Tag: deepdive-2611

Here in California (and in Los Angeles in particular), we have an election coming up. You know what that means: Every election, I do a detailed ballot analysis of my sample ballot. This is where I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.  Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting this analysis into a few chunks (note: links may not be available until all segments are posted):

1. State and National Offices (excluding judges)
2. County and City (Los Angeles) Local Offices (excluding judges)
3. Measures / Propositions
4. Judicial Offices (County and State)
5. Summary

Note: Please read the introductory post (Part I). There is a discussion there of a number of topics related to the election: Israel, Single Payer Health Care, the SB1 Gas Tax, High Speed Rail, PAC Donations, and “When California Was Best” that apply to all candidates. Further, the introductory post covers reuse of the analysis from the primary: generally, candidates don’t change their spots, and my primary positions hold into the general. When my favored candidate didn’t move forward or significant new information surfaced, then I reexamine positions.

This part provides a summary of my ballot analysis results. Please read the full explanation of why I chose who I chose in the links above.

Note: This summary is presented in the order of my Sample Ballot.

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Here in California (and in Los Angeles in particular), we have an election coming up. You know what that means: Every election, I do a detailed ballot analysis of my sample ballot. This is where I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.  Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting this analysis into a few chunks (note: links may not be available until all segments are posted):

1. State and National Offices (excluding judges)
2. County and City (Los Angeles) Local Offices (excluding judges)
3. Measures / Propositions
4. Judicial Offices (County and State)
5. Summary

Note: This analysis is NOT presented in the same order as the Sample Ballot (the ballot order makes no sense). I’ve attempted instead to present things in more logical order.

Note: Please read the introductory post (Part I). There is a discussion there of a number of topics related to the election: Israel, Single Payer Health Care, the SB1 Gas Tax, High Speed Rail, PAC Donations, and “When California Was Best” that apply to all candidates. Further, the introductory post covers reuse of the analysis from the primary: generally, candidates don’t change their spots, and my primary positions hold into the general. When my favored candidate didn’t move forward or significant new information surfaced, then I reexamine positions.

This part covers all the judgeships on the ballot. Note that for the California (state-level) offices, the vote is just a “do we retain this justice”.

• Judge of the Superior Court: Office № 64 ❦  № 65 ❦  № 87 ❦  № 131
• California Supreme Court: Two associate judges
• California Court of Appeals: Eighteen appeals court judges

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Here in California (and in Los Angeles in particular), we have an election coming up. You know what that means: Every election, I do a detailed ballot analysis of my sample ballot. This is where I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.  Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting this analysis into a few chunks (note: links may not be available until all segments are posted):

1. State and National Offices (excluding judges)
2. County and City (Los Angeles) Local Offices (excluding judges)
3. Measures / Propositions
4. Judicial Offices (County and State)
5. Summary

Note: This analysis is NOT presented in the same order as the Sample Ballot (the ballot order makes no sense). I’ve attempted instead to present things in more logical order.

Note: Please read the introductory post (Part I). There is a discussion there of a number of topics related to the election: Israel, Single Payer Health Care, the SB1 Gas Tax, High Speed Rail, PAC Donations, and “When California Was Best” that apply to all candidates.

This part covers the State and Local Measures

• City Propositions / Measures:  Measure TE ❦ Measure LA ❦ Measure PL ❦ Measure EE ❦ Measure PRK ❦ Measure PRT ❦ Measure SC ❦ Measure FD
• County Propositions / Measures: Measure A ❦ Measure E
• State Propositions / Measures: Measure 1 ❦ Measure 2 ❦ Measure 3 ❦ Measure 4 ❦ Measure 5 ❦ Measure 39 ❦ Measure 40 ❦ Measure 41 ❦ Measure 42 ❦ Measure 43 ❦ Measure 44 ❦ Measure 45

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Here in California (and in Los Angeles in particular), we have an election coming up. You know what that means: Every election, I do a detailed ballot analysis of my sample ballot. This is where I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.  Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting this analysis into a few chunks (note: links may not be available until all segments are posted):

1. State and National Offices (excluding judges)
2. County and City (Los Angeles) Local Offices (excluding judges)
3. Measures / Propositions
4. Judicial Offices (County and State)
5. Summary

Note: This analysis is NOT presented in the same order as the Sample Ballot (the ballot order makes no sense). I’ve attempted instead to present things in more logical order.

