Fun fact about blue CA (I’m a proud San Franciscan): Of the last 8 governors, dating back 2/3 of a century to the sixties, 4 have been R and 4 have been D. Only one, gray David, a D, had less than 2 terms. So over that period we’ve had more R in the governor’s mansion than D.
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This glosses the sea change that was Pete Wilson’s governorship and Proposition 187. Since 1994, Arnold Schwarzenegger is the only Republican governor California’s had. Arnold needs an asterisk after his name on governor’s list because he was initially elected via a recall petition process to replace Gray Davis.
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Fascinating interpretation of my post.
I think if people look at the number of registered Ds v Rs, they miss the big picture. After Prop 187, there was an exodus from the Republican Party because of the racist overtones.
Orange County is a reliable R. However, people are also shocked that Anaheim, the Land of Disney, had (has?) such a powerful KKK presence.
So, as you mentioned, you scratch the surface, and California is pretty conservative (consider the two presidents that were from CA), but a lot of people who would have been aligned with the Republican Party don’t want to be aligned with the pervasive racism within it.
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Another thing that isn’t mentioned in any of the articles is that CA voters decided a few years back that in order to be listed in the General Election package, you have to promise not to use over x amount of dollars in your ad campaign. Katie Porter is in the package but not Becerra, Hilton, nor Steyer because they didn’t want to be bound by silly rules that voters wanted.
So, it’s not just that Katie Porter was side-swiped out of the way by the two videos, she’s also hampered by not being able to put out as many ads. (Yes, I voted for Katie).
I am so disgusted by Tom Steyer and his bid for Governorship. What is wrong with these richer folks that think just cause they made a ton of money, they are capable of governing a state?
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I am not a Californian, although I have family there and visit often. I don’t have a dog in this hunt, but jungle primaries seem idiotic to me. There may be a good logic, but I am not aware of it.
Not that my opinion matters, I never thought much of Katie Porter. It seemed like she was grandstanding whenever I saw her and she never convinced me that she was interested in doing anything else. Regardless, I am glad that things settled down.
I am not sure why Newsom and Pelosi didn’t do more to sort things out. They are both smart and had their reasons that probably made sense, but are not apparent to me.
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My SoCal take is: Becerra is Dem machine pol with big Chevron, Uber and other corpprate donors. Steyer, at first despised by progressives qua billionaire candidate, has been vouched for as a true climate champion by Bill McKibbon and others. Now many in my world, having held on to our ballots, see Becerra as definitely advancing as a top two and are voting for Steyer in hooes of the potential for some real policy debate in the leadup to a fall Dem v Dem choice.
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A ballot measure is in the early stages to overturn the proposition that put them in place. It’s a failed experiment put in place by Shwarzenneger.
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Agreed. There are no top candidates in this field. I think Becerra is a cautious candidate, and he has shown some bravery in taking on Trump in court. Do I expect to be dazzled? No. But I know what I’m voting for, as opposed to Steyer who is only in a top position because he’s spending 20x for his campaign using his own money. I don’t trust him, he has no track record. Sorry elites who have talked to him, that’s not enough for me to vote for him.
Becerra will be the safe and boring governor. That’s not all bad for this moment.
Shame on Padilla and Harris for not running.
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Erm … Arnold is (still, I think, even though the party has pretty much disowned him at this point) a Republican.
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There was one - but folks think female candidates have to be perfect.
The theory was that partisan primaries tend to lead to extreme candidates and polarization, because the hard core on both sides are the ones most likely to vote in the primaries.
By advancing the top two vote-getters, no matter which party, you should get candidates with broader (more “centrist” don’cha know) appeal in the general election.
That was the theory. Hasn’t worked out so well in practice.
Here’s what the ballot looks like.
That’s 62 names for governor. Sheer insanity. The last time I had that many names on a ballot was the fustercluck after the Gray Davis recall (which is how we got Arnold).
Failed experiment. Time to can it.
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I know. I was talking about star power not party affiliation.
FWIW, the missus and I dropped off our completed ballots at one of the polling places set up around the county around mid-day (they’ll get counted faster that way vs. mailing them), and there was a steady stream of other folks doing the same. Apparently, given how wacky and unpredictable things have been, many voters chose to hold off sending in their ballots until today, just in case something else crazy happened with one or more of the candidates.
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Sorry, my mistake. I assumed you were continuing with your “we have a bench” and referring to the Dems.
Mind you, most of CA-GOP would absolutely say that Arnold is a Dem these days, even though he himself disagrees.
I understand it’s hard to give up on something like that, but these vestigal “old” Republicans really need to face up to the fact that their party is dead and gone, and something much more sinister and toxic has adopted its name, likeness, and bank accounts.
Reregistering from R to D back in 2003 was one of the better life choices I’ve made. Zero regrets since then.
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Thank you for thjs informative comment. I didn’t think of the race issue with Becerra but have always liked him because he’s a technocrat and seems straight forward. My children were worried about the Chevron donations, shows you the effect of the Steyer constant ads on social media but they too were repulsed by another billionaire so voted Becerra.
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I voted for Becerra yesterday. Handed my completed ballot in its envelope to the volunteers mannng the ballot collection box at about 4:40 p.m. yesterday afternoon and got a “I voted sticker.” Got a text from the California Secretary of State’s Office this afternoon that my ballot had been given to that office for counting. Easy peasy.
Steyer has been running ads constantly for months. No thanks.
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There are very good reasons to suspect that Steyer and his money-is-no-object massive advertising barrage did him more harm than good, by reinforcing the image of just another one of those damned billionaires who thinks he can buy anything he wants, including the governorship.
Not to mention just pissing people off.
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