I know it’s been a while, but as this may be the last time we have an even nominally free and fair election, I felt I’d better write up a voter’s guide while I fill out my mail-in ballot.
Which Kern County doesn’t even provide a sticker with and I have to get my own stamp. #firstworldproblems.
So let’s just pile in to this, then.
State:
Governor, Secretary of State, Controller, Attorney General, Insurance Commissioner, Member, State Board of Equalization — 1st District — , US Representative, State Senator — 16th District — , Member of the State Assembly — 34th District — : Voted for the Democratic Party nominee. Although I have little hope that the odious Kevin McCarthy will be defeated, this is not the time to fuck around with third-party votes or whataboutism. Democratic Party the whole ticket. On death ground, fight.
You will note that I skipped Lieutenant Governor and Senator, because those two contests have two Democratic candidates. Let’s explore those two contests.
Lieutenant Governor: I had heard nothing about this contest going in, but based on my Ballotpedia research, I’m gonna go with Eleni Kounalakis. Maybe it’s Obama and Hillary nostalgia, but her work on Hillary’s campaign, President Obama’s endorsement of her, and her identification by Ballotpedia as one of California’s top influencers due to her work in our state tipped it to her.
Senator: After the W Administration, Dianne Feinstein had to do a lot of work to rehabilitate her image in my eyes. And since the 2016 primaries, she has done that work and then some in standing up to the orange tumor’s maladministration. That, and her seniority, make her the choice I’m going with despite the state party’s inexplicable endorsement otherwise. We need new, fresh candidates and ideas, but not at the expense of our tried-and-(finally)-true leaders.
I have the feeling I’m gonna catch it for that one. Oh, well.
Judicial:
Carol A Corrigan helped inflict Proposition 8 on us and voted twice against marriage equality. Carol A. Corrigan is a hard “no”.
Leondra R. Kruger is an African-American woman, and I owe African-American women for standing with me and trying to save my family from the orange tumor and the GOP. Plus she’s well-qualified. Hard “yes”.
Donald R. Franson, Jr I still know nothing about after poking around trying to find something on Google and Ballotpedia. Soft “no”.
Thomas Desantos is another no-info candidate, but his chairmanship of the Kings County Equal Employment Opportunity Commission leads me to hope that he may not be a horrible person. Soft “yes”.
Charles S. Poochigian ran for Attorney General as a Republican, and called ADA requirements, many of which I depend on, “payday for shakedown artists”. Fuck no.
Nothing again for Kathleen Meehan except for some doctor or something in Texas. I’m gonna be unfair and vote for her because she’s a woman appointed by Governor Brown and hope that she isn’t really a Republican. Soft “yes”.
While I don’t find anything against Mark W. Snauffer, I don’t find anything for him either, save that he was appointed by Gov. Brown. One more hope that Gov. Brown knows what he’s doing with our judiciary. Soft “yes”.
Bruce Smith is not the retired defensive end or the ARM A32/Raspberry Pi assembly programmer. Soft “no” for making me wade through those.
School:
I know that we homeschool, but I’m gonna vote in this category anyway because fuck you.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction: While this is a nonpartisan position, Tony Thurmond gets my vote as a Democratic state legislator.
Kern Community College District Governing Board Member — Trustee Area 2 — :
[Taking a break for lunch. Be right back. I can’t feel my fingers. — Moody]
[Lunch is pumpkin spice peanut butter sandwich AMERICA FUCK YEAH — Moody]
Where was I? Oh yeah, the Kern County Community College race. No idea who either of these fuckers are and Google, Ballotpedia, and Voter’s Edge California have nothing either. Fuck it, I’m writing in Mrs. Loner.
City
On the off chance that anyone reading this is in Ridgecrest, CA I’m including the city races.
Mayor: Thomas R. Wikinich is the proponent and supporter of the anti-sanctuary city movement in CA. Here’s hoping that Mayor Margaret “Peggy” Breeden isn’t as much of an open racist.
City Council: Reese Hogg III is endorsed by Ridgecrest United, supports diversity and science, and thus gets my vote. Loren Scott Hayman keeps saying ‘Ridgecrest First’ which sounds a little too ‘America First’ to me. The local stories don’t tell me much about what Steven Morgan and Michael Mower want, so I’m only putting one vote in for City Council.