This part covers the Local Offices (excluding US Congress and State Assembly)

• County of Los Angeles: County Sheriff
• City of Los Angeles: Mayor of Los Angeles ❦ City Attorney ❦ City Controller
• Los Angeles Community College District: Seat № 2 ❦ Seat № 4 ❦ Seat № 6

Note: Please read the introductory post (Part I). There is a discussion there of a number of topics related to the election: Israel, Single Payer Health Care, the SB1 Gas Tax, High Speed Rail, PAC Donations, and “When California Was Best” that apply to all candidates. Further, the introductory post covers reuse of the analysis from the primary: generally, candidates don’t change their spots, and my primary positions hold into the general. When my favored candidate didn’t move forward or significant new information surfaced, then I reexamine positions.

Read More …

Here in California (and in Los Angeles in particular), we have an election coming up. You know what that means: Every election, I do a detailed ballot analysis of my sample ballot. This is where I examine each candidate and share my conclusions, and invite you to convince me to vote for the other jerk.  Because this is a long ballot, I’m splitting this analysis into a few chunks (note: links may not be available until all segments are posted):

1. State and National Offices (excluding judges)
2. County and City (Los Angeles) Local Offices (excluding judges)
3. Measures / Propositions
4. Judicial Offices (County and State)
5. Summary

Note: This analysis is NOT presented in the same order as the Sample Ballot (the ballot order makes no sense). I’ve attempted instead to present things in more logical order.

This part covers the Federal and State races:

• Statewide Offices: Governor ❦  Lt. Governor ❦ Secretary of State ❦  Attorney General ❦ Insurance Commissioner ❦  Controller ❦ Board of Equalization, 3rd District ❦ Supt. of Public Instruction ❦ Treasurer
• Federal (Legislative): US Representative, 32^nd District
• State (Legislative): State Assembly 40^th District

Before we start, a few introductory “general” comments:

