California gubernatorial election, 2018 (June 5 top-two primary)
- General election: Nov. 6
- Voter registration deadline: Oct. 22
- Early voting: Oct. 8 - Nov. 5
- Absentee voting deadline: Postmark Nov. 6
- Online registration: Yes
- Same-day registration: Yes
- Voter ID: No
- Poll times: 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
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| Governor of California |
|---|
 |
| Top-two primary General election |
| Election details |
| Filing deadline: March 9, 2018 |
| Primary: June 5, 2018 General: November 6, 2018 Pre-election incumbent(s): Jerry Brown (Democrat) |
| How to vote |
| Poll times: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Voting in California |
| Race ratings |
Sabato's Crystal Ball: Safe Democratic Inside Elections: Solid Democratic |
| Ballotpedia analysis |
| Federal and state primary competitiveness State executive elections in 2018 Impact of term limits in 2018 State government trifectas State government triplexes Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2018 |
| California executive elections |
| Governor Lieutenant governor |
Twenty-seven candidates from five parties competed in the June 5 top-two primary for two spots on the ballot to succeed term-limited Gov. Jerry Brown (D). The top two finishers were Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and businessman John Cox (R). Newsom received 33.8 percent of the vote to Cox's 26.2 percent.
Campaign strategists expected that Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) would finish in first place and advance to the November election, setting up a battle for the other spot on the November ballot between former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D), businessman John Cox (R), and Assemblyman Travis Allen (R).[1][2]
Newsom, a two-term lieutenant governor who had previously served as mayor of San Francisco, presented himself as both a successor to and a break from incumbent Gov. Jerry Brown (D). CALmatters described his approach as "to celebrate the achievements of the past, while calling for dramatic and disruptive change." Among the policy changes Newsom called for were an increase in education funding and the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system.[3]
Cox was the polling and fundraising leader among Republican candidates and was endorsed by President Trump (R).[4] He ran to represent Illinois in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate in the past. In an interview with The New York Times, Cox said that his opposition to sanctuary policy and the state's gasoline tax would win the support of voters and allow him a path to victory.[5]
Allen, who served in the state legislature since 2013, sought to appeal to supporters of President Trump, saying "all we need to do is turn out the Trump voters and Travis Allen will be the next governor in the State of California." Like Cox, Allen called for a repeal of the gasoline tax, supporting a [[California Proposition 6, Voter Approval for Future Gas and Vehicle Taxes and 2017 Tax Repeal Initiative (2018) |referendum]] calling for the tax's repeal.[6]
Villaraigosa, who previously served as mayor of Los Angeles and in the state Assembly, was "betting on California’s history over the past several decades of electing more-or-less centrist governors," according to the Fresno Bee.[7] Over the course of his campaign, Villaraigosa spent time in areas which have supported Republican candidates in recent elections, such as the Central Valley.[8]
Candidates and election results
The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of California on June 5, 2018.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Governor of California
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gavin Newsom (D) | 33.7 | 2,343,792 |
| ✔ |  | John Cox (R) | 25.4 | 1,766,488 |
 | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | 13.3 | 926,394 | |
 | Travis Allen (R) | 9.5 | 658,798 | |
 | John Chiang (D) | 9.4 | 655,920 | |
 | Delaine Eastin (D)  | 3.4 | 234,869 | |
 | Amanda Renteria (D) | 1.3 | 93,446 | |
 | Robert Newman (R) | 0.6 | 44,674 | |
 | Michael Shellenberger (D) | 0.5 | 31,692 | |
 | Peter Liu (R) | 0.4 | 27,336 | |
 | Yvonne Girard (R) | 0.3 | 21,840 | |
 | Gloria La Riva (Peace and Freedom Party) | 0.3 | 19,075 | |
| Juan Bribiesca (D) | 0.3 | 17,586 | ||
 | Josh Jones (G) | 0.2 | 16,131 | |
 | Zoltan Gyurko Istvan (L) | 0.2 | 14,462 | |
| Albert Caesar Mezzetti (D) | 0.2 | 12,026 | ||
 | Nickolas Wildstar (L) | 0.2 | 11,566 | |
| Robert Davidson Griffis (D) | 0.2 | 11,103 | ||
 | Akinyemi Agbede (D) | 0.1 | 9,380 | |
| Thomas Jefferson Cares (D) | 0.1 | 8,937 | ||
 | Christopher Carlson (G) | 0.1 | 7,302 | |
 | Klement Tinaj (D) | 0.1 | 5,368 | |
 | Hakan Mikado (Independent) | 0.1 | 5,346 | |
| Johnny Wattenburg (Independent) | 0.1 | 4,973 | ||
 | Desmond Silveira (Independent) | 0.1 | 4,633 | |
 | Shubham Goel (Independent) | 0.1 | 4,020 | |
| Jeffrey Edward Taylor (Independent) | 0.1 | 3,973 | ||
| Total votes: 6,961,130 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Boris Romanowsky (Independent)
- Robert Kleinberger (R)
- Lindsey Neil Shortland (Independent)
- George Konik (R)
- Scot Sturtevant (Independent)
- Ted Crisell (D)
- James Tran (Independent)
- Jacob Morris (R)
- Michael Bilger (Independent)
- Andy Blanch (Independent)
- Daniel Amare (R)
- David Bush (Independent)
- David Hadley (R)
- Grant Handzlik (Independent)
- David Asem (D)
- Stasyi Barth (R)
- Michael Bracamontes (D)
- Analila Joya (Independent)
- Harmesh Kumar (D)
- Joshua Laine (Independent)
- John Leslie-Brown (R)
- Frederic Prinz von Anhalt (Independent)
- Timothy Richardson (Independent)
- Brian Domingo (R)
- Doug Ose (R)
Top candidates
The following candidates were selected as top candidates based on their appearances in multiple debates, endorsements received, and fundraising leads.
Travis Allen
Allen was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2012 and remained a member of the legislature as of the 2018 election. At the time of the 2018 election, Allen had worked for more than 20 years as a financial advisor.
In his June 2017 announcement that he would seek the governorship, Allen argued that the Democratic Party of California had not adequately addressed the state's challenges: "The California Democratic Party has offered solutions that don’t work and has increasingly become socialist in its nature, leaving Reagan Democrats and blue collar Californians far behind. Californians are looking for something different."[9] Allen's official campaign website described him as "a California small business owner and State Assemblyman, and most of all has a solid record of fighting for ordinary Californians."[10]
Allen received the endorsement of state Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey (R).
John Chiang
Chiang was elected to a four-year term as state treasurer in 2014. He had previously served two terms as state comptroller. Prior to that, Chiang served two terms on the state Board of Equalization. Before launching his political career, Chiang worked as an attorney specializing in tax law with the office of the state comptroller and the Internal Revenue Service.
In his May 2016 announcement that he would seek the governorship, Chiang touted his previous experience working with finances: "When you talk about the dream of California, you don't want a state that almost couldn't pay its bills a few years ago."[11] Chiang's campaign website cited his "proven track record of increasing transparency and accessibility in state government and holding government officials accountable when they refuse to do their job."[12] The website highlighted Chiang's positions on sexual harassment, housing, and education.
Chiang received endorsements from the California Association of Professional Employees and the Association of California State Supervisors.
John Cox
A graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago and ITT/Chicago Kent College of Law, Cox has worked in accounting, real estate, venture capital, and law. In the past, Cox has sought election to offices including the presidency, the U.S. Senate, and the U.S. House.
In his March 2017 announcement that he would seek the governorship, Cox argued that "there are two Californias – the one we have, and the one we could have. The California we have is in trouble, and we need to do something about it."[13] Cox's campaign website referred to a proposal Cox had drafted to reduce the size of the state's legislative districts so that each corresponded to a single neighborhood. The website argued that "that’s our best hope for putting our state back on the road to financial accountability, to getting government off the backs of the small businesses that create jobs and, and out of the pockets of those who today must often choose between buying groceries or filling their tank to get to work."[14] The website's policy page highlighted Cox's positions on immigration, firearms regulations, and property taxes.[15]
Cox received endorsements from President Trump (R), former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R), California Impact Republicans, and the California ProLife Council.
Delaine Eastin
Eastin was first elected to the California State Assembly in 1986 and served until her election as state superintendent in 1994. Eastin held that office until 2003. After leaving office, Eastin served as executive director of the National Institute for School Leadership and as a professor of educational leadership before founding an educational consulting firm in 2008.
In her November 2016 announcement that she would seek the governorship, Eastin identified education as the focus of her campaign, saying that she was "on fire to help kids get a quality education."[16] Eastin's campaign website highlighted her positions on education, the economy, and healthcare and argued that "California needs a visionary governor with a brass backbone, who isn’t afraid of bullies and will not kowtow to the rich and powerful."[17]
Eastin received endorsements from the San Francisco Berniecrats.
Gavin Newsom
Newsom was elected lieutenant governor in 2010 and was re-elected in 2014. Prior to that, he served as mayor of San Francisco from 2004 to 2010. Before his election as mayor, Newsom served on the city's Board of Supervisors and the Parking and Traffic Commission. Before launching his political career, Newsom worked in real estate and ran a wine business.
In his February 2015 announcement that he would seek the governorship, Newsom said that he was motivated by a desire "to try to do something meaningful and purposeful and help people do extraordinary things in their lives."[18] Newsom's campaign website highlighted his positions on the economy, education, and the environment and stated that he "is widely recognized for his bold willingness to lead – repeatedly developing, advocating, and implementing innovative and groundbreaking solutions to some of our most challenging issues."[19]
Newsom received endorsements from the California Nurses Association, the California Teachers Association, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D).
Antonio Villaraigosa
Villaraigosa served as mayor of Los Angeles between 2005 and 2013 and as a member of the California State Assembly between 1994 and 2000. Prior to launching his political career, Villaraigosa served as a community organizer and nonprofit leader, heading the American Civil Liberties Union's Southern California chapter.
In his November 2016 announcement that he would seek the governorship, Villaraigosa referred to the 2016 presidential election which had concluded earlier in the week: "I'm running because I think the answer to the divisiveness we see in the country right now is unity, and the answer to fear is hope."[20] On his campaign website, Villaraigosa stated that his goal if elected was "rebuilding our middle class by investing in our schools and repairing our infrastructure."[21] The website highlighted Villaraigosa's stances on the economy, education, and housing.
Villaraigosa received the endorsement of the Peace Officers Research Association of California.
List of all candidates
General election
- Gavin Newsom - Lieutenant Governor
- John Cox
Endorsements
| Primary candidate endorsements | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Endorsement | Date | Newsom (D) | Villaraigosa (D) | Chiang (D) | Eastin (D) | Cox (R) | Allen (R) |
| Federal officials | |||||||
| President Trump (R)[59] | May 19, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA)[60] | May 3, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)[61] | April 29, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA)[62] | February 27, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA)[63] | February 16, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA)[64] | February 1, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA)[65] | October 19, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA)[66] | August 29, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Brad Sherman (D-CA)[67] | August 22, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA)[68] | August 13, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Rep. Alan Lowenthal (D-CA)[69] | August 12, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| National figures | |||||||
| Activist Maria Elena Durazo (D)[70] | April 10, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-GA)[71] | March 12, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ)[72] | January 26, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| State figures | |||||||
| Businesswoman and 2010 gubernatorial nominee Meg Whitman (R)[73] | May 24, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Commissioner of Insurance Dave Jones (D)[74] | April 16, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. James Beall Jr. (D)[64] | February 1, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Ash Kalra (D)[64] | February 1, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Rep. Tony Coelho (D)[75] | December 13, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblywoman Shirley Weber (D)[76] | December 2, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Ian Calderon (D)[77] | November 27, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Secretary of State Alex Padilla[78] | October 26, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher (D)[79] | October 21, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California Board of Equalization Chairwoman Diane Harkey (R)[80] | October 21, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Bill Brough (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Phillip Chen (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Steven Choi (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman James Gallagher (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Matthew Harper (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Tom Lackey (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Jay Obernolte (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Jim Patterson (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Randy Voepel (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Joel Anderson (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Jeff Stone (R)[81] | October 10, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Steven Bradford (D)[82] | September 20, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| State Sen. Bob Wieckowski (D)[83] | July 3, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Eduardo Garcia (D)[84] | June 21, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Democratic Party of California Chairman John Burton (D)[85] | June 20, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D)[86] | February 7, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Assemblyman Dan Logue (R)[87] | Unknown | ✔ | |||||
| Local figures | |||||||
| Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley[88] | May 24, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn (D)[89] | May 14, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Former San Francisco Supervisor Tom Ammiano (D)[90] | May 8, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Former San Francisco Supervisor Harry Britt (D)[90] | May 8, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson[91] | May 3, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles County Supevisor Hilda Solis (D)[92] | April 5, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Jose City Councillor Raul Peralez[93] | April 2, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Jose City Councillor Chappie Jones[93] | April 2, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Jose City Councillor Sergio Jimenez[93] | April 2, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles City Councillor Curren Price (D)[94] | February 5, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles City Councillor Marqueece Harris-Dawson[94] | February 5, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo[95] | January 31, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (D)[96] | November 30, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg (D)[97] | November 27, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Los Angeles City Councillor Bob Blumenfield (D)[67] | August 22, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Former Long Beach Mayor Bob Foster (D)[69] | August 12, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Organizations | |||||||
| International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 47[98] | May 23, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California National Organization for Women[99] | May 15, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The San Diego Union-Tribune[100] | May 11, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The Los Angeles Times[101] | May 10, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The Santa Barbara Independent[102] | May 10, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The San Francisco Chronicle[103] | May 9, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce[104] | May 9, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Fontana Democratic Club[105] | May 8, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Republican Party of Santa Barbara County[106] | May 5, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Santa Cruz Sentinel[107] | May 5, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The San Francisco Bay Guardian[108] | May 2, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association[109] | April 30, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| The Mercury News and the East Bay Times[110] | April 28, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Kings County Republican Party[111] | April 27, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| African-American Farmers of California[112] | April 24, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Nisei Farmers League[113] | April 24, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Republican Party of Orange County[114] | April 18, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Silicon Valley Asian Pacific American Democratic Club[115] | April 13, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Labor Federation[116] | April 12, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Diegans for Secure Borders[117] | April 11, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| AAPI Democratic Club of San Diego[118] | April 2, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Charter Schools Association Advocates[119] | March 27, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Teamsters Joint Council 42[120] | March 14, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Service Employees International Union[121] | February 13, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Association of California State Supervisors[122] | February 7, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Equality California[123] | January 30, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Burbank Democratic Club[124] | January 29, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Professional Firefighters[125] | January 19, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Peace Officers Research Association of California[126] | January 11, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| California Pro-Life Democrats[127] | January 10, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| San Francisco Berniecrats[128] | January 4, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
| Teamsters Joint Council 7[129] | December 8, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs[130] | December 1, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| Laborers' International Union of North America[131] | November 1, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California Teachers Association[132] | October 21, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| National Union of Healthcare Workers[133] | October 18, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California ProLife Council[134] | October 17, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California Association of Professional Employees[135] | June 22, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California Impact Republicans[136] | April 23, 2017 | ✔ | |||||
| California Nurses Association[137] | December 2, 2015 | ✔ | |||||
| Silicon Valley Association of Republican Women[138] | February 18, 2018 | ✔ | |||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
| California Governor's Race, Top-Two Primary, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Gavin Newsom (D) | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | John Chiang (D) | Travis Allen (R) | John Cox (R) | Delaine Eastin (D) | Amanda Renteria (D) | Robert Newman (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | ||||||||
| University of California at Berkeley (May 22-28, 2018) | 33% | 13% | 7% | 12% | 20% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 13% | +/-3.5 | 2,106 | ||||||||
| SurveyUSA (May 21, 2018) | 33% | 8% | 10% | 12% | 17% | 2% | 0% | 1% | 15% | +/-6.1 | 678 | ||||||||
| SurveyUSA (April 19-23, 2018) | 21% | 18% | 9% | 10% | 15% | 1% | 3% | 4% | 18% | +/-5.5 | 520 | ||||||||
| AVERAGES | 29% | 13% | 8.67% | 11.33% | 17.33% | 2.33% | 1% | 1.67% | 15.33% | +/-5.03 | 1,101.33 | ||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| California Governor's Race, Top-Two Primary, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Gavin Newsom (D) | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | Travis Allen (R) | John Chiang (D) | John Cox (R) | Delaine Eastin (D) | Doug Ose (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California (March 25, 2018 - April 3, 2018) | 26% | 13% | 10% | 7% | 15% | 6% | 0% | 23% | +/-3.2 | 1,704 | |||||||||
| Public Policy Institute of California (March 4-13, 2018) | 28% | 12% | 10% | 6% | 14% | 5% | 0% | 24% | +/-3.4 | 1,706 | |||||||||
| David Binder Research for Newsom (January 31 - February 4, 2018) | 30% | 11% | 4% | 11% | 7% | 4% | 4% | 29% | +/-3.5 | 800 | |||||||||
| PPIC (January 21-30, 2018) | 23% | 21% | 8% | 9% | 7% | 4% | 3% | 25% | +/-4.35 | 1,042 | |||||||||
| UC Berkeley (December 7-16, 2017) | 23% | 19% | 7% | 5% | 9% | 4% | 0% | 33% | +/-3.8 | 1,000 | |||||||||
| USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times (October 27 - November 6, 2017) | 31% | 21% | 15% | 12% | 11% | 4% | 0% | 6% | +/-3.0 | 1,504 | |||||||||
| AVERAGES | 26.83% | 16.17% | 9% | 8.33% | 10.5% | 4.5% | 1.17% | 23.33% | +/-3.54 | 1,292.67 | |||||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| California Governor's Race, Top-two primary, 2018 (no margin of error information) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Gavin Newsom (D) | John Cox (R) | Travis Allen (R) | John Chiang (D) | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | Delaine Eastin (D) | Amanda Renteria (D) | Undecided/Other | Sample Size | ||||||||||
| David Binder Research for Newsom (March 16-21, 2018) | 29% | 16% | 13% | 9% | 7% | 2% | 2% | 22% | 1,750 | ||||||||||
| Note: A "0%" finding means the candidate was not a part of the poll. The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
| California Governor's Race, Top-two primary, 2018 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poll | Gavin Newsom (D) | Antonio Villaraigosa (D) | John Cox (R) | John Chiang (D) | Travis Allen (R) | Delaine Eastin (D) | Robert Newman (R) | Yvonne Girard (R) | Robert Kleinberger (R) | Undecided/Other | Margin of error | Sample size | |||||||
| SurveyUSA (March 22-25, 2018) | 22% | 14% | 11% | 9% | 7% | 3% | 3% | 2% | 2% | 27% | +/-5.0 | 517 | |||||||
| Note: The polls above may not reflect all polls that have been conducted in this race. Those displayed are a random sampling chosen by Ballotpedia staff. If you would like to nominate another poll for inclusion in the table, send an email to editor@ballotpedia.org. | |||||||||||||||||||
Context of the 2018 election
- Heading into the election, the governor was Jerry Brown (D). Brown was first elected in 1974, before being re-elected in 1978, 2010, and 2014. Brown was prevented by term limits from seeking re-election.
