Click on right here for a whole listing of our election suggestions.
With management of the U.S. Senate at stake this yr, Californians face a selection between an incumbent representing the values of most residents, a Trump backer who nonetheless questions the 2020 presidential election consequence, and a one-issue billionaire.
It’s a straightforward resolution: Voters ought to hold U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla within the higher home of Congress. They need to forged two votes for him — to proceed serving the rest of Kamala Harris’ time period and for a brand new six-year stint beginning subsequent yr.
Gov. Gavin Newsom picked Padilla, a Democrat, to interchange Harris after she was elected vp. Padilla, the son of immigrants from Mexico and an engineering graduate from Massachusetts Institute of Know-how, had served on the Los Angeles Metropolis Council and within the state Senate earlier than first successful election in 2014 as California’s secretary of state.
Throughout his tenure as elections chief, the state considerably boosted voter registration and moved to its present near-universal mail balloting. Padilla was arguably California’s greatest secretary of state in additional than 40 years.
His election expertise and vote when he arrived in Washington to question Donald Trump for fomenting the lethal Jan. 6 Capitol rebellion stand in sharp distinction to his two main main opponents within the discipline of 23 candidates: Mark Meuser, a Republican Occasion legal professional nonetheless making an attempt to litigate 2020 presidential election irregularities, and billionaire Dan O’Dowd, who didn’t hassle to vote in half the 12 statewide elections since 2010.
Padilla vs. Meuser
The variations between Padilla and Meuser, who additionally confronted off within the 2018 secretary of state election, go a lot additional. For instance:
• Abortion: Padilla defends a girl’s proper to decide on. Meuser helps the U.S. Supreme Court docket’s anticipated reversal of Roe v. Wade and argues for additionally overturning selections supporting contraception entry and defending same-sex marriage. Meuser would go away these points to state discretion.
• Local weather change: Padilla helps accelerating the U.S. push to scale back carbon emissions. Meuser says he’s unsure whether or not man-made local weather change is actual and desires California and the nation to extend oil extraction.
• COVID: Padilla has been vaccinated and boosted and helps needed public well being mandates to stem the unfold of lethal viruses. Meuser gained’t say whether or not he’s been vaccinated and opposes authorities public well being mandates.
• Weapons: Padilla helps robust gun-purchase background checks and renewal of the federal assault-weapon ban. Meuser opposes the ban and couldn't title any gun guidelines he would help.
This can be a selection between two diametrically reverse candidates. And in a state the place Democrats outnumber Republicans by 2-1, the result of this race would often be a foregone conclusion.
One-issue billionaire
However there’s O’Dowd, the founding father of Inexperienced Hills Software program, which serves companies equivalent to Lockheed, HP, Boeing, Common Motors, BMW and Toyota. O’Dowd says his share of his Santa Barbara-based firm is value greater than $1 billion and that his coin assortment provides $300 million to his private fortune.
O’Dowd is crusading towards Tesla, which he says produces unsafe self-driving automobiles, and to shut hacking vulnerabilities in software program used to run the nation’s energy grid, hospitals and tens of millions of automobiles. Hackers, he says, can kill extra individuals than an intercontinental nuclear bomber.
He has spent $2 million on marketing campaign advertisements that so far goal Tesla slightly than tout his candidacy, and says he plans to spend extra. California is plagued by rich candidates with little or no political expertise who've flamed out in statewide elections. Simply ask Al Checchi, Michael Huffington and Meg Whitman. However, as Arnold Schwarzenegger demonstrated, the fitting mixture can result in success.
What makes O’Dowd completely different is the magnitude of his wealth and his monomaniacal give attention to one concern. Moreover the safety menace from hackers, he gained’t reply questions on any different coverage matter.
He’s a registered Democrat — though it’s unclear why — who completed final in a three-way occasion main for U.S. Senate in 1994 through which, he says, he solely targeted on his opposition to Hillary Clinton’s well being care plan. Past that, voters know little about his values.
He apparently isn’t very involved in utilizing his wealth to assist others much less lucky. Requested about his philanthropy, the billionaire might recall just one contribution his spouse manufactured from about $500,000-$1 million to assist kids of troopers killed in Iraq.
Californians ought to be insulted by his candidacy. With the Senate evenly divided, there’s an excessive amount of at stake on this election to let some wealthy man toy with the democratic course of to advance his singular agenda whereas refusing to debate different key points.
Voters will possible see plenty of O’Dowd’s tv advertisements, however they shouldn’t be fooled. The clear selection within the June 7 election is Padilla. Vote for him — twice.