• Israel. Although this is a state election, the DSA (Democratic Socialist faction of the Democratic party) has introduced the subject of Israel into the discussion. There are no problems with disagreeing with the behavior of the Netanyahu government; that’s equivalent to disagreeing  with what Trump does. It is also perfectly fine to call for Palestinian self-determination and a Palestinian led government in Gaza and the West Bank (without Hamas). Lastly, it is fine to call what the settlers are doing on the West Bank to Palestinians as wrong. HOWEVER: To move from there to arguments that Israel is committing genocide, to move from there to arguments that Hamas is justified, to move from there to anti-Zionism or arguing that the Nation of Israel should not exist … that’s moving into the area of antisemitism. See my post  Words Hurt, and Words Destroy. Given a choice between a candidate taking these positions and an equivalent candidate, I’m going for the candidate that supports the existence of Israel. However, I will not support a Trump-supporting candidate solely because of their position on Israel.
• Single Payer Health Care. The phrase “single payer health care” does not mean free healthcare. Remember that folks on Medicare pay premiums (often it is deducted from Social Security checks); those who earn more money can pay much more in premiums (look up IRMAA). If you are Medicare Part C, you may also pay different premiums based on the quality of your plan. Where Single Payer saves money is by having a single administrative apparatus to handle claim processing and payments, and a single set of rules regard payment for procedures and such. This saves a lot of overhead money (which reduces costs), and makes lives easier for the medical community because they have one set of rules. Additionally, if the government or a non-profit runs the single payer, costs are less because they don’t have to return profit to the shareholders. However, single-payer also makes it easier for the government to deny procedures and medicines they don’t like.
• SB1 Gas Tax. With the high price of gas, people like to complain about the gas tax. They blame the gas tax for the high price of gas in California. That’s not entirely true. As of July 1, 2025, the California SB 1 (Road Repair and Accountability Act) gasoline excise tax is 61.2 cents per gallon. This rate is adjusted annually every July 1^st based on the California Consumer Price Index to account for inflation.  Note that it is a fixed amount: That means that through all of the Iranian “Conflict”, it hasn’t changed. The gas tax has not made California gas more expensive, and the cost it adds to California gas is much less than folks think (there is also Federal Gas Tax). The Gas Tax goes to road repair and transit. It’s allocation is controlled by the California Transportation Commission (read my pages for more details), and there is transparency on how it is spent. There is an excellent website detailing transportation spending, and there is a specific map showing projects.  Two additional notes: (1) The SB1 Gas Tax does not go towards High Speed Rail; (2) the VMT is a separate proposed tax and currently electrics and hybrids also support the road through a specific fee on their registration. The VMT is a proposed tax for electric and hybrid vehicles only (different rates) that is based on miles driven; it is necessary because such vehicles do not pay into the SB1 funds.
• High Speed Rail. There are lots of complaints about High Speed Rail and its costs. Most folks don’t understand what has led to the high costs and delays, and it is important to understand what is happening (as it is common in many major projects). First, NEPA and CEQA (the Federal and State Environmental approval processes) add to costs simply because they require lots of public reviews and approvals. Those approvals were less in the Central Valley, which is where they started building the line, but are significant for other parts of the route, such as crossing the passes and mountains into Southern California. There are also major design issues related to the soil composition and utilities. Utilities are a big issue, and construction of the line means moving existing rail lines and power utilities (owned by private entities, who balk and delay at moving their lines). There is also the need to move existing roads and cross existing roads, which means involvement with city, county, and state construction projects and authorities. I know (for example) there was major rerouting of Route 99 in Fresno. There have been problems with HSR, and the reports are all available from the State Auditor. There have been financial problems, yes, but all large government construction problems have some level of those problems, and the eventual end result is worth it. That’s true of HSR as well: Having a fast HSR system between LA and the Bay Area will remove a lot of vehicles from the road, and provide significant environmental benefits and benefits to business.
• PAC Donations. A lot of folks are up in arms about PAC donations. I look at it another ways: Are the donations causing the candidate to change their position (is he serving the donors), or are the donations in alignment with the candidate’s position, and are those positions in alignment with the people they represent? So, for example, if a candidate is pro-choice and makes that clear, and receives donations from Planned Parenthood or a pro-choice PAC, then there should be no problem: things are in alignment. But if, for example, a candidate and their district was pro-alternative energy and solar, and then they receive donations from oil companies, and after those donations the candidate changes their position, then there’s a problem. Just accepting a donation isn’t a problem when they are legal donations and are publicly known, and those who attempt to imply otherwise are virtue signaling. Better than a candidate saying “I don’t accept PAC donations or corporate donations” is a candidate saying “I serve only my constituents, and promote those positions I believe in and that are Constitutions; I don’t change my positions to please my donors.” Additionally, I don’t “tar and feather” a candidate solely because they may receive money from AIPAC.
• When Was California At Its Best. A number of the Republican candidates are pining for the “good old days”, and believe that the days of prosperity were under Ronald Reagan. They should check their history. What brought California prosperity was the administration of the strong Democrat “Pat” Brown, Jerry Brown’s father, who left office in 1966. It was under Brown that the UC system achieved its excellence, and it was under Brown that the Freeway system was constructed and numerous homes were constructed. Reagan’s administration started the destruction of that system. Jerry Brown (in his first go around) tried to recover the budget through austerity. Governors since then have just been trying to recover things. As always, I highly recommend this book: “The Last Days of the Late, Great, State of California” by Curt Gentry. It explains well the pivotal election of 1966 that brought us the Republican party of today.

Lastly: Much of my candidate election analysis is based on the analysis I did for the primaries. It is unlikely that changes in a candidate’s positions between June and November are changes that will really stick. However, when my favored candidate didn’t move past the primary, I’ll do a deeper reexamination of the candidates positions to make a new selection. So expect to see a lot of the links you saw in the primary analysis.

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