- California is currently a Democratic trifecta. It has held this status since Brown took office in 2011. California is currently a Democratic triplex.
- The Democratic presidential candidate has won California in each of the past five election cycles. The widest margin of victory was Hillary Clinton's 30 percent margin in 2016 while the narrowest was John Kerry's ten percent margin in 2004.
- California was one of 36 states that held an election for governor in 2018. Democrats gained seven previously Republican-held seats, and Republicans gained one previously independent-held seat. Heading into the 2018 elections, there were 16 Democratic governors, 33 Republican governors, and one independent governor. In 2018, 26 of the 33 states with a Republican governor held a gubernatorial election, while nine out of the 16 states with a Democratic governor held a gubernatorial election. Seventeen of the 36 seats up for election were open seats (four Democratic, 12 Republican, and one independent), meaning that the sitting governor was not seeking re-election. Click here for more information on other 2018 gubernatorial elections.
Debates and forums
April 29 debate
A debate was held on April 29, 2018, between Travis Allen (R), John Chiang (D), John Cox (R), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D).[139]
March 26 debate
A debate was held on March 26, 2018, between Travis Allen (R), John Chiang (D), John Cox (R), Delaine Eastin (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D).[140]
March 25 candidate forum
A candidate forum was held on March 25, 2018, between Travis Allen (R), John Cox (R), Delaine Eastin (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D).[141]
March 14 Republican candidate forum
A candidate forum was held on March 14, 2018, between Travis Allen (R) and John Cox (R).[142]
February 13 Democratic candidate forum
A candidate forum focusing on issues impacting African American women was held in Sacramento on February 13, 2018. The three candidates in attendance were John Chiang (D), Delaine Eastin (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D). The Los Angeles Times reported that the candidates "aligned on nearly every issue" and emphasized their previous hiring practices.[143]
February 6 Democratic candidate forum
On February 6, 2018, three of the then-declared Democratic candidates attended a candidate forum in Los Angeles. John Chiang (D), Delaine Eastin (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D) discussed environmental policy at the forum. Chiang argued that it was important that government agencies receive regular environmental audits, claiming that this would improve environmental conditions for low-income families. Eastin contended that it was important for the state to increase education funding and called for state-funded tuition programs for university students and the repeal of a law which limits the state's ability to regulate local rent control ordinances. Villaraigosa argued in favor of the construction of an aquifer in the Mojave Desert and stated that he had a long record of support for initiatives which protected the environment.[144]
February 6 Republican candidate forum
On February 6, 2018, three of the then-declared Republican candidates attended a candidate forum hosted by the San Francisco Chronicle. Travis Allen (R), John Cox (R), and Doug Ose (R) agreed on a variety of issues, including immigration, environmental policy, education, and healthcare. The candidates also discussed support for President Trump (R), with Allen and Ose each contending that they had supported the president more during the 2016 election. Cox stated that although he had not voted for Trump in 2016, he was pleased with the president's first term in office.[145]
January 30 candidate forum
On January 30, 2018, four of the then-declared candidates attended a candidate forum sponsored by NARAL Pro-Choice California. John Chiang (D), Delaine Eastin (D), Gavin Newsom (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D) attended the forum. John Cox (R) and Travis Allen (R) were invited but did not attend. The primary topic of discussion at the forum was access to abortion. All four participants expressed their support for access to morning-after contraceptives on college campuses, allowing birth control to be sold over the counter, and increased penalties for activist groups representing themselves as clinics. The four also criticized sitting Gov. Jerry Brown (D) for his veto of a bill that would prohibit companies from firing workers for giving birth while unmarried or receiving an abortion.[146]
January 13 candidate forum
On January 13, 2018, six of the then-declared candidates attended a candidate forum at the University of Southern California. Travis Allen (R), John Chiang (D), John Cox (R), Delaine Eastin (D), Gavin Newsom (D), and Antonio Villaraigosa (D) discussed a variety of issues, including healthcare and immigration.
Much of the discussion on healthcare revolved around a proposal to implement a single-payer healthcare system in the state. Eastin and Newsom were in favor of the proposal, with the latter arguing that "I’ll be the governor who achieves it for California." Villaraigosa stated that while he supported the idea in theory "we’ve got to address the fact it’s going to cost $400 billion." His position was echoed by Chiang, who asked Newsom "what percentage are you going to increase payroll taxes to pay for single payer?” Allen and Cox argued against the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system, with Allen arguing that "single payer as championed by Gavin Newsom would bankrupt the state in the first six months." Cox echoed Allen, arguing that healthcare could be better provided by the free market.
On immigration, the four Democratic candidates in attendance expressed their support for measures which would allow children who entered the country without legal permission to remain and for the state's status as a sanctuary state. Allen argued that the state should reverse its sanctuary policy while Cox argued in favor of the construction of a wall along the southern border.[147]
January 4 candidate forum
On January 4, 2018, the Redlands Tea Party Patriots hosted a candidate forum between two of the declared Republican candidates. Travis Allen and John Cox voiced agreement on most of the issues raised in the forum, calling for a decreased cost of living, decreased home costs, and the repeal of a recent increase in the state's tax on gasoline. However, the two were in disagreement on their records. Cox argued that he would perform better among voters who were not members of the Republican Party, while Allen countered that Cox's previous campaigns for public office had all been unsuccessful.[148]
October 24 candidate forum
On October 24, 2017, the San Francisco Chronicle hosted a candidate forum between four of the declared Democratic candidates. Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, John Chiang, and Delaine Eastin agreed on many of the issues raised at the forum but, as in the October 22 event, disagreed on healthcare. As in the previous forum, Newsom called for the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system in California, arguing that it was an achievable goal for the state. Eastin also called for a single-payer healthcare system, supporting a bill that had been tabled by the California State Assembly earlier in the year. Villaraigosa and Chiang expressed support for a single-payer healthcare system but raised concerns over the cost of implementation.[149]
October 22 candidate forum
On October 22, 2017, the National Union of Healthcare Workers hosted a candidate forum between four of the declared Democratic candidates. Gavin Newsom, Antonio Villaraigosa, John Chiang, and Delaine Eastin agreed on a range of issues including immigration and housing but presented differing policy proposals on healthcare. Newsom and Eastin called for the implementation of a single-payer healthcare system, while Villaraigosa stated that he had doubts about the state's ability to fund a single-payer healthcare system. Chiang argued in favor of a transition towards a single-payer system but stressed that the switch need not be immediate.[150]
Race ratings
- See also: Race rating definitions and methods
| Race ratings: California gubernatorial election, 2018 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Race tracker | Race ratings | ||||||||
| November 5, 2018 | October 30, 2018 | October 23, 2018 | October 16, 2018 | ||||||
| The Cook Political Report | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | Solid Democratic | |||||
| Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | Safe Democratic | |||||
| Note: Ballotpedia updates external race ratings every two weeks throughout the election season. | |||||||||
Campaign tactics and strategies
Campaign advertisements
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Online presence
| Candidate | Followers | Likes | Comments on Last Ten Posts | Followers | Following | Tweets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen |
452,842 | 446,786 | 20.8K | 13,582 | 751 | 779 |
| Chiang |
73,957 | 73,589 | 195 | 12,311 | 6,998 | 2,520 |
| Cox |
178,866 | 178,370 | 1,458 | 4,084 | 831 | 784 |
| Eastin |
13,625 | 13,279 | 67 | 4,004 | 1,395 | 1,415 |
| Newsom |
853,120 | 609,774 | 15.0K | 1,495,898 | 23,876 | 10,054 |
| Villaraigosa |
108,805 | 108,177 | 280 | 17,291 | 1,275 | 2,267 |
Tweets by Travis Allen Tweets by John Chiang Tweets by John Cox Tweets by Delaine Eastin Tweets by Gavin Newsom Tweets by Antonio Villaraigosa
Noteworthy events
Republican Party convention
The Republican Party of California voted not to endorse any candidate at its statewide convention on May 6, 2018. John Cox (R) receieved 55 percent of the endorsement vote while Travis Allen (R) receieved 41 percent. Candidates were required to receive 60 percent of the vote in order to secure the party's endorsement.[151]
Democratic Party convention
The Democratic Party of California voted not to endorse any candidate at its statewide convention on February 24, 2018. The candidate to receive the largest share of the endorsement vote was Gavin Newsom (D) with 39 percent, followed by John Chiang (D) at 30 percent, Delaine Eastin (D) with 20 percent, and Antonio Villaraigosa (D) with 9 percent.[152]
Establishment of Villaraigosa Governor of California 2018 super PAC
On January 12, 2018, the Villaraigosa Governor of California 2018 super PAC was established in support of the candidacy of Antonio Villaraigosa (D). As a super PAC, the group had the ability to raise an unlimited amount of funds but could not coordinate with the Villaraigosa campaign. Among the staffers hired by the committee were former Obama campaign spokesman and Priorities USA co-founder Bill Burton, former Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton strategist Joel Benenson, and former Gavin Newsom consultant Tracy Austin.[153]
Campaign finance
Satellite spending
Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa
Families & Teachers for Antonio Villaraigosa was an independent expenditure group associated with the California Charter Schools Association Advocates that was created to support Antonio Villaraigosa (D) in the 2018 gubernatorial election. Among the group's major donors were Netflix chief executive officer Reed Hastings, who contributed $7 million and philanthropist Eli Broad and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I), who contributed $2.5 million each.[154] As of May 29, 2018, the group had spent $15 million in support of Villaraigosa's candidacy, $1.7 million to oppose John Cox (R), $500,000 to oppose Gavin Newsom (D), and $260,000 to support Travis Allen (R).[155]
Campaign themes and policy stances
Travis Allen
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California Must Cut Taxes California Must Get Tough on Crime California Must Fix our Roads and Reduce Traffic California Must Once Again Provide the Best Education in the Country California Must Complete the State Water Project |
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| —Travis Allen for Governor[157] | ||
John Chiang
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Policy for Preventing Sexual Harassment and Assault AS GOVERNOR I PLEDGE TO:
Affordable Housing and Solutions for Homelessness Every Californian has a right to an affordable, decent place to call home. Within the decade, my goal is to place a roof over the heads of an additional four million low- and moderate-income Californians by investing additional public resources into affordable housing production and doubling local government permitting activity for all types of housing.