Indian Wells Valley Water District Director:
David Saint-Amand actually put up a profile on Voter’s Edge, is a geologist, and I couldn’t find anything horribly racist that he’s done. While Peter E. Brown is an incumbent, he is also apparently an environmentalist who owns a local low-water landscaping business and volunteers with the Rotary Club to vaccinate children. So these are my two soft “yes”, “Dear God I hope I’m not voting for a KKK member” choices.
Measures:
We’re on the home stretch, folks.
State Prop. 1: Affordable Housing Bonds
California desperately needs affordable housing, and the arguments against this are “BUT TAXES”. Fuck you, voting yes.
State Prop. 2: Mental Health Housing Program
I may need this. Voting Yes.
State Prop. 3: Water Bonds
Sierra Club is for this and California needs water. Opposition says “TOO MUCH MONEY FOR WILDLIFE” and “BUT TAXES”. Fuck you, voting yes.
Turns out, as Besame points out in the comments below, that the Sierra Club is in fact OPPOSED to this initiative. Well, the ballot’s already in the mail, so fuck me too I guess. Still don’t know how I screwed that up, but I did.
State Prop. 4: Children’s Hospital Bonds
You would think funds for children’s hospitals would be a no-brainer, but here we are, umm, braining? it??
Voting yes because I’m not some kind of fucking monster.
State Prop. 5: Property Tax Rules
Oh, God. Is this another Prop 13? Prop 13 fucked California for decades. And they’re trying to sell it as for“seniors and people with severe disabilities”.
Fuck no not again. What property taxes I pay for my Fallout-level mobile home and stretch of Mojave Wasteland I can afford. Hard no.
[Had to go run errands. Back now. — Moody]
State Prop. 6: Transportation Taxes and Fees
While I appreciate the sudden concern that the California Republicans have for low-income families, the money for infrastructure repairs and public transportation that this initiative would repeal has to come from somewhere, and apparently it will come from the same Magical Finances from Nowhere Fairy that Kevin McCarthy expects to pay for the Wall.
Hard no.
State Prop. 7: Daylight Savings Time
The fuck am I even voting on this for? This allows the state to go on permanent Daylight Savings time in accordance with federal law that does *not* allow states to go on permanent Daylight Savings time but rather permanent standard time which is completely different because reasons. They (as in both the people for Prop 7 and against Prop 7) say voting for this would git rid of Daylight Savings time, but I don’t see that in this initiative.
On the off chance the California Democratic Party has a reason to endorse this, I’m a soft “yes”.
State Prop. 8: Kidney Dialysis Clinics
This is to control prices that kidney dialysis clinics charge. As a diabetic, I have a non-zero chance of needing this at some point, and although Medicare will be paying for it I don’t see that as an excuse to Soak Uncle Sucker. Hard yes.
There is no Prop. 9. That was either the secession one (which I’m glad I don’t have to wrestle with as I’m Captain America not Captain California but if the USA is going Nazi Germany I can see why people wouldn’t want to stay in it) or it was Nigel Farange’s attempt to split California into three states (which I am bitterly disappointed that I don’t have the chance to vote against because fuck Nigel Farange).
Moving on.
State Prop. 10: Local Governments and Rent Control
I can hear the screams of SOCIALISM from the title and the first endorser is the ACLU. Somehow I find the opponents’ claim that single-family homeowners renting their house out will be forced to obey the big bad Guvmint instead of charging what they need to feed their families to be, well, ludicrous.
I’ve had to deal with too many landlords. Fuck them all. Yes on 10.
State Prop. 11: Ambulance Employee Breaks
Why yes, ambulance employees should be able to have breaks WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF DYSTOPIAN BULLSHIT IS THIS.
Apparently this allows private ambulance companies to force their employees to be on-call during breaks to avoid a lawsuit from employees of private ambulance companies who were forced to be on-call during breaks. Fuck this noise.
That’s a no, by the way.
State Prop. 12: Farm Animal Cages
You know, I could have sworn that we passed an initiative not too long back to ban factory farms in California, and yet we still have factory farms.
No, this probably doesn’t go far enough. But it’s better than the nothing we currently have.
Going with the party and voting yes.
Kern County Measure J & K:
Okay, so when marijuana legalization passed Kern County immediately banned it because DEMON Weed and brown people and War on Drugs. Well, now that they’ve gotten a good look at the benefits of legalization, they’re starting to walk it back with two initiatives legalizing marijuana in Kern County with different restrictions and they’ll put into effect the one that gets the most votes if both pass.
So I voted for them both.
And that’s my ballot. Hope this helps someone out, and I hope we get to do this again.
