Election officers throughout the nation are beneath assault, egged on by former President Trump’s false claims that poll fraud was liable for his 2020 defeat.
Whereas Trump’s onslaught relies on lies, it's vital that those that oversee our elections are above reproach — that they supply no alternative for criticism that can be utilized as a wedge to undermine confidence in our balloting course of.
That’s why Vicki Gordon, the second-place finisher within the June 7 race for Contra Costa County clerk-recorder, ought to drop out of the Nov. 8 runoff election.
Gordon desires the job overseeing the county’s elections. However, as we reported in an editorial simply days earlier than the first, Gordon was caught taking an opponent’s marketing campaign signal.
It was a cringeworthy second, one for which Gordon tried to apologize on the time. She now admits it “was a horrible mistake.” However the true present of contrition can be to exit the race.
Gordon revealed in that second that, relying on the account of occasions, at greatest she has horrible judgment and at worst she was prepared to place private acquire above election integrity. Both approach, she’s not the one who needs to be operating Contra Costa’s elections.
This can be a county already reeling from the felony convictions of former District Legal professional Mark Peterson and former Clerk-Recorder Joe Canciamilla, who have been each caught illegally utilizing marketing campaign funds for private bills.
The disrepute of those officers has unfairly tarnished the onerous work of their employees members. The very last thing the elections workplace wants is one other questionable chief.
We supported Gordon two years in the past when she ran unsuccessfully for reelection to the Contra Costa Group School District board and was subjected to a sleezy political assault. However being a sufferer in a single marketing campaign doesn’t excuse her actions in one other. What she did on June 1 was inexcusable.
Gordon was taking an indication from a Nice Hill property when the home-owner confronted her. Gordon apologized repeatedly and left the signal. She later mentioned it was on the shoulder of the street leaning towards a retaining wall, which she thought was improperly within the public proper of approach. She mentioned she wished to return it to the opponent earlier than it was confiscated.
Gordon’s clarification doesn’t make sense. The home-owner, Anna Stahl, who took an image of Gordon’s automotive and license plate as she drove away, says the signal was firmly caught within the floor within the planter space of her property above the retaining wall. However even when the signal have been on the bottom in entrance of the retaining wall, that was not justification for Gordon taking it.
Regardless of the incident, or possibly as a result of it occurred so late within the marketing campaign, Gordon nonetheless managed to garner 24% of the vote, sufficient to complete second within the four-way race and qualify for the runoff. Kristin Braun Connelly, who's by far the very best candidate, completed first within the June 7 election with 34% of the vote.
For the reason that election, Gordon has not returned messages from Nice Hill police, who've referred to as and visited her residence twice. It’s unlikely this case will lead to a felony prosecution. Gordon left the signal behind when she was caught, and the district lawyer’s workplace has larger instances to pursue.
However the difficulty for voters just isn't whether or not against the law was dedicated. It’s whether or not an absence of excellent judgment was unveiled. And it clearly was. For the sake of public confidence within the county’s election system, Gordon ought to abandon her marketing campaign.