HERE’S HOW WE GET THERE:
New Funding for Housing Next, we’ll increase dedicated affordable housing resources by resurrecting and re-imagining local redevelopment programs so they actually serve the intended purposes of economic development and the elimination of blight, rather than serve as slush funds for local politicians to dole out. Importantly, I will dedicate 35 percent of property tax increment to low- and moderate-income housing. Encourage Responsible Local Housing Policies We need to put an end to “fiscalized land uses” and exclusionary local zoning policies. This can be accomplished by creating a system of “carrots” and “sticks” to incentivize cities and counties to increase housing production, including:
Address Homelessness Cities like San Francisco have tried and failed to properly address homelessness, with outrageous policies like criminalizing begging and sleeping on the streets. Not only does it not help the homeless and not help the city, but it doesn’t reflect who we are as compassionate people. Rapid rehousing and prevention are the two most successful and cost-efficient ways at helping individuals and families escape homelessness. Studies show that families that are rapidly rehoused when they face homelessness are more likely to stay in a home 12 months later than families who have to rely on temporary shelter. I want to prevent chronic homelessness by creating a statewide rapid rehousing program to mitigate situations that lead to homelessness and shelter those in immediate need. Such a program could include financial assistance with security and utility deposits, rental assistance for 3 to 18 months, assistance with paying utility bills, moving cost assistance, and emergency vouchers for motels or hotels. Prevention also depends on addressing the underlying issues of why people are facing homelessness. I support investments in job placement programs, life-skills training, transportation assistance, and access to quality affordable health care and mental health. When you combine these services with rapid rehousing, individuals have the tools and the resources to escape homelessness. Provide Incentives to Encourage Multi-Family Housing I want to spur the production of mixed-income rental housing with full or partial property tax exemptions to developers of market-rate housing that include at least 20 percent affordable units. Since the early 1970s the City of New York has been very successful at spurring production of such housing through its property tax incentive programs. California needs smart and creative solutions like this to encourage developers to meet our housing needs. Cabinet-Level Secretary of Housing As governor, I will create a Housing Czar position within the Governor’s Office to coordinate state, regional, and local efforts to increase housing production, address affordability, and end homelessness. This person will have the authority and the expertise to provide strong leadership on this vital issue to make sure California is tackling this issue with urgency. Road Map for Education We need to do everything possible to look holistically at ways to improve our education system so every student has an opportunity to achieve their dreams. Shatter the Political Ceiling Proposition 30, and its extension, has helped some, yet California still lags far behind the national average in per pupil expenditures. We simply must invest more in education. It is also clear that local communities are willing to pay for better schools. The overwhelming success of local school bonds is testament to the fact voters recognize the tremendous unmet need. But building new schools is pointless if we don’t have the money to operate them. School districts or local communities should be empowered with the ability to raise revenues to meet their unique education needs, whether it be funding for educators and classified employees, school supplies or operating costs. We should reinforce the voters’ wise decision to lower the vote for local school construction funding from two-thirds to 55 percent by empowering communities to raise funds for their school budgets in the same manner. The Teacher Shortage: Obtain, Train, Retrain We must expand our efforts to address growing teacher shortages—especially in the areas of STEM, special education, and ESL—by offering student loan forgiveness, helping classified employees earn their bachelor and teaching degrees, recruiting students out of high school to pursue teaching careers, and offering proven residency and mentoring programs that both improve teaching performance and dramatically increase retention rates. Empower the Professionals We should embrace the practices of California’s world class public universities and establish Academic Senates in school districts to allow teachers to share in decision-making over textbooks, curriculum, in-service training, the hiring of principals and other critical policies. We also must protect the collective bargaining rights of our educators, classified employees, professors, early childhood educators and child care providers. It is critically important that the people who interact with our students and children every day have a seat at the table and a voice on the job to advocate for the best conditions possible for our children to learn. The Smartest Investment California faces a critical shortage of affordable, high-quality child care. More than one million families currently qualify for subsidized child care, yet the state only serves 28 percent of those in need. For these families, child care is an absolute necessity in order to provide for their families. It is critically important that California address this economic justice issue. We must work together to build a high quality, affordable child care system that addresses the needs of working families while ensuring our children have the solid foundations they need to succeed in kindergarten. We must also increase both the quantity and quality of California’s early childhood education programs and assure free access for all working families. We also know that small class sizes are the key to improving student learning. We need to expand the Class Size Reduction program so our students have every opportunity to learn. Leveling the Playing Field for All Students We must level the playing field for all students by making SAT/ACT preparation available to all public high school students as an elective class. Conditions of Children Matter, a Lot To reclaim the promise of quality education, we must ensure that children and their families have access to wraparound services to meet their social, emotional and health needs. California Road Map for Affordable and Accessible Higher Education When California originally adopted its Master Plan for Higher Education in 1960, it expressed the intent that higher education “remain accessible, affordable, high-quality and accountable” (Legislative Analyst’s Office, 2004). In recent decades, however, the State of California has throttled down its investment in higher education. Higher education’s falling share of the state budget has meant increased costs for students and their families, larger class sizes, and an ongoing challenge to community colleges, CSUs, and UCs to maintain the quality of instruction that has made California a model for the rest of the world. As a result, over the past 20 years, tuition has tripled for UC and CSU undergraduate students. With room, board, and books, the cost for an in-state UC undergraduate student can now top $30,000 each year. What’s just as bad is that California students have to worry about the crippling costs if they are one of the limited few who can access a spot in our CSU or UC systems. The “fiscalization” of higher education policy has meant that more qualified California students are being turned away in favor of out-of-state students, who pay significantly higher tuition rates. Those who do find a spot are more often taught by lecturers instead of tenured professors, while tenured professors are increasingly told to devote more of their time to research over teaching. We know the lack of affordability and accessibility has the potential to create dire consequences for our economy. Some experts predict California will fall about 1.1 million college graduates short of economic demand by 2030, if current trends persist. If California is to keep its place as the sixth largest economy in the world, we need to be training Californians to fill the jobs of tomorrow. Now is the time to renew our promise to California’s students and restore the original goals of the Master Plan. Returning to Our Community College Roots For generations, California’s community colleges were free, giving all people the opportunity to obtain higher education. But beginning in 1984, the state began charging enrollment fees for community colleges. Since that time enrollment fees have increased more than 800 percent. This is particularly tragic for California workers, who are displaced by economic upheavals and turn to community colleges for retraining. Cities and states across the nation are jumping on board and are finding innovative solutions to provide two free years of community college. California needs to find a way to get to that place, where we make community college free for two years, while ensuring students are on the right path through participation and graduation. Rolling Back Tuition and Fee Increases I am calling on the CSU and UC systems to delay any consideration of tuition or fee increases until at least 2019. I understand, better than most, that our colleges and universities have balance sheets to fulfill, and that the state has cut per pupil funding for decades. But I also understand that the rate at which tuition and fees have increased is unsustainable and a disservice to our students. 2009 was the year the dam broke. In the wake of the recession, budget cuts forced California’s colleges and universities to begin imposing massive tuition and fee increases. It was in that year alone that the CSU Board of Trustees voted to hike fees by 10 percent. Not to be undone, the UC Board of Regents later that year approved an astonishing 32 percent fee increase for undergraduate students. In the years that have followed, tuition and fees have increased several more times, pushing the promise of an affordable education even farther out of reach for many students. Over the course of the next 10 years, I am committed to reducing tuition and student fees for our UC and CSU systems, both for undergraduate and graduate students, to their pre-2009 fee hike levels. This isn’t going to be easy, but you can trust that I am committed to this cause and will use the same creative and effective strategies for maximizing state resources that I have demonstrated in my 20 years as a state constitutional officer. Investing in Our Students and Demanding Accountability As governor, I will significantly increase the state’s investment in higher education, and I will vigorously pursue a dedicated or otherwise reliable source of funding for higher education. We can’t continue to subject higher education to the whims of our budget negotiation process. I believe the state budget should reflect our values and priorities, and that means we must restore our promise to our colleges and universities. But revenue is only one side of the equation. We also must make sure we’re using that money wisely. We need to establish further efficiencies in the ways the CSU and UC systems spend their resources. As state treasurer and previously as state controller, I understand the importance of auditing. We must demand real accountability from the CSU Board of Trustees and the UC Board of Regents, in exchange for our investments to ensure that their plans have the students’ best interests at heart. Simultaneously, we must hold our institutions accountable for improved results, including time to degree, responding to the needs of increasingly diverse student bodies, lowering student debt, and addressing the projected gap between future workforce needs and the number of expected graduates. Finally, we need to ensure we’re doing everything possible to maximize revenue at our UC system without sacrificing educational quality. We should consider additional entrepreneurial ventures to maximize revenue opportunities, including capitalizing on the UC system’s status as the top university system across the country that is granted patents in the United States. Putting California's Students First The Board of Regents approved a policy in 2017 that capped non-resident enrollment at five UC campuses at 18 percent. This policy also allowed UC Berkeley, UCLA, UC Irvine, and UC San Diego, which — at the time had non-resident enrollment rates higher than 18 percent — to be capped at the proportion that each campus enrolled in the 2017–18 academic year. Let me be clear, this cap isn’t nearly good enough. Our tax dollars are funding these institutions, and they should be supporting California’s students. As governor, I’ll go back to the Regents and demand a better deal that ensures Californians are our first priority when it comes to enrollment. Affordability Not Profitability We must take steps to address the unsustainable increase in California state tuition, but, in the meantime, we must also incentivize families to establish a college savings account for every child by enacting refundable tax credits or by providing other incentives to families. I already started this work as treasurer when I unveiled a new Matching Grant Program — in partnership with ScholarShare 529 — to help low- and moderate-income California families jumpstart saving for college. As governor, I will do more to give families these kinds of tools to save. We also know that a growing number of students are graduating with over-burdensome debt, depressing their entire economic future. Fewer college graduates can afford to buy a home, start a family, or save for retirement. As treasurer, I sponsored SB 674 — the RELIEF Act — which would allow borrowers with high-interest private student loans to refinance at lower rates. As governor, I am committed to helping our students refinance their loans so they have an opportunity to pursue their dreams without falling into economic hardship. Finally, we need to address underlying factors that have put stress on our education system — an unfair economy that has left the middle class behind; the inability of students and families to afford textbooks, supplies, food, and housing; threats to public education funding from Washington, DC; affordable health care; financial aid, and so much more. As California’s controller and treasurer, I’ve stood up and fought for California’s students and working families. I am now the only candidate you can trust to act with honesty and integrity, and who will stand up to Donald Trump’s war on public education. California Road Map for Affordable and Accessible Health Care This monumental, but necessary challenge is going to take a leader who understands our state’s finances in and out, because if you can’t manage a budget, you’re not going to get single-payer passed. We also need a leader who has worked creatively to come up with solutions to our health care needs in the past. When our state saw Californians retiring without any savings, I helped create Secure Choice — a retirement plan that is set to herald in the most significant change to retirement savings since Social Security was enacted in the 1930s, by helping up to 7.5 million Californians retire with dignity and respect, with almost no cost to the state. When Congress tried to take an ax to the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and put our state’s health clinics in jeopardy, I found $20 million and came up with the idea for ‘lifeline grants,’ to keep these community health clinics’ doors open. I not only have a record of finding solutions to the complex logistical problems, but the complex budgetary problems facing our state’s health care system. I am the only candidate Californians can trust to manage our state’s finances and get us to single-payer responsibly. As governor, Californians will have access to the quality, affordable medical care they not only need, but deserve. Protecting Our Care In addition to the sheer number of people with coverage, the quality of coverage has dramatically improved as well. Plans are required to cover essential health benefits, including mental health and substance abuse services, maternity care, prescription drugs, and emergency services. No one can be denied coverage or charged more for having a pre-existing condition, and insurance companies can no longer impose lifetime or yearly limits on coverage. These benefits have saved millions of lives. Unfortunately, the progress we’ve made under the ACA is under attack. When Congress last year attacked Obamacare and clinics like Planned Parenthood, I took bold action. I came up with the idea for ‘lifeline grants’ — so California’s 1,200 community health clinics could keep their doors open — because these clinics are critical for providing health care services to local communities. As governor, I will stand up to those in Washington who would roll back the gains we have made or threaten our coverage and care. We will protect access to health care for all Californians and lead the charge for the rest of the country, to ensure we don’t lose ground. Medicare for All I support Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All plan at the national level and will do everything in my power as governor to support its passage. This bill will ensure that every single American has access to Medicare’s guarantee of quality health care — including preventative services to find and treat health issues early — in their local community. Moving California Forward While Congress debates Medicare for All, California should move forward with establishing a single-payer health care system and focus on two of the most important components of what people support in a single-payer system: universal coverage and reigning in skyrocketing health care costs, including premiums and deductibles. We must also provide assistance with affordability as soon as possible to guarantee that no Californian spends more than a certain percentage of their income on their health care coverage. We can also pass other structural steps to a single-payer system now, like providing a public option, without federal approval. Mental and behavioral health must continue to be an integral part of any plan moving forward. The Affordable Care Act guaranteed that all plans cover mental health and substance abuse services as essential health benefits. We must continue to make improvements to guarantee equal and timely access to quality and affordable care. Taming Costs and Paying for Outcomes The fastest way to reduce the state’s health care costs is by helping people stay healthy, and reducing the number of people with preventable, chronic conditions, like diabetes and heart disease. We must strive to make California the healthiest state in the nation. We need to make sure our children get a healthy start: that they have safe places to live; access to affordable and healthy food in their neighborhoods; safe places to play and exercise; clean, breathable air, and clean water to drink. Californians must have access to basic primary care and mental health services so we can help people avoid illnesses, control chronic conditions, and detect problems before they escalate into major medical issues. Even when we do that, we’re still left with the remnants of a complicated and elaborate fee-for- service model of medicine that drives up costs. We currently pay for every procedure done by a medical professional. This system creates incentives for more tests, procedures, and surgeries. This makes medical care much more expensive than it should be. We should be rewarding the quality and efficiency of medical care, not the quantity of procedures. We need to create incentives for keeping people healthy, not just treating them when they are injured or sick. The only way to assure our health care system places patients before profits is to tie patient health outcomes to reimbursements. In other words, the healthier the patient, the fewer the errors, the fewer the hospital complications, and the higher the patient satisfaction, which all leads to the system being reimbursed. This is especially important in the area of mental health. Primary care physicians, who may be the first ones to recognize a mental health problem, often can’t take the time to properly diagnose and treat issues. There are economic incentives to keep office visits short and to maximize the number of patients seen. Often, the treatment of mental health problems must compete with other medical issues, such as treating chronic illnesses or providing preventative health services. There should be economic incentives for identifying and creating integrated care plans for mental health treatment. Finally, we must also address concerns over the cost of prescription drugs. In the richest country on earth, people shouldn’t have to forgo prescribed medicine because the cost is too high. California has already taken an important step in addressing this issue by making drug prices, for both public and private health plans, more transparent. However, we must enact pharmaceutical price controls if we want to stop price gauging and assure that providers are prescribing drugs that have the greatest benefit, the safest track record, and offer the best value. We can move now on many of these necessary proposals without waiting for the federal action we’ll need to help finance a single-payer system, but it will take a leader with the a record of coming up with creative solutions to our financial and logistical health care hurdles. California will lead on the important issue of single-payer, and I am committed to getting us there. California Road Map for Clean Air and Livable Earth While we may have a president in the White House who doesn’t believe in climate change, an EPA Administrator who is dead set on killing the EPA, and an Interior Secretary who doesn’t care about our public lands, California can still stand up to President Trump and his Administration, and lead the way. California must continue to push a progressive vision for tackling climate change: we are building infrastructure to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, we have introduced groundbreaking policies to reduce pollution from industries and vehicles, and California remains the global center of electric vehicle and renewable energy innovation. Despite these impressive efforts, we can and must do more to protect this world for future generations. As governor, I will ensure that California continues to take bold action to clean our air, slow climate change, and green our economy. We must set bold new clean energy goals. We must focus our attention and resources on cleaning up communities that have been marginalized in this debate for decades. And we must find the resources to make these goals a reality. Cleaner Air for a Healthier Tomorrow Cleaning up the transportation sector would go a long way toward solving California’s air pollution challenges. In 2012, Governor Brown issued an executive order setting a goal of bringing 1.5 million zero-emissions vehicles onto California’s roads by 2025. This should be considered just the first step in eliminating all fossil-fuel cars sold in California. Zero-emission vehicle technology is already advancing by leaps and bounds, far faster than anticipated. If California wants to take itself off the list of worst air polluters in the United States, no new fossil-fuel cars should be sold in the state by 2035. If technological innovation again beats forecasts, we should move that date up. We can provide healthier air and a brighter future for our children with California-based innovation. Raising the Bar on Renewable Energy The strongest single step we can take as a state is to set a bold, new standard for our energy usage. California should utilize 100 percent renewable and carbon-free energy by 2045. While powering the most populous and prosperous state in the country on 100 percent renewables is ambitious, it’s also achievable. The technology exists and the costs are coming down. In order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, we must keep pushing to transition our economy to one that is powered by clean, green energy. When investing in this transition, we must ensure that that we are giving due consideration to underserved communities where we can make the biggest impact. Leading by Example While the state and cities across California have enacted strong energy efficiency measures, more still needs to be done. The best way to leap forward is to lead by example. As governor, I’ll push to immediately make all new state building construction carbon neutral. This means combining highly efficient buildings with renewable on-site or procured power. And by 2030, all legacy state buildings should be retrofitted to be carbon neutral. It’s imperative that we slash greenhouse gases if we are going to slow the effects of climate change; and what better place to show how serious our state government is than by starting with our own buildings. Environmental Justice That’s why I stood with Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE) and voted against building a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Cabrillo Port, off the coast of Oxnard, as a State Lands Commissioner. We can’t continue to punish communities of color with detrimental environment votes. In the past, lobbyists have directed investments away from disadvantaged communities, but those practices must end. California must prioritize the projects that will bring real improvements to those communities that need it the most, and we need to do it now. While working to improve our state’s air quality, we must ensure that local communities are always part of the decision-making process. We need to offer meaningful opportunities for input on environmental justice issues and offer real remedies to concerns. We should be working towards cleaner air and a more livable earth for ALL communities, no matter their zip code. Unleashing Green Bonds I have been our state’s leading voice for “green bonds” to finance our transition to a green economy. A green bond is a form of public or private-sector debt used to finance climate-friendly and environmental projects — including renewable energy, energy efficient products, clean transportation, reforestation, water management, pollution control, seawall construction, and so much more. What’s more is that green bonds have a ready-made investor base of individuals attracted to environmentally friendly products. The need for action is urgent. We should accelerate the maturation of the U.S. green bond market to unleash a torrent of new, affordable capital to finance the conversion from a fossil-fuel based economy and infrastructure to cleaner alternatives. California has a proud history of being a grand laboratory that has produced environmental policies that have gone on to be adopted by countries around the world. Now more than ever, California must take swift, bold action to clean our air, slow climate change and green our economy.[156] |
” |
| —John Chiang for California[158] | ||
John Cox
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Once the land of promise and opportunity, California today is on the brink of financial insolvency, thanks to the failed policies of the Liberal Democrats and the timidity of “me-too” Republicans.
