California’s
Crazy Primary Election for Governor
José Angel Gutiérrez
joseangelgutierrezbooks.com
voiceofthemainland.blogspot.com/voces-index
California’s eligible voters began getting their Official Voter Information Guide in the mail on April 21st. Secretary of State, Shirley N. Weber mailed out the 64-page booklet with lots of information necessary to educate voters on candidates and the important dates to cast a vote. Every registered voter will get a ballot in the mail. Early voting will begin May 4th, in about 2 weeks. Ballot drop boxes will be open beginning May 5th The actual Primary Election day is June 2nd. The polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm. The last day to register to vote will be May 18th.. All ballots returned by mail must have a postmark on or before June 2nd and received no later than June 9th. This poses a problem at times for US military personnel and others living outside the USA and voting by mail. Many times those ballots do not arrive on time despite having been marked and sent on or before June 9th.
Oregon is the only state to have voting only by mail. At the
moment, 24 states and DC have same-day or Election Day voter registration.
Various states have peculiar rules such as same-day registration and voting for
president and vice president only; 3 states allow same-day voting only during
the early voting period. North Dakota is unique in not requiring voter
registration at all. A voter simply shows valid identification verifying state
residency and they can vote.
Back to California. The position for Governor has 62
candidates listed on the Voter Guide. Some have quit the race but their names
will still be on the ballot. Examples:
Eric Swalwell and Betty Yee, both Democrats. What is peculiar is that since January
1, 2012, California has had a Top Two method of choosing a governor. There is
no partisan primaries any more. Candidates are all listed in one column with
political party affiliation, if any, next to the name.
Trump has publicaly endorsed for Governor Steve Hilton, a
former British citizen US naturalized as of 12 years ago, He is a Republican.
Another top ranked Republican for governor in some polls is Chad Bianco,
Sheriff of Riverside County and former Oath Keeper member back in 2014. These
two Republicans lead the polls for governor. One of them could be elected. The
single-most important reason for this electoral fluke is that 25 of the 62
candidates are Democrats. Several of these Democrats have great name recognition
but little traction in the polls so far. Specifically, Xavier Becerra was a
former State Attorney General and former Secretary of Health and Human Services
under President Biden. Antonio Villaraigosa was the former Mayor of Los
Angeles. There is another Democrat seeking to be governor running under the
name of Barak D. Obama Shaw. This high number of Democratic candidates could
split the vote enough to allow both Republicans to be the top vote getters and
become the only candidates in November’s General Election. Blue state
California could elect a Red Republican governor.
On April 22nd the top 6 candidates chosen by the
sponsor, Next Star television stations, debated for 90 minutes. These were the
top 2 Republicans, Hilton and Bianco, plus 4 Democrats, former US
Representative Katie Porter, San Jose Mayor, Matt Mahan, billionaire activist
Tom Steyer, and former Attorney General Xavier Becerra. The six spent an hour
answering questions from two reporters. The main topics were homelessness, the
high state gasoline tax, Trump’s policies, Democrats heavy spending, and the
California infrastructure. After the debate, the political pundits across the
national media gave the nod of victor to no one. Nobody stood out among the six
who made the cut to be in the debate. Despite Chad Bianco insisting everyone
stop talking about racism and profiling, no one asked him about his service in
the white supremacist group, Oath Keepers, back in 2014. Katie Porter, the only
woman on the stage, was questioned about a harassment case brought against her
by a former employee. Briefly, Steyer touched Hilton on the left shoulder to
keep him from interrupting him during an answer. Steyer emphasized he paid lots
of taxes and wanted to tax the rich at a higher rate. Becerra stressed he was
the only one with extensive experience in administering government. Matt Mahan
pointed out his tenure had made San Jose one of the safest cities in the
country.
The debate timing was strict, every answer was to be under 60
seconds and any rebuttal under 15 seconds. That was a forever problem for all
the candidates.
Another two debates are set for April 28th by CBS (90
minutes) and on May 5th on CNN (2 hours). Many voters will have cast
their votes the day before.
The Vote Process
Early Voting as mentioned above begins May 4th. California
has 30 Vote Centers where in-person voting takes place 10 days before the
Election. There are 58 counties in the state, however, so 28 counties do not
have a Vote Center. A voter can find out where to vote at caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov/
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