Parsing The Election Results

We have a lunch meeting here at work in a few minutes to learn what the defeat of Proposition 23 means for us (since we prepare air pollution permits for industry, it means a lot....)

Back from lunch! Instead of Prop. 23, or AB32, we discussed EPA's Greenhouse Gas Tailoring Rule, which is being implemented in a PSD regulatory context. There are many, many unanswered questions, which, in a regulatory context, means trouble....

All that aside, what about the rest of the election?

I got a celebratory E-Mail from Barbara Boxer:

We did it! Together, we delivered a huge victory for the people of California last night, and it would never have been possible without you.

But it was done entirely without me! Despite getting crushed by her direct mail operation, I never donated to Barbara Boxer. She didn't need the money. Instead, I donated to Raul Grijalva, embattled Congressman from Tucson, who really did need the money. He apparently won:

Grijalva (Incumbent) 62,231 49%
McClung 58,316 46%

Grijalva's campaign just sent a note:

We won the race last night thanks to your hard work and your belief that democracy can't be bought no matter how much anonymous money you spend. Republicans came gunning for this seat with everything they had. Today, we have a message for them: the people of Southern Arizona saw what you have to offer, and they said no thanks.

I also donated tiny amounts to Alan Grayson, Jack Conway, Joe Sestak, Scott McAdams, Suzan DelBene, Colleen Hanabusa, and Joe Garcia, but beyond Grijalva, only Hanabusa won last night. I donated very little to anyone this election cycle (part of the dispirited Left, I suppose). Surely the politicians realized they had to do more with less. Since my hours were cut 20% heading into this recession, there's just less money available, period. The rule in Washington is that favors are done for money. Since I didn't get much of a stimulus package in 2009, there wasn't much money that was going to head back to D.C. ....

Jerry Brown won against Meg Whitman, but the real winner was Gloria Allred. The way Allred employed Nicky Diaz was stellar, and the way she knifed Whitman was a real work of art: better even than the way Bruce Herschensohn was mugged on the way to the U.S. Senate in 1992. I don't think Allred coordinated this with the Brown campaign: she was too smart for that, and I think Brown would have been too squeamish for it. This level of stark brutality is rare in California politics - a once-in-a-generation event. Forgive me if I stare at the bloody corpse too long....

I voted for C.T. Weber, from the Peace and Freedom Party, supporting him rather than Gavin Newsom for Lieutenant Governor. Weber's a great guy!

I also voted for Gerald Frink, from the Peace and Freedom Party, supporting him rather than Doris Matsui for Congressperson. Frink is often to be found wearing his trademark pink boa while standing at the corner of 16th & J, urging passing motorists to honk for peace, U.S. out of Iraq, and passing out Sept. 11th conspiracy literature. I know where Frink is, but where is Matsui? Frink is part of my world; Matsui isn't, so Frink gets my support. (I once asked Frink, why does he wears a pink boa?)

I waffled on Proposition 19, but finally voted for it. As usual, I seem to have jinxed the proposition, and it failed (46.1% to 53.9%).

The Democratic Party urged voters to vote No on Proposition 20, and Yes on Proposition 27. Instead, voters chose to vote Yes on Proposition 20, and No on Proposition 27. Despite creating a new lobbying locus, this may all work out in the end - we'll see.

The defeat of Proposition 21 is a sad tragedy.

Ultimately, I decided to support Proposition 22, and it turns out I joined the winning side, for once! The lack of clarity about who is responsible for what is part of what cripples California politics, and preventing the state from raiding local funds will support that clarity. Forcing the state on reduced tax rations during a recession is hard, but maybe we've got to get a few things straight before we can fly right.

Proposition 23 failed. Good.

Proposition 24 failed. Bad.

Proposition 25 succeeded. Good! Wonderful, actually!

Proposition 26 succeeded. Retarded, actually, but the sovereign voters of the Great State of California have spoken!

Measure B, my pet hobbyhorse, went down in flames:

Sacramento Measure B, Utility-Rate Rollback
No 57,349(68.7%)
Yes 26,093(31.3%)

But Measure B, or something like it, will rise once again, all due to the relentless power of arithmetic:

Left: Annual rate of increase of Marc's monthly Sacramento residential utility bill, and the Consumer Price Index (July 1983 = 100).

At least since 1997, and even before, Sacramento utility rates have risen faster than inflation. That rise is accelerating with time! It can't continue forever!


Ellyne Bell won! Yay!

Sacramento City Unified School District, Area 1
Ellyne Bell 5,324(50.3%)
Paige Powell 3,383(32%)
David Ross 1,880(17.8%)

Genevieve Shiroma won for SMUD Ward 4. That's good!

Scott Jones barely leads Jim Cooper for Sacramento Sheriff. Both candidates have 'issues', so a split in support was to be anticipated.

The last item I decided on the ballot regarded Sacramento City Council District 5. Kennedy or Schenirer; Schenirer or Kennedy - two very competent people! How to choose?

With hesitation, I remained with Schenirer, whom I had voted for in the primary, and who won surprisingly-strong support there (but not enough to avoid a runoff). The close race makes it look like District 5 shared my hesitation, but, in the end, Schenirer seems to have won:

As of the most recent count, Schenirer had 53.3 percent of the vote to Kennedy's 46.7 percent.

...According to a Bee analysis of voting results, Schenirer received strong support in the Curtis Park and Brentwood neighborhoods, and did well enough in Kennedy's stronghold of Oak Park to come out ahead.