It’s time to fight back, not by trying to out-spend and out-tax the Democrats, but by taking our government back. The only possible way to rescue California from a likely financial melt-down is to unshackle small business, roll back oppressive regulations and focus on economic growth. I’m a businessman, not a politician. I have a 35 year conservative record and have a plan to end the corrupting influence of special interest money in Sacramento. We will clean out the barn and I need your help to do that! If you agree that it’s time to fight back – and I hope that you do – then I urge you to join Team Cox today. [156] |
” |
| —John Cox for Governor[159] | ||
Delaine Eastin
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Climate Change & Environmental Justice The plain fact is that the window of opportunity for responding to this crisis is rapidly closing. Unfortunately, transitioning to renewable power won’t be enough to intercept runaway climate change. We need more effective action now, within the next 10 years, to reduce the excess heat that is driving global climate change. This action should focus not just on carbon dioxide, but also methane, black carbon, and ozone in the troposphere, which together are responsible for nearly as much of this heat as carbon dioxide. And this needs to be done far more cost-effectively through actions that deliver the biggest bang for the buck. Delaine is the only candidate for governor with a comprehensive plan to face this challenge head on, based on the latest climate science.
As governor, Delaine will form a Task Force led by leading climate scientists to evaluate all of our options based on the latest science to determine which approaches will be most successful and most cost-effective. Environmental Justice
Delaine has been a leader on environmental issues since she got her start on the City Council in Union City. The Council discovered that PG&E had a large PCB storage yard in Union City. PG&E had received a permit from the state without informing the Council. The City Council sued PG&E to remove the storage yard and PG&E counter sued each Councilmember in order to intimidate them. One Councilmember changed his vote. Delaine hired a private attorney and stuck to her guns. Eventually, Union City won the lawsuit and the PCB storage yard was removed. As an Assemblymember, Delaine wrote AB 2448, the Landfill Cleanup Bill, which added a tipping fee on garbage, incentivizing recycling on the statewide-wide level as mounting evidence of huge amounts of migrating methane were leaving old garbage dumps and groundwater was being polluted by these same dumps. She also carried a series of bills to promote recycling, including requiring bottle manufacturers to use a minimum content of recycled glass when making a bottle in California. Delaine carried a bill to ban the dumping of appliances in landfills because their chemicals were leaching into groundwater in various locations around our state. Criminal Justice & Prison Reform We must end the War on Drugs in California and begin to treat all addiction, not just alcohol and opioids, as a mental health issue. We need to improve police training, end cash bail, stop prosecuting teenagers as adults, and end mandatory enhancements and minimums that provide no discretion to judges. We must provide rehabilitative services to those that are in prison, and job opportunities and housing access when they leave so they have the opportunity to support themselves. Delaine believes that we should look to Europe and create prisons more like rehabilitation centers, and train guards less as wardens and more on trauma-informed care and support, which would also create a less stressful, more satisfying and productive situation for those who are in prison and those who are responsible for their care. Delaine opposes the death penalty. Fundamentally, to fight crime, we must invest in education, as every major study shows our prisons are filled with people who are illiterate or near illiterate. They should not have to wait to get to prison to receive an education. We need to provide scaffolding for vulnerable children as they are growing up. We must focus on our poorest children who have the least access to support services in our starving schools, on our foster children and our incarcerated youth, so that we short circuit the school to prison pipeline. Delaine currently serves on the Board of Yolo County's Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) to help Foster Youth. During her time as a Community College Professor, Delaine taught a semester at the Youth Authority in Ventura. Economy & Jobs Over the decades, workers have seen reduced or stagnated compensation, all while living costs such as housing, healthcare, childcare and education have skyrocketed. This is unsustainable. California must have a full court press on the issues of income inequality. This means working to lift wages, pay equity for women, helping families secure affordable housing, childcare and preschool that doesn’t cost the same as a mortgage, healthcare for all, providing excellent k-12 education and free college tuition again. Whether you’re a machinist in Modesto, a teacher in Tulare, a laborer in Los Angeles or a techie in Silicon Valley, California needs to be a place where you can buy a home, send your kids to college, and live a comfortable retirement. Education 0-5 3 months of fully paid maternity and paternity leave - The first three months of a child’s life help to form lifelong emotional attachments. Some major employers offer fully paid maternity leave to their employees. But lower level jobs are much less likely to offer maternity leave and for whom the partial pay offered through disability isn’t a reasonable option. We need a minimum of three months of fully paid maternity leave, and Delaine hopes to expand it to 6 and then to 9 months during her time in office. Affordable, high-quality childcare/development – High quality childcare and child development can cost as much as rent or college. The average cost for childcare is now $16,000 a year. It forces women and men who earn low wages out of the workforce, dramatically reducing their lifelong earning potential. The high cost of childcare leads to low quality options that increase the opportunity gap between wealthy and poor children. We need affordable, high quality childcare for all. Universal high-quality preschool for ALL in 5 Years - almost all European and Asian countries offer universal preschool. In France, preschool teachers are similarly educated and paid at the same rate as elementary school teachers. If we are to give our children the best chance to compete in a global market, we need to start by offering universal, high quality preschool for ALL. K-12 Move California from the bottom 10 into the top 10 in per pupil spending for K-12 - We must increase our investment in education as the means to reduce class sizes, increase the number of counselors, nurses and librarians in our schools, and increase support for music and the arts that have been lost in too many schools. The Greeks believed that the act of participation, be it in sports, drama, music, or civic engagement helped to create a civic minded society. Children need exposure to all subjects. We must advance STEAM education (science, technology, engineering, arts, mathematics) with great urgency as the pace of change is accelerating. College & Career Build new Colleges, Technical Schools and Universities -- Cal State turned away a record number of qualified students because they didn't have the space. Meanwhile, we have a shortage of skilled labor because we have underinvested in career and technical training. We need to increase higher educational opportunities for students across the board, and give our young people more options that are close to home. This will attract business into areas that currently have high unemployment because they have historically been underserved and overlooked. Delaine's record on education is vast; in fact, there is a Delaine Eastin Elementary School in Union City that attests to her leadership. Some highlights include: sponsoring the largest school bond in state history that combined K-12 and higher education into one bond after both K-12 and seen individual bonds rejected; as Superintendent joining the lawsuit against Pete Wilson for illegally withholding funds from our schools, bringing over $2 billion to our schools. Delaine used these funds to reduce class sizes in K-3 to 20-1. Delaine also served as a champion for wiring schools for technology and stronger technical and vocational training for students. She launched the Garden in Every School Initiative, was the architect of Net Day, where over 20,000 volunteers wired California schools for modern technology and was copied in 40 states and 40 countries and dramatically enhanced and expanded environmental education. As a UC Regent, Delaine argued against tuition hikes and encouraged other Regents to do the same and to oppose a tax cut; she also did this as a Cal State University Trustee, advocating against higher fees and to oppose a tax cut. Delaine served as Honorary Co-Chair of Prop 10 which created First 5, California. Gun Violence Prevention Delaine is proud that Californians have continued to push forward on gun control measures, including giving families and authorities the right to remove guns from individuals, even as the country goes backward. But there's only so much we can do on our own with porous borders. We need the federal government to reauthorize the assault weapons ban. We need them to ban high capacity magazines, support universal background checks and close the gun show loophole. After similar tragedies, other countries have managed to all but avoid future tragedies by cracking down on the sale and proliferation of guns. We can do the same. When Delaine was in the Assembly, she supported the nation’s first law that banned the sale of military-style assault weapons in California. She received death threats, but it was absolutely the right thing to do. The bill was signed by Republican Governor George Deukmejian after the murder of five children and wounding of 32 others in a Stockton schoolyard because at that time, Republicans and Democrats could work together to protect our children. Housing & Rent Control Build One Million Additional Housing Units in the Next Four Years, Focusing Near Transit Hubs - Most studies show we need 3.5 million new housing units by 2025. We are currently building fewer than 100,000 units a year. We can do better. Back in 1986 we built over 300,000 units a year and Delaine knows we can get there again. We must:
Modernize and Return Redevelopment - We must bring back redevelopment and insist on building housing near transportation hubs, in conjunction with a transportation plan so we do not create another crisis. Protect Renters – A $100 rent increase is an eviction for too many tenants who are already stretched to their limits. Delaine is the only candidate who supports giving tenants more rights by repealing Costa Hawkins, which prohibits rent control on many units, as well as the Ellis Act, which has allowed for the conversion of many affordable units to higher priced condominiums. This will give cities and counties the tools they need to protect tenants and neighborhoods against massive gentrification, which is taking place in too many neighborhoods all over our state. Declare a State of Emergency to Address our Homeless Crisis - Our homeless crisis affects us all. From deadly outbreaks of hepatitis to massive increases in sexual assault, child abuse and domestic violence, the situation is dire and needs focused coordination between agencies so that people can secure shelter while we build our way out of this crisis. This includes a large expansion of housing vouchers, eliminating housing discrimination, and using hotels, motels, tiny houses and cooperative housing to help people get immediate shelter. In her first term on the City Council in Union City, Delaine convinced the Council to pass a Mobile Home Rent Control Bill after she exposed the deception of a mobile home park owner. During her tenure on the Council the City used redevelopment funds to buy up three toxic sites in downtown, and over the years they cleaned them up and ultimately built multi-story, affordable and market rate housing near the BART station. As Superintendent, Delaine was given just 6 weeks to implement class size reduction. In those 6 weeks Delaine coordinated all the agencies, inspired the state, and 30,000 portable classrooms were delivered to schools. Healthcare for ALL 70% of the funds for universal healthcare are already in the system. Delaine has read the studies, and believes that some combination of new taxes, such as the proposed gross receipts tax on business income over $2 million, combined with a sales tax increase, is one possibility that has potential merit. She also supports creating a Public Bank of California and using some of the revenue from that to fund universal healthcare. If so many countries less wealthy than the United States can figure it out, shouldn’t we be able to do this? Immigration Delaine's father was born in Kentucky and he was fond of saying that "Californians are people born somewhere else who came to their senses." In 2015, the most current year of data, 27% of California's population was indeed, born somewhere else. California is home to more than 10 million immigrants with half of California’s children having at least one immigrant parent. California is the second most diverse state in the country, and Delaine considers it our greatest strength. Immigrants are the most entrepreneurial people in our country. They dream and do and sacrifice to give their children the American dream. Delaine strongly supports California’s status as a Sanctuary State. She believes we must provide a path to citizenship for DACA recipients that includes granting protected status to their parents, and that the very idea that the government would betray these amazing young people by targeting their parents is anti-American. Family is everything. Regarding workplaces, our state Attorney General has said the state will fine any business that voluntarily cooperates with ICE. As Governor, Delaine would certainly support this to make sure that our undocumented (and documented) workers are protected from the predatory behaviors we have witnessed the federal government take. Under the Constitution, state and local governments have every right to refuse to help enforce federal law. In cases like Printz v. United States (1997) and New York v. United States (1992), the Supreme Court has ruled that the Tenth Amendment forbids federal “commandeering” of state governments to help enforce federal law. Most of the support for this anti-commandeering principle came from conservative justices such as the late Antonin Scalia, who wrote the majority opinion in Printz. Few if any federal grants to state and local governments are conditioned on cooperation with federal deportation efforts. The Supreme Court has long ruled that conditions on federal grants to state and local governments are not enforceable unless they are “unambiguously” stated in the text of the law “so that the States can knowingly decide whether or not to accept those funds.” Throughout Delaine's career she has stood up for all Californians to live with dignity and to be treated with respect. As State Superintendent she stood strong against Governor Pete Wilson after the passage of Prop 187. He ordered Delaine to have teachers act as immigration agents. When Delaine said no he threatened to have her recalled. She joined the lawsuit against Prop 187 and they won. Delaine also opposed Propositions 209 and 227. In her race to serve a second term as Superintendent, she was specifically attacked for being a strong supporter of bilingual education. Infrastructure & Transportation The American Society of Civil Engineers issued a recent report that rated 5.5% of California bridges structurally deficient. It said that poor roads are costing drivers over $800 a year in repair costs. Drinking water needs an estimated $44.5 billion, and wastewater needs total $26.2 billion. 678 dams are considered to be high-hazard potential. As we all know, we barely avoided disaster last winter. The state’s schools have an estimated capital expenditure gap of $3.2 billion and yet the state is withholding releasing funds that were approved by the voters. It’s going to take serious effort and long-range planning to fix this mess. We cannot keep borrowing money to build shiny new projects without first fixing what we already have. We owe it to future generations. Our highways, public transit, and utilities infrastructure are in dire need of an upgrade. In a state whose economy ranks 6th in the world, we should be using our revenue to improve the services we use every day. Delaine Eastin is committed to improving our state’s infrastructure and doing it responsibly. Prior to her time in the Assembly, Delaine worked as a long-range planner for Pacific Telesis. As an Assemblymember, Delaine Chaired the Committee on Government Efficiency and served on the Transportation Committee. She esteered legislation that sped up road construction for counties that had passed 1/2 cent sales tax measures, cracked down on unlicensed contractors, streamlined hospital construction (she was blocked from doing the same for school construction), and sponsored a bill to do a long-range water plan. The bill was vetoed by the Republican Governor who claimed that long-range planning was for Communists. Delaine earned a host of accolades for her work including: Assembly Member of the Year, American Planning Association, California Chapter - The John F. Foran Award for Legislator of the Year, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission - “We Dig California Award” Engineering and Utility Contractors Association - High Tech Recognition Award, California State Government Affairs Committee - Presidential Citation Award, AIA Legislator of the Year, California Council, American Institute of Architects. LGBTQ Rights Delaine supports efforts to make all single stall restrooms gender neutral to provide more publicly available options. She understands that the lack of gender neutral restrooms can be a major source of anxiety, and with conservatives elevating this to the national stage, it is critical that we protect our transgendered population from potential violence. She will advocate for inclusive learning environments in schools and a no tolerance policy for bullying behavior. She believes it is critical that LGBTQ individuals are included in positions of leadership and government at all levels. It is critical for young people to see individuals that look like them in positions of authority so they can look with hopeful eyes to their own futures. Delaine has been a lifelong supporter of LGBT rights and fought to defeat Prop 64 back in 1986. Delaine was the first State Superintendent to march in the San Francisco Gay Rights Parade. As State Superintendent of Public Instruction she set up an LGBT Task Force to make sure students felt safe and welcomed, and that teachers knew how to support them. She got death threats and but never waivered. The report included “acknowledging lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender historical figures and eight related events, concepts, and issues in the revisions of content standards and curriculum frameworks, when appropriate. Identify and expand the available lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender resources for school library materials.” Delaine was a deciding vote on the Board of Regents when Governor Wilson tried to keep the UC system from extending spousal benefits to same-sex partners. In her successful race to serve a second term as Superintendent, she was attacked for supporting a 'gay agenda.' Sexual