There are many races to watch in the state, however, too many are Democrat against Democrat thanks to California’s Proposition 14 top-two primary law. “A top-two primary is a type of primary election in which all candidates are listed on the same primary ballot. The top two vote-getters, regardless of their partisan affiliations, advance to the general election. Consequently, it is possible for two candidates belonging to the same political party to win in a top-two primary and face off in the general election,” Ballotpedia explains.

However, contested races to watch in the State Assembly are:

• District 7: Josh Hoover (R) challenging Assemblyman Ken Cooley (D-Sacramento)
• District 5: Eric Guerra (D) and Stephanie Nguyen (D)
• District 22: Juan Alanis (R) and Jessica Self (D)
• District 27: Mark Nicholas Pazin (R) and Esmeralda Soria (D)
• District 40: Pilar Schiavo (D) and Assemblywoman Suzette Martinez Valladares (R-Santa Clarita)
• District 47: Christy Holstege (D) and Greg Wallis (R)
• District 70: Diedre Thu-Ha Nguyen (D) and Tri Ta (R)
• District 74: Assemblywoman Laurie Davies (R- Laguna Niguel) and Chris Duncan (D)
• District 76: Kristie Bruce-Lane (R) and Assemblyman Brian Maienschein (D- San Diego)

In the State Senate, contested races to watch are:

• District 6: Roger Niello (R) and Paula Villescaz (D)
• District 16: Sen. Melissa Hurtado (D-Sanger) and David Shepard (R)
• District 36: Kim Carr (D) and Assemblywoman Janet Nguyen (R-Huntington Beach)
• District 38: Catherine Blakespear (D) and Matt Gunderson (R)
• District 40: Sen. Brian W. Jones (R-Santee) and Joseph C. Rocha (D)

Congressional races to watch: