Dear V.I.P. Voters!  At least I HOPE you will help turn the tide toward a rational, caring culture and away from madness (?) well, terribly unpleasant leaning toward racism, fascism, other isms I don’t even want to think about. What do you call it when you’re against rule by AI? Back to the present need for rationality to be represented in gov’t.

Actually sorting out issues, candidates, our joint future, is COMPLICATED…so thought to make voting a tad easier for those who get around to reading my blog? Yes.

Reveal: I stole the V.I.P. Voter phrase from my friend, Linda, completing her 399th (?) Postcard Pod card. I did do some of the POSTCARD POD cards, not many. The cards lauded the state being sent to “it’s a peach of a state but we can do better”.  Hasn’t been a more important vote in recent memory save that awful result when the orange menace was elected.  I didn’t believe it! Had to wait several hours to check the news.  Hope we don’t need ongoing recovery parties after the midterms!

So one deep dive into analysis and voter preferences exists here:

VoteSonomaStrong.com, site of Democratic Socialists of America, voting guide.

https://www.votesonomastrong.com/november-2022

Lots of analysis from a socialist perspective.

And the one we’ve relied on for years, Matt’s picks.

Matt’s November 8th, 2022 Election Picks

So here we are again, folks. Mid-term elections 2022: climate disruption is bad and getting worse, the democracy is hanging by a thread, fascism and racism in America are on the rise, the Republicans have abandoned any pretense of legitimately competing in elections in favor of outright corrupt control of outcomes. We see the worst dregs of white supremacy running for (and in) high office. Inflation is rampant thanks to corporations and Wall Street colluding with the likes of Mitch McConnell to reap record profits while blaming President Biden and the Democrats in a clear bid to gain control of the House and Senate. Why? So they can continue to pander to the billionaires and corporate masters (theirs). Swell.

But all is not yet lost. Remember Kansas and the fight for all women’s rights to control their own bodies! And Black lives still matter. And our republic, flawed as it is, is worth fighting to save. We are fortunate indeed to live where we do, and to have decent representation in our neck of the woods. And that’s because we care about our friends and families, our communities, our country and our environment. And we vote accordingly.

So in my ongoing efforts to make that voting easier, I offer you these recommendations. Feel free to use as you see fit, and to share with those you think will appreciate it.

State Offices:

Governor:                                                                    Gavin Newsom

Lt. Governor:                                                               Eleni Kounalakis

Secretary of State:                                                      Shirley N. Weber

Controller:                                                                   Malia M. Cohen

Treasurer:                                                                   Fiona Ma

Attorney General:                                                        Rob Bonta

Insurance Commissioner:                                           Ricardo Lara

St. Board of Equalization, Dist. 2:                               Sally J. Lieber

Federal Offices:

US Senator, full term:                                                  Alex Padilla

US Senator, partial term:                                            Alex Padilla

US Representative, Dist. 2:                                         Jared Huffman

State Senator:

State Senator, Dist. 2:                                                 Mike McGuire

Member, State Assembly:

State Assembly:                                                          Sara Aminzadeh

Judicial Offices:

All 13 Supreme and Appeals Court judge seats are Yes/No confirmation votes that each judge faces every 12 years, giving the public a chance to remove incompetent judges. All 13 appear to be qualified and capable. Therefore, vote YES on all.

School:

State Superintendent of Public Instruction:                 Tony Thurmond

County Superintendent:                                              Amie Carter

Petaluma:

Mayor: The mayor’s race is for me, personally, a tough one to choose. I know both Kevin McDonnell and D’Lynda Fischer well, respect them both, and believe either will be good mayors for Petaluma. Both have unique skills to address the many issues that we face here, such as housing affordability, homelessness, the climate crisis, figuring out the best use of the fairgrounds, etc. Kevin has better interpersonal skills; D’Lynda has the more progressive voting record. Kevin can potentially build consensus better, but D’Lynda has the better planning and development perspective. D’Lynda did not get vaccinated nor encourage others to do so, but she is not a pandemic/mask/vax denier, just a decliner. Kevin is not as clear on the best way to build affordable housing, or what to do with the fairgrounds, and voted to arm our police with assault rifles. But ultimately either will serve us well, unlike the two other mayoral candidates. Pick between them and we’ll have a good mayor.

City Council (First time district elections.) District elections, touted as a way to guarantee greater diversity, were adopted under threat of litigation. Petaluma may be too small to make this work, as districts are vulnerable to easier political manipulation, dirty money and provincialism. A better way to improve diversity would be with council pay and ranked-choice voting, but this is what we have.

District 1:                                                                     Janice Cader Thompson

District 2:                                                                     John Shribbs

District 3:                                                                     John Hanania

Ballot Measures:

Mea. 1: Protect reproduction freedom rights                                                               YES!

Mea. 26: Expand gambling on tribal lands                                                                  NO

Mea. 27: Allow online /mobile sports gambling outside tribal lands                            NO

Mea. 28: Funding for arts and music education in public schools                              YES

Mea. 29: Require medical professional at kidney dialysis clinics                                YES

Mea. 30: Tax millionaires to fund EVs, air pollution reduction, fire prevention           YES!

Mea. 31: Prohibit sale of flavored tobacco products                                                   YES

 

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