Harassment Delaine will protect victims of sexual harassment and assault so that their brilliance isn’t lost to us. Too many amazing young women and men have seen their careers in state government cut tragically short because they’ve been victims of sexual harassment and dared to stand up for themselves and their rights. We will not only protect the victims but we will expose the perpetrators and no more public money will be spent to cover up these actcs. The length of time it took to establish a simple, anonymous hotline is indefensible. The End Harassment office will be set up and fully funded immediately. Reports will be monitored and fully investigated by an outside legal firm, free of conflicts of interest. While Delaine will protect the identity of victims, she will not hide the identity of perpetrators. The public has the right to know who is guilty of sexual harassment following such a determination. Also, perpetrators will be financially liable for any payments made due to their actions. Delaine believes that in order to end the culture of sexual harassment and assault, we must start in our schools to teach our children about consent and support their emotional health and development. Women's Rights Women make up only 21.7% of California’s legislature. Only one of our Top 10 cities by population has a female Mayor, and California has never had a female Governor. Delaine understands that when women make up at least 30% of a legislative body, more support goes to education, to families, to healthcare and to support seniors. Budgets are statements of values, and we need women’s voices to be at the table making important decisions on behalf of our country. Right now, the face of poverty in California is a single mother and her children. In fifteen or twenty years it will be a senior woman. Women still earn 80 cents on the dollar, and the figure is lower for black and brown women. In California, it is often our richest communities that show the highest disparity. For example, in California Congressional Districts 17 and 18, home to the Silicon Valley, women earn just 68 and 64 cents on the dollar compared to men in the same region. Meanwhile, Hollywood, the supposed bastion of liberalism, is being investigated for its abysmal discrimination against female directors and treatment of women in general. California needs to lead the nation in fixing these disparities for the residents of our state. We must continue to protect a woman’s right to choose, and we also need to go further in providing pre-natal care and real maternity and paternity leave for women and for men. We must figure out the best means to offer high-quality AFFORDABLE childcare for all. Infant childcare can cost more than college tuition. That is not sustainable and it leads to women forced out of the workforce and/or to children receiving substandard care. As Governor, Delaine commits to having a leadership team that is at least 50% women that reflects the vast diversity in our state. We will strive toward the goal that women and people of color will earn $1.00 for every $1.00 that men earn. Delaine will champion pay equity and have zero tolerance for sexual harassment in the state. Delaine is commited to a comprehensive review of job titles and pay scales in state government, so that we lift up the salaries for women and people of color to compare to those of men with similar skill levels. Delaine will also require corporations and nonprofits seeking to do business with the state to have implemented policies for equal pay, to demonstrate that they promote and support women and people of color in leadership, and to have comprehensive standards for handling sexual harassment in their workforce. Delaine is the past President of California Women Lead, Chair of ClosetheGap, California in 2016, and Faculty for Rutgers Project 2012. She was a founder and chair of her local NWPC (National Women’s Political Caucus) chapter as well as Chair of the California Legislative Women's Caucus. She worked as a Women's Studies Coordinator and has developed courses on Women in Politics. Delaine has been a consistent voice for reproductive rights and paid family and medical leave. She has consistently spoken to women’s groups engaging women in running and getting politically involved, including Emerge America and Ignite. As an Assemblywoman, she was one of 600+ legislators (of 7000 possible) who signed 1989 Supreme Court Amicus Brief in William Webster vs Reproductive Health Services in defense of abortion access. As State Superintendent, Delaine was accused of having a department 'run by women.' She did a study and determined that 56% of her leadership was female. Delaine has fought for women’s rights her entire adult life, and has been an inspired mentor and hero to countless women and men. [156] |
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| —Delaine Eastin for Governor[160] | ||
Gavin Newsom
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California Values California is the sixth largest economy in the world, and continues to show the world that an economy can thrive when it protects workers’ rights, environmental protections, civil rights, and vulnerable communities. Gavin understands that California remains an engine of economic growth when we stick up for our values. Gavin has boldly led the charge for major social change campaigns his whole life. He has fought for what’s right and won results that are making a real difference in people’s lives. He believes that the state government ought to reflect the values of its people, not the other way around. More than ever, America needs California’s example, to prove that old fears and prejudices need not be the new normal, and to match resistance with results. As Governor, Gavin will:
Defend California's Immigrant Communities Fight for Women's Empowerment Support for the #MeToo Movement and Women's Workplace Rights Support California's LGBT Community Recent reports have indicated a rising level of hate crimes targeted towards the LGBT community and an alarming rate of LGBT youth suicides. We must establish a zero-tolerance policy against hate in our schools, strengthen hate crime protections for victims, and punish perpetrators of these heinous crimes. As part of our commitment to tackling the housing and homelessness crisis, we will hone in on the unique needs of LGBT youth experiencing homelessness and the challenges facing LGBT seniors in securing affordable housing. Gavin will expand training and employment services for all Californians, but particularly for the transgender community, which too often faces workplace discrimination. As Governor, Gavin will launch a statewide Getting to Zero initiative, fighting to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, the HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV) epidemics. This plan, which will align new and existing resources to prevent, treat, and end the stigma associated with these conditions, would be the first state in the nation to address both HIV and HCV simultaneously. Reform our Broken Criminal Justice System There are gross racial and socioeconomic inequities in our criminal justice system, which is why Gavin is proud to be the only statewide official to endorse all five major criminal justice ballot initiatives including sentencing reform, three strikes reform and repeal of the death penalty. He led the coalition to decriminalize cannabis, taking a bold step forward towards ending the failed war on drugs. As Governor, Gavin will continue to step up and step in to this debate. Most people in American jails have not yet been to trial, and the vast majority remain locked up merely because they can’t afford cash bail. That’s why Gavin has called for an end to the cash bail system because freedom in California should not be conditional on a person’s ATM balance. And he’s committed to bringing about an end to for-profit prisons, which contribute to over-incarceration. Advocate for Gun Safety in California and Nationally Meet the Needs of California Veterans and Military Families Ensure the Right to Healthcare for All For Gavin, the phrase “health care is a human right” is more than a political cliché. It’s a sacred promise we must keep, which is why he'll ensure California leads the way on a plan to guarantee quality healthcare for everyone financed through a single-payer model like Medicare. We can create a more efficient, effective, and comprehensive healthcare system that works for patients and providers alike, available regardless of one’s ability to pay, pre-existing medical conditions, or immigration status, and including coverage not only for physical, but also mental and behavioral health issues. The status quo isn't working. A UCLA study determined that Californians are already spending $367.5 billion annually on healthcare - and that number continues to escalate. We must end the costly conveyor belt of paperwork and co-pays and allow providers to focus on patient care. As Mayor, Gavin created Healthy SF, which even today remains the only citywide and countywide universal health program in the nation. The program has paid for itself many times over in the form of preventative care and healthier outcomes. It’s time to do the same for the state. Expand Access to Mental Heath Treatment Protect California Consumers from Predatory Financial Practices Launch the California Emergency Council to Protect Californians from Natural and Man-Made Disasters Enfranchise California's Voters Child Poverty Over the past decade, advances in cognitive research have shown that the stress that comes with growing up in poverty quite literally alters children’s brains, making it nearly impossible for them to focus on their schoolwork. It’s no surprise that study after study shows just how debilitating growing up in poverty is to a kid’s potential in life. It’s correlated with lower educational attainment, lower incomes, increased likelihood of homelessness and, devastatingly, increased likelihood of interacting with the criminal justice system. No kid should be denied a fair shot at success in life because of their parent’s income or the zip code in which they live, but for so many kids in this state, that is all too often the case. Gavin is making the elimination of child poverty the north star of a Newsom administration. Gavin is proposing a two pronged strategy to ensure equal access to opportunity and prosperity for all of our children. First, we must do more to help young people and their families who are currently living in poverty. Second, those efforts must be part of a broader strategy to break the cycle of multi-generational poverty through education and creating real opportunities for economic advancement for every child. As Governor, Gavin will:
Create the Foundation for a Strong Start Create a Financial Foundation for College, Beginning in Kindergarten Prepare Working Families for the Jobs of Tomorrow Reward Work Restore Benefits Increase Access to Affordable Housing Provide Universal Healthcare Call on Washington D.C. to Support Our Families Prevent Homelessness by Supporting Discharge Planning Economic Development But for too many, California’s economic recovery is a spectator sport. Ours is at once the richest and poorest state. Eight million Californians are below the poverty line. Nearly two million children – one in five – live in poverty. We’re witnessing staggering levels of income and wealth inequality. I’m focused on building an upward economy that works for every Californian - one that is measured by growth and inclusion. Fighting income inequality and unequal opportunity is the defining economic challenge of our time, and California must face it head on. As Governor, Gavin will:
Focus on Education
Develop Regional Workforce and Economic Development Plans Break Wall Street's Chokehold on State Finance and Develop our own State Bank Support Small Businesses Grow Jobs through Fiscal Responsibility Ensure Economic Justice for All Californians Empower More Communities to Participate in the State's Economic Growth Build Economic Opportunity through Renewable Energy Boost our Manufacturing Sector Gear Up Exports Drive Innovation Build Infrastructure Get Serious about the Future of Work
Education As Governor, Gavin is calling for the California Promise, a new way of thinking about education as a lifelong pursuit. He believes that our role begins when babies are still in the womb and it doesn’t end until we’ve done all we can to prepare them for a quality job and successful career. As Governor, Gavin will:
Focus on the First Three Years of a Child's Life Create a Financial Foundation for College, Beginning in Kindergarten Support Students in Full-Service Community Schools Equip Every Student with Access to STEM Education Attract and Retain Quality Teachers Increase Access to and the Affordability of Higher Education Provide Pathways to Quality Jobs Through 500,000 Apprenticeships Unleash Educational Data Environment Since taking office, President Trump has overturned or announced his intention to overturn dozens of environmental rules. His picks to lead the Energy Department, Interior Department, and Environmental Protection Agency are openly antagonistic toward the mission of the agencies they run. Collectively, they are moving at breakneck pace to reverse the great progress achieved by the environmental movement. It is outrageous that the Trump Administration has proposed removing protections for public lands, opening up the Arctic and our coastlines to oil drilling and pulling out of the Paris Climate agreement. Despite these challenges, California will continue to lead the nation and the world in clean energy, conservation, and the fight against climate change. Gavin knows that California does not have to wait for Washington to be a global leader on any issue — and certainly not when it comes to energy, the environment and the economy. As Governor, Gavin will:
Combat Climate Change and Put California on a Path to 100% Renewable Energy Set California on the Fast Track to Zero Diesel Pollution by 2030 Protect California's Public Lands Improve the Reliability of California's Water Supply Defend California's Coastline Fight for Environmental Justice through Clean Air, Clean Water, and Secure Food
Counter the Threat of Wildfires Launch the California Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (CARPA-E) Create an Energy Grid Fit for the 21st Century Housing & Homelessness We’re experiencing a housing affordability crisis, driven by a simple economic argument. California is leading the national recovery but it’s producing far more jobs than homes. Providing adequate housing is fundamental to growing the state’s economy. The current housing shortage is costing California over $140 billion per year in lost economic opportunity. Creating jobs without providing access to housing drives income inequality up and consumer spending down. The simple fact is the more money people need to spend on rent, the less they can spend supporting small businesses. Employers, meanwhile, are rightfully concerned that the high cost of housing will impede their ability to attract and retain the best workers. As Governor, Gavin will:
Develop 3.5 Million Housing Units Invest in Affordable Housing Scale Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts (EIFD) Encourage the Private Sector to Create Workforce Housing Incentivize Housing Production Protect Tenants Create New Tools to Increase Housing Production Promote Other Commonsense Solutions to Promote Secure and Affordable Housing Address the Needs of Californians Experiencing Homelessness |
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| —Gavin Newsom for Governor[161] | ||
Antonio Villaraigosa
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Economic Prosperity & Equality But recent numbers confirm that not every area of the state is doing quite that well. Compare two regions, the Bay Area and the San Joaquin Valley. According to recent numbers, the Bay Area (with a population of about 5.7 million) has a larger economy than the Netherlands and ranks in the top 20 worldwide. However, the San Joaquin Valley (population 4.1 million) keeps much less prestigious company – according to a recent article in the Central Valley Business Times, the Central Valley would fall between Iraq and Algeria and not even make the top 50. No one would mistake the economy of the Netherlands for that of Algeria, and no one should mistake the wide economic opportunity gap that exists in our state. It’s a tale of two Californias, one coastal and thriving, one inland and still suffering the effects of the Great Recession. That’s why we need to rethink our one-size-fits-all approach to economic policy and regulation. A policy that might make sense in Silicon Valley doesn’t necessarily make a difference in Fresno. A regulation that is a small annoyance for a thriving business on the west side of Los Angeles could be a job killer for an industry in the Inland Empire. We certainly need to set big economic goals, but then give each of our economic regions the tools and autonomy they need to grow our economy fairly. We once enabled “enterprise zones,” which were largely county based. These zones were swept away in the last recession when Sacramento took the funds that were dedicated to local economic development to help close a statewide budget gap. While we have taken the limited step of restoring some local infrastructure financing, we need to be bolder. We need to fully restore those local economic development funds because when it comes to local economic growth, Sacramento doesn’t always know best. And we need to establish broad regional economic opportunity zones and cooperation, so economically challenged areas can work together to attract high-wage jobs. The facts show the stark disparities in our economic progress. In recent years, the Bay Area accounted for 62 percent of the growth in high-wage jobs in areas like information technology and professional and business services. The Central Valley lost jobs in these high-wage sectors. Per capita income in the Central Valley is now 30 percent below the statewide average. And families in the Inland Empire fare even worse, with incomes 34 percent below the California average. When I served as speaker of the state Assembly, I was not shy about passing bold new laws and new mandates. But as mayor of Los Angeles, I learned that statewide mandates, regulations and interventions didn’t always make sense from a local perspective. What seemed easy from the Capitol building is a whole lot more complicated up close. I recently proposed restoring the ability of local governments to keep local funds to invest in the creation of housing for teachers, nurses, firefighters and others. Such a power will most likely be used in the Bay Area and along the coast, where red-hot economic growth has caused housing costs to soar to astronomical levels. Now, it is time to give a similar power to those parts of our state facing another challenge – slow economic growth and a lack of high-wage jobs. These new Prosperity Zones need the power to keep local funds local. They need the ability to adapt regulations to local realities while continuing to meet statewide goals. Most of all, they need the authority to act together as regional economies to help lift up every family in every part of California. Franklin Roosevelt once said, “The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.” The challenge facing California in the years ahead is making sure that abundance extends to every part of our great state so that we are making economic progress for everyone. Equality in Education Will California lead the nation in educational excellence and opportunity or will we continue to trail behind states like Massachusetts that made a commitment decades ago to high expectations and meaningful accountability? I believe in the power of education to make the