2008 June Assembly Endorsements

by Calitics Editorial Board [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

This is our first attempt at endorsements on a broad scale in the legislature.  It is not comprehensive, we simply don't have the resources to get to every seat. But, we tried to get to most of the competitive seats.  We'll provide a bit of commentary on some of these over the flip. State Senate races tomorrow, and Congressional races on Wednesday. But, today, Assembly races:

AD-08: Mariko Yamada

AD-10: Alyson Huber

AD-15: Joan Buchanan

AD-27: Emily Reilly

AD-37: Ferial Masry

AD-40: Laurette Healey

AD-78: Any Democratic candidate other than Auday Arabo.

AD-80: Manuel Perez
AD-08: Mariko Yamada

Chris Cabaldon has run a textbook 20th Century campaign. He has a good resume and the institutional support.  Yamada has a solid resume of her own but can also claim the support of much of the grassroots.  She is also a tireless advocate of single payer healthcare. We support Yamada as the more progressive candidate.

AD-10: Alyson Huber

We have respected Ms. Huber for a while, and she continued to impress on the Calitics podcast. AD-10 is a district that is rapidly blue-ing, so we have a shot in this open seat.

AD-15: Joan Buchanan

AD-15 is an always competitive seat that shares much of its district with Jerry McNerney's congressional district.  Ms. Buchanan would be a very competent Assembly member.

AD-27: Emily Reilly

This is a solid progressive district, and the candidates are all pretty good. Nonetheless, we like the way Reilly has reached out to the grassroots and netroots over the past few months. As a current Santa Cruz city council member and former city mayor Reilly also brings valuable government experience, especially with balancing budgets and finding new revenues, that are desperately needed right now in Sacramento. Her intellect, creativity, and support for budget reform and single payer mean she would be an excellent Assembly member.

AD-37: Ferial Masry

AD-37 is a tough district, but Sharon Runner is a particularly odious Republican who stands in the way of real progressive change.  We wholeheartedly support Masry's candidacy.

AD-40: Laurette Healey

AD-40 is the seat of Lloyd Levine, who is now termed out.  The campaigning has been long and tiresome between the two candidates favored by the institutional players, Bob Blumenfeld and Stuart Waldman. Both have experience in the legislative bodies as aides, but we find the progressive choice is Laurette Healey.

AD-78: Any Democratic candidate other than Auday Arabo

We won't be sorry to see Shirley Horton go, and aside from former Bilbray staffer-turned-Democrat Auday Arabo, we'd definitely prefer any of the Democrats in this race over Republican nominee John McCann. But Marty Block, Arlie Ricasa and Maxine Sherard have all run similar campaigns centered on similar issues that have failed to differentiate. We are confident in any of them, but can't separate one from the rest.

AD-80: Manuel Perez

This race has become a smidge more personal in the last few weeks, and we'd prefer to see it become more substantive.  We like both Manuel Perez and Greg Pettis, the leading candidates. Pettis, an LGBT leader on the Cathedral City Council, would be a solid vote in the  Assembly for Democrats. Perez, on the other hand, holds more potential, and a bit of our concern was eased when he publicly announced his support for gender-neutral marriage licenses. Not only is he a part of a growing demographic that could produce a new progressive majority, he also understands the need for more than transactional changes. In the end, the Calitics Editorial Board chose to support Manuel Perez.