American Dream possible for anyone willing to work hard. I not only believe it. I know it firsthand. Education is often called the great equalizer — putting all kids on a level playing field and giving them an equal shot at a good life. But American education is still unequal and inadequate for too many young people. We are one of the few developed nations in the world that spends less to educate poor kids than to educate rich ones. And when the system of education is unequal, the results will be unequal. Consider California’s results on the national NAEP test — often referred to as the “gold standard” of assessments. Our Latino students have made some gains over the years, but California is still ranked near the bottom and the gaps remain large. For example, in eighth-grade math only 15 percent of our Latino kids are at grade compared to 53 percent of white students — a 38-point difference. In fourth-grade reading, the percentage of Hispanics at grade is 31 points lower than for white students. For black students, it’s 33 points lower. Unless we change those numbers, education will perpetuate inequity instead of reducing it. Instead of driving economic mobility and providing a ladder to the middle class, it will lock access to the middle class and beyond. The current presidential election has focused discussion on income inequality but it mostly glosses over the most important lever for addressing it, which is strengthening K-12 education. Education alone can’t eliminate poverty, but for millions of young people, it’s the only real path out of poverty. On average, a person with a college degree will earn nearly one million dollars more over a lifetime than a person with only a high school degree. Add a million college graduates to our economy and that’s a trillion dollars more in wealth. More important, it’s a million families with the means to live a decent life. The good news is that California has adopted high standards. The Common Core standards are in schools and classrooms across the state and kids are better off for it. It’s more rigorous and more aligned to what they will need to succeed — both in college and in life. California has also been a leader in innovation — with nearly 1,200 charter schools across the state — more than any other state in the country. The best ones, like the Alliance and the “PUC” schools in Los Angeles, the Summit Schools in the Bay Area and many others, are proving that poverty isn’t destiny. The bad news, however, is that California has backtracked from accountability, putting disadvantaged children at greater risk than ever before. For the last three years, we have stopped reporting accountability ratings in California during the transition to new standards and new tests. It’s not clear when we will start again. And this undermines our efforts to improve schools. Without transparency around performance, states and districts can’t help low-performing schools get better. Without the data you can’t make the case for change. Parents also need data to make informed decisions. Increasingly, we live in a choice-based education system, not a neighborhood-based system. They want their kids to go to college. They want more learning time in school and they want the very best teachers in front of their children. They know all children are not the same and they want to find the right educational fit for each child. Education Trust West has developed a set of common-sense recommendations around improving public education and holding ourselves accountable. The only question is, do we have the will and courage to adopt effective policies that lift the teaching profession, strengthen our schools and put children’s needs ahead of politics? Parent voice matters. We have to keep up the pressure. We can’t accept mediocrity and ignore the facts. It’s time we define our own destiny and demand quality education for our children. That’s what our parents want and our kids need. Anything less is unacceptable. Building Affordable Housing California has the highest effective poverty rate in the nation, in large part because of our high cost of housing. But the good news is that addressing our housing shortage will help lift millions of families into the middle class – because it will lower the cost of their housing and create hundreds of thousands of new high-wage construction jobs. A 2016 McKinsey Global Institute Report found that California must build 3.5 million new housing units by 2025 if it is to relieve the demand and reduce cost. Their study showed we need to identify construction opportunities by looking at vacant urban land and areas around urban transit hubs, bringing jobs closer to housing so we can make our housing problem better without making traffic gridlock worse. Already elected officials like Berkeley city councilman Ben Bartlett and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo, and many others as well, are rising to this challenge. They realize that it will take the public sector working in partnership with the private sector, and innovation at every level, to fulfill our demand for new housing. I believe a comprehensive plan for affordable housing must start with bringing back reformed Community Redevelopment Agencies, which can be done by building on the Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts law enacted in 2015. Redevelopment Agencies once invested nearly a billion dollars a year into new housing. And when California took that tool away, we made a bad situation worse. We must certainly reform our permitting laws. If we can waive CEQA requirements for a football stadium, we should be able to speed permitting of affordable housing. I believe we will also need a $10 billion revolving fund to help home and property owners build Accessory Dwelling Units (“in-law units” or “granny flats”). Some estimates show that up to one third of our housing shortage could be addressed with these lower-cost units. We should create regional housing trust funds and make sure all parts of our state share the burden of creating more housing. If some cities refuse to build new housing, they should pay into a fund to help other cities do so. We must encourage private-public financing to build and support workforce housing for teachers, nurses and police officers, starting with a partnership with local schools to use vacant land. We should develop pathways to affordable home ownership with programs such as “tenant opportunity to purchase acts,” and consider the establishment of a state lending institution to provide resources to lower-income tenants so they can purchase housing. We can’t forget that by helping more people transition from renters to homeowners, we can begin to close the wealth gap which stems significantly from low home ownership for many people. Homeownership does more than build stable communities, it helps families send kids to college, start small businesses and retire in dignity. We certainly must lower the cost of construction through the use of technology, and other innovative construction options. And throughout this effort we can’t forget that we can help create hundreds of thousands more middle class jobs by partnering with labor, community colleges and the construction industry with apprenticeship programs to train the hundreds of thousands of new workers, including workers from traditionally disadvantaged communities, we will need for these high-wage jobs. More housing will mean more economic opportunity, more economic equality, more families with jobs that bring respect and dignity, lower rates of homelessness and a dramatically reduced level of poverty. Let’s get to work! Protecting Dreamers & Immigrants We also outperformed the nation and the world by almost every economic measure: growing at more than five times the rate of Japan’s economy in 2015, creating more jobs than any other state (more than Florida and Texas combined) and raking in close to $40 billion annually from agriculture, $255 billion from manufacturing and $732 billion from tech. All the while, we’ve welcomed more immigrants than any other state. California has long been synonymous with innovation, multiculturalism and our own palm-tree-lined version of the American Dream. The secret to our success is that we attract the brightest minds from all over the world. Nearly 40 percent of our state’s full-time workers are immigrants – the highest rate in the nation. In California, foreign-born people account for 60 percent of construction laborers, half of all dentists and childcare workers and a quarter of all social workers. Immigrants start small business at double the rate of native-born citizens and outperform their share in patent filings and leadership of venture-backed companies. One third of all companies that went public between 2006 and 2012 had at least one immigrant founder. Today, immigrants are making their mark on the economy against the backdrop of a president who rose to notoriety by claiming Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals. Hollywood could not have scripted a better foil for California than President Trump. With an administration following through with campaign promises of deporting as many undocumented immigrants as possible, building a border wall and ending Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), it’s wise to pause and consider the broad economic impact of such proposals. Let’s start with the breakfast table: California grows everything from artichokes to apricots, and – blessed with an enviable climate and optimal soil conditions – we do so at outputs that no other state can come close to approximating. But California’s bounty isn’t simply the result of good luck; it’s the product of what is often extremely difficult physical labor, which for decades has been the work of predominantly migrant workers. This labor permits us to feed our state and the nation and accounts for more than 15 percent of U.S. agricultural exports – $20 billion worth of food. With increased fears of raids and labor drying up, farm owners are faced with having either to move operations abroad or replace them with machines – both likely to cause food prices to skyrocket. Moving on to our piggy banks: With more boomers aging into Social Security each year, the consistent influx of immigrants is what helps keep the Social Security Trust Fund afloat. Without the $300 billion immigrants have contributed over the years, it’s estimated that full benefits would not be able to be paid out beyond 2037. Furthermore, undocumented immigrants pay an average of $11.64 billion in state and local taxes each year. And with more than 200,000 initial DACA recipients in California, ending DACA would eliminate an estimated $433.4 billion in GDP over the next decade. We are a nation of immigrants, and treating undocumented people with dignity and respect is not just the right thing to do morally – it is the prudent thing to do financially. President Trump launched his career in business, and any sensible businessperson should focus on the bottom line. The bottom line is clear: Without the work and contributions of immigrants, our state would be in deep economic trouble. Defending Affordable Healthcare When I was a teenager I was diagnosed with a tumor in my spinal canal. It sent me to the emergency room and for a moment I was so sick a priest was called to give me last rites just in case. There is a decent chance I am here today because my mother, a public employee, had good health care. I have never forgotten that — the difference between quality health care and no care. And that’s why I have never stopped fighting my entire adult life for quality, universal and affordable health care for all Californians. Health care is now front and center as an issue in the campaign for governor of California, in particular the debate around a plan called Senate Bill 562, which seeks to create a $400 billion single-payer system in California. Some quick facts about SB562. The independent Legislative Analyst’s Office calculates it will cost $200 billion in new taxes to implement. By way of comparison, the entire state budget proposed for next year is $190 billion — meaning SB562 would require more than doubling of state taxes. Just as significantly, the SB562 plan would end Medicare as we know it, forcing all Medicare recipients into a new state-run system. SB562 would end successful plans like Kaiser and union-based plans, again forcing all those enrolled in the new state-run system. And it is worth noting, the entire plan is based on the dubious premise that President Donald Trump would agree with the plan, since it would require a federal waiver to implement. I oppose SB562 because right now when health care in California is under assault by the Trump administration, our priority should be to achieve universal health care in California by expanding the Affordable Care Act and Medicare, not ending these successful programs. SB562 has no reasonable funding plan, needs approval by the Trump administration and has no reasonable chance of ever moving forward. SB562 isn’t a sound health care policy. It is essentially a political press release. When I was in the state Assembly I fought to expand access to Medi-Cal for children from 100 percent to 200 percent above poverty line. I couldn’t get any support from my colleagues because I did not have a funding plan. The next year, I authored the Healthy Families program, which expanded health coverage to nearly 750,000 California children. I had learned from my earlier mistakes that when it comes to changing health care law, it is important to think it through, get it right and make sure you know how you are going to pay for it. As mayor of Los Angeles, and certainly as chair of the Democratic National Convention in 2012, I fought to protect Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act. The ACA has lowered the rate of California’s uninsured from a staggering 17 percent in the year before it passed to 6.8 percent today. This translates to more than 4 million Californians who now have life-saving access to health care because of the Affordable Care Act. That’s why for me, the very first priority of our next governor must be to stand up to Donald Trump and preserve the ACA. Losing what is known as “Obamacare” would be a disaster for California. We need to do a better job of containing costs, including controlling drug prices, building up our prevention strategies by expanding our primary care network, focusing on preventing costly and chronic conditions like diabetes and coronary heart disease, utilizing technology where appropriate to reduce costs and working to eliminate toxins in our environment which contribute to adverse health conditions. But we also must remember that the very best way to cover more people with quality health care is to create millions more high-wage jobs that pay decent benefits, starting with excellent health care benefits. That’s why I have said my first three priorities as governor will be high-wage jobs, high-wage jobs and high-wage jobs. We can, and will, protect the ACA and Medicare and expand them toward universal care. But it will take more than slogans and press releases. It will take a real plan. Transportation for the 21st Century In urban areas, public transit plays an equally important role not just for workers but for connecting all Americans to opportunities in their communities. In New York City, some 55 percent of all commuters take public transit every day. As our cities become more congested, a growing transit system can provide an alternative to driving. At the same time, our population of baby boomers will most likely rely on public transit as they age. Improvements in public transit can spur economic development and increase the capacity to move people. Yet despite its significance, we as a nation have neglected our transportation infrastructure. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ 2013 report card graded the national transportation infrastructure from a high of C+ for bridges and rail to an embarrassing D for aviation, roads, and public transit. It estimates that highway congestion costs the U.S. economy $101 billion annually and that $170 billion per year of annual investment is needed to make significant improvements. Likewise, deficiencies in our transit systems cost another $90 billion per year. The next president of the United States should pursue a national surface transportation agenda that addresses funding issues, staffing, and other targeted policy areas. The president should work with Congress to implement various changes related to federal transportation funding, the gas tax, the vehicle-miles traveled tax, tax credit bonds, the transportation authorization bill and congestion pricing, among other programs. Transportation innovations like Uber and Lyft, same-day shipping of products to homes and offices, and driverless cars are fortunately changing our transportation system and the choices Americans have. Nevertheless, all of these innovations depend on a robust and effective transport network. Ride sharing, Google Express and automated vehicles all require roads, so investment in our highway system must continue to be a national priority. Historically, transportation investment at the national level has been a bipartisan – indeed, even a nonpartisan – issue, with leaders from both sides of the aisle partnering to advance this common good. Unfortunately, political cooperation has been strained over the last decade, and Congress has struggled to pass surface transportation authorization bills in a timely manner. These congressional battles create massive uncertainty because state, regional and local governments frequently depend on the federal government to fund a portion of their construction, operating and maintenance needs. Notably, the Highway Trust Fund, which pays for investments in highways and public transit, is insolvent, generating less revenue from federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel than the U.S. authorizes and appropriates. This situation presents Congress with two equally unattractive choices: subsidize transportation with revenue sources that should be used to address other pressing public needs or reduce transportation funding just at the moment when our infrastructure needs the most help. Current taxes of 18.4 cents per gallon on gasoline and 24.4 cents per gallon on diesel fuel are clearly inadequate for covering the costs of building and repairing our nation’s transportation systems. These taxes have not increased since 1993, have not kept pace with inflation, and are negatively affected as average fuel efficiency rises (which is vitally important). These forces result in less proportional revenue per gallon of fuel sold when prices rise. Rising fuel prices reduce both driving and fuel purchases while creating demand for more cost-effective public transit. But less fuel bought means less revenue to maintain, let alone expand, the transportation infrastructure. In short, just as we need better transportation systems to sustain our economy and society, the revenues used to invest in infrastructure are diminishing. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 added important new funding resources to state and local government, but this measure was only temporary. While the money provided much-needed investment in transportation infrastructure and supported job creation during the depths of the economic recession, the aid was fleeting and did not address the long-term needs of the transportation sector. For the next president, the most pressing question will be how can federal policy and spending produce the level of transportation investment necessary to support continued economic growth and a high quality of life for all Americans? While there are essential needs in other areas like airports, ports and rail, let’s look at what’s needed to improve highways and transit (including commuter rail).
Pricing should be set to achieve optimal traffic flow and it should not be used simply to generate revenue. Federally authorized congestion pricing would allow local jurisdictions to decide whether such pricing would be appropriate, and it would ensure that there is an explicit nexus between the program and how revenue is spent. Additional nonfederal transportation revenue would reduce the demand on federal coffers and would enable the federal government to leverage its limited dollars further. But funding isn’t everything. Presidential appointments to federal transportation agencies also need a number of important qualities. Appointees must be loyal and share the president’s priorities for transportation. At the same time, these individuals should not simply parrot the president’s views, but be strategic thinkers who can help formulate solutions and be “critical friends” who can test potential weaknesses in proposals. Appointees with these characteristics will ensure that the president has a complete understanding of the strengths, weaknesses and implications of the transportation choices that are pursued. Many of the appointees should be subject matter experts in transportation policy, finance, planning and engineering. This would give them important credibility with both federal agencies and stakeholders. Some of the appointees should be “outside the box” thinkers who will challenge conventional wisdom and push creative solutions. The natural tension created by this mix of talent will serve the next administration well. A critical number of appointees must be experienced hands at successfully navigating Congress and agencies within the Department of Transportation, and partnering with state and local governments as well as stakeholder groups. It is essential that great ideas and important public policies do not die due to the inability to implement them. And there are other policy areas to consider.
National transportation policy must return to a tradition of bipartisan cooperation in which the president and Congress work together. In summary, sustainable and predictable funding plus locally controlled policy innovation are the keys to dramatically improving American transportation. Implementing the recommendations suggested here will guarantee that America has the transportation infrastructure needed to support our economy and quality of life for decades to come. California Leading the Way Perhaps one of the most powerful ways we can defend our people is to make sure we are uniting with other cities and states to advance and preserve policies that help meet the challenge of a new Trump administration. There are of course many other ways we can chart a vision of a government that protects working people – starting with making sure the policies and the programs we defend work well. Of course we need to keep organizing – making sure that voters in future elections understand what is at stake, and register and participate. And we need to propose the change voters sought this November to lift more families into the middle class. But we should take a hard look at how we can use the combined power of our forward-thinking cities and states to leverage better national policies. And we have the benefit of three extraordinary governors, California’s Jerry Brown, Oregon’s Kate Brown and Washington’s Jay Inslee, who have demonstrated the courage to act boldly in the past. Just imagine how much we could accomplish if these three governors agreed to work to bring our cities and states together on important policies that could become a breakwater against the national tide of Trumpism? We have a powerful precedent in the regulations California pioneered to clean our air and protect our environment by working to reduce carbon emissions. We used the tremendous power of our internal California market to create a standard that the nation was eventually forced to follow. When I served as mayor of Los Angeles and as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, I saw the tremendous power of local governments working in unison to drive state, federal and even global initiatives forward. Fighting climate change is the best example – it is an effort that was pioneered by world cities well before states and nations joined the effort. But there are many other ways local governments worked together in partnership to protect people, with the “Fight for 15” minimum wage effort another clear precedent of how state and local governments working together can shape broader policy. We live in the most robust democracy on the planet, in a system that was designed to blunt the power of demagogues. One of the foundations of our democratic system is our federal structure, giving tremendous power and authority to states to defend the well-being of their residents. And within our states, our big cities are laboratories for bold new policies. California is once again the sixth-largest economy in the world. If you add the GDP’s of Washington and Oregon, California would surpass the United Kingdom to become the fifth-largest economy in the world. That’s power – power we must use to protect our people against any dangerous policies advanced by a Trump administration. [156] |
” |
| —Antonio for California[162] | ||
Timeline
State election history
2014
- See also: California gubernatorial election, 2014
Jerry Brown ran for re-election as governor of California in the 2014 election. In the 2014 top-two primary, Brown and Republican candidate Neel Kashkari advanced to the general election.
| Governor of California, Blanket Primary, 2014 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Jerry Brown Incumbent |
54.3% | 2,354,769 | |
| Republican | Neel Kashkari |
19.4% | 839,767 | |
| Republican | Tim Donnelly | 14.8% | 643,236 | |
| Republican | Andrew Blount | 2.1% | 89,749 | |
| Republican | Glenn Champ | 1.8% | 76,066 | |
| Green | Luis Rodriguez | 1.5% | 66,876 | |
| Peace and Freedom | Cindy L. Sheehan | 1.2% | 52,707 | |
| Republican | Alma Marie Winston | 1.1% | 46,042 | |
| Nonpartisan | Robert Newman | 1% | 44,120 | |
| Democratic | Akinyemi Agbede | 0.9% | 37,024 | |
| Republican | Richard Aguirre | 0.8% | 35,125 | |
| Nonpartisan | "Bo" Bogdan Ambrozewicz | 0.3% | 14,929 | |
| Nonpartisan | Janel Hyeshia Buycks | 0.3% | 12,136 | |
| Nonpartisan | Rakesh Kumar Christian | 0.3% | 11,142 | |
| Nonpartisan | Joe Leicht | 0.2% | 9,307 | |
| Total Votes | 4,332,995 | |||
| Election results California Secretary of State | ||||
State overview
Partisan control
This section details the partisan control of federal and state positions in California heading into the 2018 elections.
Congressional delegation
- Following the 2016 elections, Democrats held both U.S. Senate seats in California.
- Democrats held 39 of 53 U.S. House seats in California.
State executives
- As of May 2018, Democrats held seven of 10 state executive positions and the remaining three positions were officially nonpartisan.
- The governor of California was Democrat Jerry Brown.
State legislature
- Democrats controlled both chambers of the California State Legislature. They had a 55-25 majority in the state Assembly and a 27-13 majority in the state Senate.
Trifecta status
- California was a state government trifecta, meaning that Democrats held the governorship and majorities in the state house and state senate.
2018 elections
- See also: California elections, 2018
California held elections for the following positions in 2018:
- 1 Senate seat
- 53 U.S. House seats
- Governor
- Seven other state executive positions
- 20 of 40 state Senate seats
- 80 state Assembly seats
- Two state Supreme Court justices
- 35 state Court of Appeals judges
- Local trial court judges
- School board members
Demographics
| Demographic data for California | ||
|---|---|---|
| California | U.S. | |
| Total population: | 38,993,940 | 316,515,021 |
| Land area (sq mi): | 155,779 | 3,531,905 |
| Race and ethnicity** | ||
| White: | 61.8% | 73.6% |
| Black/African American: | 5.9% | 12.6% |
| Asian: | 13.7% | 5.1% |
| Native American: | 0.7% | 0.8% |
| Pacific Islander: | 0.4% | 0.2% |
| Two or more: | 4.5% | 3% |
| Hispanic/Latino: | 38.4% | 17.1% |
| Education | ||
| High school graduation rate: | 81.8% | 86.7% |
| College graduation rate: | 31.4% | 29.8% |
| Income | ||
| Median household income: | $61,818 | $53,889 |
| Persons below poverty level: | 18.2% | 11.3% |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2010-2015) Click here for more information on the 2020 census and here for more on its impact on the redistricting process in California. **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | ||
As of July 2016, California had a population of approximately 39,000,000 people, with its three largest cities being Los Angeles (pop. est. 4.0 million), San Diego (pop. est. 1.4 million), and San Jose (pop. est. 1 million).[163][164]
State election history
This section provides an overview of federal and state elections in California from 2000 to 2016. All data comes from the California Secretary of State.
Historical elections
Presidential elections, 2000-2016
This chart shows the results of the presidential election in California every year from 2000 to 2016.
| Election results (President of the United States), California 2000-2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton |
61.7% | Donald Trump |
31.6% | 30.1% |
| 2012 | Barack Obama |
60.2% | Mitt Romney |
37.1% | 23.1% |
| 2008 | Barack Obama |
61.1% | John McCain |
37% | 24.1% |
| 2004 | John Kerry |
54.4% | George W. Bush |
44.4% | 10% |
| 2000 | Al Gore |
53.5% | George W. Bush |
41.7% | 11.8% |
U.S. Senate elections, 2000-2016
This chart shows the results of U.S. Senate races in California from 2000 to 2016. Every state has two Senate seats, and each seat goes up for election every six years. The terms of the seats are staggered so that roughly one-third of the seats are up every two years.
| Election results (U.S. Senator), California 2000-2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
| 2016 | Kamala Harris |
61.6% | Loretta Sanchez |
38.4% | 23.2% |
| 2012 | Dianne Feinstein |
62.5% | Elizabeth Emken |
37.5% | 25% |
| 2010 | Barbara Boxer |
52.2% | Carly Fiorina |
42.2% | 10% |
| 2006 | Dianne Feinstein |
59.5% | Richard Mountjoy |
35.1% | 24.4% |
| 2004 | Barbara Boxer |
57.8% | Bill Jones |
37.8% | 20% |
| 2000 | Dianne Feinstein |
55.9% | Tom Campbell |
36.6% | 19.3% |
Gubernatorial elections, 2000-2016
This chart shows the results of the four gubernatorial elections held between 2000 and 2016. Gubernatorial elections are held every four years in California.
| Election results (Governor), California 2000-2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | First-place candidate | First-place candidate votes (%) | Second-place candidate | Second-place candidate votes (%) | Margin of victory (%) |
| 2014 | Jerry Brown |
60% | Neel Kashkari |
40% | 20% |
| 2010 | Jerry Brown |
53.8% | Meg Whitman |
40.9% | 12.9% |
| 2006 | Arnold Schwarzenegger |
55.9% | Phil Angelides |
39.0% | 16.9% |
| 2002 | Gray Davis |
47.3% | Bill Simon |
42.4% | 4.9% |
Congressional delegation, 2000-2016
This chart shows the number of Democrats and Republicans who were elected to represent California in the U.S. House from 2000 to 2016. Elections for U.S. House seats are held every two years.
| Congressional delegation, California 2000-2016 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Democrats | Democrats (%) | Republicans | Republicans (%) | Balance of power |
| 2016 | 39 |
73.5% | 14 |
26.4% | D+25 |
| 2014 | 39 |
73.5% | 14 |
26.4% | D+25 |
| 2012 | 38 |
71.7% | 15 |
28.3% | D+23 |
| 2010 | 34 |
64.1% | 19 |
35.8% | D+15 |
| 2008 | 34 |
64.1% | 19 |
35.8% | D+15 |
| 2006 | 34 |
64.1% | 19 |
35.8% | D+15 |
| 2004 | 33 |
62.3% | 20 |
37.7% | D+13 |
| 2002 | 33 |
62.3% | 20 |
37.7% | D+13 |
| 2000 | 32 |
61.5% | 20 |
38.5% | D+12 |
Trifectas, 1992-2017
A state government trifecta occurs when one party controls both chambers of the state legislature and the governor's office.
California Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty years with Democratic trifectas • No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.
| Year | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 00 | 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Governor | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | R | R | R | R | R | R | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Senate | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
| Assembly | D | D | D | S | R | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D | D |
Pivot Counties
- See also: Pivot Counties by state
There are no Pivot Counties in California. Pivot Counties are counties that voted for Barack Obama (D) in 2008 and 2012 and for Donald Trump (R) in 2016. Altogether, the nation had 206 Pivot Counties, with most being concentrated in upper midwestern and northeastern states.
In the 2016 presidential election, Hillary Clinton (D) won California with 61.7 percent of the vote. Donald Trump (R) received 31.6 percent. In presidential elections between 1900 and 2016, California voted Republican 53.33 percent of the time and Democratic 43.33 percent of the time. In the five presidential elections between 2000 and 2016, California voted Democratic all five times. In 2016, California had 55 electoral votes, which was the most of any state. The 55 electoral votes were 10.2 percent of all 538 available electoral votes and were 20.4 percent of the 270 electoral votes needed to win the election.
Presidential results by legislative district
The following table details results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections by state Assembly districts in California. Click [show] to expand the table. The "Obama," "Romney," "Clinton," and "Trump" columns describe the percent of the vote each presidential candidate received in the district. The "2012 Margin" and "2016 Margin" columns describe the margin of victory between the two presidential candidates in those years. The "Party Control" column notes which party held that seat heading into the 2018 general election. Data on the results of the 2012 and 2016 presidential elections broken down by state legislative districts was compiled by Daily Kos.[165][166]
| In 2012, Barack Obama (D) won 58 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 38.4 points. In 2016, Hillary Clinton (D) won 66 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 40.3 points. Clinton won 11 districts controlled by Republicans heading into the 2018 elections. |
| In 2012, Mitt Romney (R) won 22 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 12.2 points. In 2016, Donald Trump (R) won 14 out of 80 state Assembly districts in California with an average margin of victory of 13 points. |
| 2016 Presidential Results by State Assembly District | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| District | Obama | Romney | 2012 Margin | Clinton | Trump | 2016 Margin | Party Control |
| 1 | 39.63% | 57.31% | R+17.7 | 36.09% | 56.75% | R+20.7 | R |
| 2 | 64.68% | 30.51% | D+34.2 | 62.20% | 28.98% | D+33.2 | D |
| 3 | 42.41% | 54.46% | R+12.1 | 39.47% | 53.31% | R+13.8 | R |
| 4 | 63.16% | 33.86% | D+29.3 | 63.03% | 29.95% | D+33.1 | D |
| 5 | 41.27% | 55.92% | R+14.7 | 38.51% | 54.85% | R+16.3 | R |
| 6 | 38.59% | 59.09% | R+20.5 | 41.17% | 52.02% | R+10.9 | R |
| 7 | 67.59% | 29.61% | D+38 | 67.63% | 25.69% | D+41.9 | D |
| 8 | 51.72% | 45.62% | D+6.1 | 51.77% | 41.03% | D+10.7 | D |
| 9 | 60.56% | 37.52% | D+23 | 61.47% | 32.89% | D+28.6 | D |
| 10 | 73.76% | 23.28% | D+50.5 | 75.65% | 17.96% | D+57.7 | D |
| 11 | 60.96% | 36.87% | D+24.1 | 58.86% | 35.17% | D+23.7 | D |
| 12 | 45.19% | 52.50% | R+7.3 | 43.11% | 51.05% | R+7.9 | R |
| 13 | 64.23% | 33.88% | D+30.4 | 62.97% | 31.79% | D+31.2 | D |
| 14 | 68.80% | 28.72% | D+40.1 | 69.55% | 24.47% | D+45.1 | D |
| 15 | 86.82% | 9.56% | D+77.3 | 87.39% | 7.04% | D+80.4 | D |
| 16 | 57.74% | 40.10% | D+17.6 | 64.47% | 29.23% | D+35.2 | R |
| 17 | 87.07% | 9.36% | D+77.7 | 88.12% | 6.95% | D+81.2 | D |
| 18 | 86.89% | 10.23% | D+76.7 | 85.89% | 8.44% | D+77.5 | D |
| 19 | 78.94% | 18.38% | D+60.6 | 81.63% | 13.34% | D+68.3 | D |
| 20 | 75.74% | 22.15% | D+53.6 | 75.52% | 19.12% | D+56.4 | D |
| 21 | 55.61% | 42.03% | D+13.6 | 54.63% | 39.46% | D+15.2 | D |
| 22 | 71.43% | 26.31% | D+45.1 | 75.16% | 19.75% | D+55.4 | D |
| 23 | 43.46% | 54.71% | R+11.2 | 43.95% | 50.78% | R+6.8 | R |
| 24 | 72.16% | 24.96% | D+47.2 | 78.19% | 15.93% | D+62.3 | D |
| 25 | 72.40% | 25.26% | D+47.1 | 73.61% | 20.90% | D+52.7 | D |
| 26 | 41.15% | 56.68% | R+15.5 | 41.54% | 52.93% | R+11.4 | R |
| 27 | 76.36% | 21.54% | D+54.8 | 77.76% | 17.29% | D+60.5 | D |
| 28 | 66.64% | 30.77% | D+35.9 | 70.63% | 23.08% | D+47.6 | D |
| 29 | 69.95% | 26.66% | D+43.3 | 70.00% | 22.96% | D+47 | D |
| 30 | 66.99% | 30.86% | D+36.1 | 66.70% | 27.32% | D+39.4 | D |
| 31 | 61.98% | 36.21% | D+25.8 | 62.13% | 32.93% | D+29.2 | D |
| 32 | 56.20% | 41.81% | D+14.4 | 56.50% | 37.98% | D+18.5 | D |
| 33 | 41.80% | 55.51% | R+13.7 | 40.02% | 54.61% | R+14.6 | R |
| 34 | 33.96% | 63.85% | R+29.9 | 34.07% | 60.21% | R+26.1 | R |
| 35 | 47.82% | 49.42% | R+1.6 | 49.57% | 43.43% | D+6.1 | R |
| 36 | 48.79% | 48.48% | D+0.3 | 49.94% | 43.86% | D+6.1 | R |
| 37 | 60.97% | 36.28% | D+24.7 | 64.27% | 29.21% | D+35.1 | D |
| 38 | 46.73% | 50.84% | R+4.1 | 49.64% | 44.39% | D+5.2 | R |
| 39 | 73.75% | 23.67% | D+50.1 | 74.64% | 19.80% | D+54.8 | D |
| 40 | 53.14% | 44.72% | D+8.4 | 54.08% | 40.01% | D+14.1 | R |
| 41 | 59.74% | 37.72% | D+22 | 62.82% | 31.27% | D+31.5 | D |
| 42 | 44.98% | 52.93% | R+7.9 | 45.61% | 49.70% | R+4.1 | R |
| 43 | 67.35% | 29.62% | D+37.7 | 68.94% | 25.45% | D+43.5 | D |
| 44 | 52.37% | 45.51% | D+6.9 | 57.12% | 36.99% | D+20.1 | D |
| 45 | 63.46% | 34.12% | D+29.3 | 67.36% | 27.39% | D+40 | D |
| 46 | 73.73% | 23.65% | D+50.1 | 76.20% | 18.48% | D+57.7 | D |
| 47 | 71.49% | 26.54% | D+44.9 | 70.10% | 24.80% | D+45.3 | D |
| 48 | 64.08% | 33.44% | D+30.6 | 65.60% | 28.50% | D+37.1 | D |
| 49 | 64.69% | 33.26% | D+31.4 | 67.57% | 27.17% | D+40.4 | D |
| 50 | 70.79% | 26.51% | D+44.3 | 76.72% | 18.33% | D+58.4 | D |
| 51 | 83.48% | 13.50% | D+70 | 84.05% | 10.19% | D+73.9 | D |
| 52 | 65.01% | 32.92% | D+32.1 | 65.78% | 28.71% | D+37.1 | D |
| 53 | 84.64% | 12.59% | D+72 | 84.83% | 9.63% | D+75.2 | D |
| 54 | 83.62% | 13.88% | D+69.7 | 85.15% | 10.12% | D+75 | D |
| 55 | 45.77% | 52.23% | R+6.5 | 49.92% | 44.61% | D+5.3 | R |
| 56 | 62.14% | 36.26% | D+25.9 | 64.21% | 31.24% | D+33 | D |
| 57 | 63.71% | 34.01% | D+29.7 | 65.92% | 28.39% | D+37.5 | D |
| 58 | 70.24% | 27.80% | D+42.4 | 72.54% | 22.26% | D+50.3 | D |
| 59 | 93.24% | 5.19% | D+88 | 90.70% | 5.09% | D+85.6 | D |
| 60 | 51.32% | 46.31% | D+5 | 52.48% | 41.97% | D+10.5 | D |
| 61 | 63.43% | 34.55% | D+28.9 | 62.47% | 31.62% | D+30.9 | D |
| 62 | 80.81% | 17.00% | D+63.8 | 82.05% | 13.06% | D+69 | D |
| 63 | 76.06% | 21.73% | D+54.3 | 77.35% | 17.38% | D+60 | D |
| 64 | 88.74% | 9.98% | D+78.8 | 86.21% | 9.61% | D+76.6 | D |
| 65 | 51.90% | 45.68% | D+6.2 | 56.73% | 37.28% | D+19.4 | D |
| 66 | 54.18% | 43.24% | D+10.9 | 59.97% | 33.60% | D+26.4 | D |
| 67 | 39.61% | 58.33% | R+18.7 | 38.89% | 55.94% | R+17.1 | R |
| 68 | 42.55% | 55.12% | R+12.6 | 49.42% | 44.58% | D+4.8 | R |
| 69 | 67.37% | 30.30% | D+37.1 | 71.94% | 22.33% | D+49.6 | D |
| 70 | 67.38% | 29.93% | D+37.5 | 68.13% | 25.09% | D+43 | D |
| 71 | 38.47% | 59.51% | R+21 | 38.19% | 56.26% | R+18.1 | R |
| 72 | 46.71% | 51.06% | R+4.4 | 51.40% | 43.13% | D+8.3 | R |
| 73 | 38.68% | 59.36% | R+20.7 | 43.89% | 50.38% | R+6.5 | R |
| 74 | 45.14% | 52.42% | R+7.3 | 50.71% | 43.29% | D+7.4 | R |
| 75 | 39.42% | 58.50% | R+19.1 | 43.22% | 50.68% | R+7.5 | R |
| 76 | 48.76% | 49.04% | R+0.3 | 53.11% | 40.38% | D+12.7 | R |
| 77 | 48.25% | 49.83% | R+1.6 | 55.16% | 38.94% | D+16.2 | R |
| 78 | 63.15% | 34.08% | D+29.1 | 67.48% | 25.85% | D+41.6 | D |
| 79 | 61.21% | 36.91% | D+24.3 | 64.24% | 30.04% | D+34.2 | D |
| 80 | 69.47% | 28.67% | D+40.8 | 73.15% | 21.34% | D+51.8 | D |
| Total | 60.35% | 37.19% | D+23.2 | 62.25% | 31.89% | D+30.4 | - |
| Source: Daily Kos | |||||||
Recent news
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External links
Footnotes
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Villaraigosa, Cox battle to advance in California governor’s race," April 16, 2018
- ↑ San Francisco Chroncile, "It’s Cox and Allen head-to-head for No. 2 in poll on Calif. governor’s race," April 26, 2018
- ↑ CALmatters, "Running to replace the governor, Gavin Newsom embraces Jerry Brown—at arm’s length," April 13, 2018
- ↑ Fox News, "Backed by Trump, Republican John Cox is a force in California governor race," May 29, 2018
- ↑ The New York Times, "California Today: How Does a Republican Win an Election Here?" April 24, 2018
- ↑ KRON4, "Republican Travis Allen runs for governor," April 26, 2018
- ↑ Fresno Bee, "It looks like a two-man race for California governor," February 19, 2018
- ↑ Times of San Diego, "Villaraigosa Courts Conservative Central Valley Vote in Race for Governor," April 21, 2018
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "A conservative lawmaker is running for California governor," June 22, 2017
- ↑ Travis Allen for Governor, "Home," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "State Treasurer John Chiang launches 'underdog' campaign for California governor," May 17, 2016
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "Home," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Republican John Cox is running for governor: ‘There are two Californias’," March 7, 2018
- ↑ John Cox for Governor, "Why I Want to Serve," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ John Cox for Governor, "My Policy Agenda," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Delaine Eastin says she’ll launch education-focused bid for California governor," November 1, 2016
- ↑ Delaine Eastin for Governor, "A California That Works for Everyone," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Gavin Newsom is the first to enter 2018 race for governor," February 11, 2015
- ↑ Gavin Newsom for Governor, "About Gavin," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Antonio Villaraigosa, former L.A. mayor, jumps into the California governor's race," November 10, 2016
- ↑ Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor, "Home," accessed March 11, 2018
- ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 22.13 22.14 22.15 The Green Papers, "2018 Governors' Chairs by State," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Juan Bribiesca for California Governor 2018, "Juan Bribiesca M.D., C.C.P. (Emeritus)," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ 24.00 24.01 24.02 24.03 24.04 24.05 24.06 24.07 24.08 24.09 24.10 24.11 24.12 24.13 24.14 24.15 24.16 24.17 24.18 24.19 24.20 24.21 24.22 24.23 24.24 24.25 24.26 24.27 24.28 24.29 California Secretary of State, "Statewide Direct Primary Election - June 5, 2018: Official Certified List of Candidates," accessed April 4, 2018
- ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 San Francisco Chronicle, "Governor's Race Heats Up Among California Democrats," May 20, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Former top Hillary Clinton aide Amanda Renteria enters race for California governor," February 14, 2018
- ↑ SFGate, "Pro-nuke activist from Berkeley to run for California governor," November 30, 2017
- ↑ Klement Tinaj for Governor, "Official campaign website," accessed April 25, 2017
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "A conservative lawmaker is running for California governor," June 22, 2017
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Republican John Cox is Running for California Governor," March 7, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Peter Y. Liu," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Josh Jones for Governor, "Home," accessed November 20, 2017
- ↑ Zoltan Istvan, "Home," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Governor Wildstar," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Peace and Freedom Party, "Home," accessed January 3, 2018
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia via email on January 29, 2018
- ↑ American Solidarity Party of California, "Desmond Silveira for Governor," accessed January 29, 2018
- ↑ Email correspondence with Johnny Wattenburg on December 17, 2017.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's Elections Team, “Email communication with sales@510ego.com," April 27, 2018
- ↑ Facebook.com, "Valentino For Gov - CA," April 22, 2018
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia via email on January 9, 2018
- ↑ Veronika Fimbres for Governor of California 2018, "Home," accessed March 16, 2018
- ↑ LinkedIn, "David Asem," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Michael Bracamontes," March 8, 2018
- ↑ Dr. Kumar for California Governor 2018, "About Me," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ '"Stasyi for Governor, "Home," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Brian Domingo for California Governor 2018, "Home," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Republican David Hadley drops out of California governor's race two weeks after entering," July 19, 2017
- ↑ Robert Kleinberger for Governor of California, "Home," accessed September 15, 2017
- ↑ Email correspondence with George Konik on January 17, 2018
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "Former Republican congressman – and big Trump backer – moves to replace Jerry Brown," January 5, 2018
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Republican Ose quits governor’s race, GOP chair wishes 1 more would," February 26, 2018
- ↑ Facebook, "Mike Bilger for Governor of California," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Facebook, "Andy Blanch for Governor," January 30, 2017
- ↑ Fundrazr, "Grant Handzlik for Governor of California 2018," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Laine for Governor, "Home," accessed August 23, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Yes, 'dahlink': Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, widower of Zsa Zsa Gabor, is running for California governor," September 19, 2017
- ↑ Email correspondence with Hilaire Fuji Shioura on March 22, 2017.
- ↑ NY Mag, "Trump Leaps Into California Governor’s Race, Endorsing John Cox," May 19, 2018
- ↑ Times of San Diego, "Rancho Santa Fe’s John Cox Endorsed for Governor by House Majority Leader," May 3, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "News: Central Valley Congressman Jim Costa Endorses Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor," April 29, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY CONGRESSMAN MARK TAKANO," February 27, 2018
- ↑ SFGate, "Kamala Harris endorses Gavin Newsom for governor," February 16, 2018
- ↑ 64.0 64.1 64.2 The Mercury News, "Ro Khanna and other South Bay elected officials back Gavin Newsom for governor," February 1, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "CONGRESSWOMAN LUCILLE ROYBAL-ALLARD ENDORSES ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," October 19, 2017
- ↑ Antonio for California, "Rep. Bass is Third Former Assembly Speaker to Endorse Villaraigosa for Governor," August 29, 2017
- ↑ 67.0 67.1 John Chiang for Governor, "GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE JOHN CHIANG RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT OF CONGRESSMAN BRAD SHERMAN AND CITY COUNCILMAN BOB BLUMENFIELD," August 22, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "U.S. REPRESENTATIVE TED LIEU – SLAYER OF TRUMP TWEETS – ENDORSES JOHN CHIANG FOR GOVERNOR CHIANG FINISHES THE WEEKEND AT BEACH CITIES," August 13, 2017
- ↑ 69.0 69.1 John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG RECEIVES THREE MAJOR ENDORSEMENTS FROM LONG BEACH OFFICIALS ON THE ROAD AGAIN: TRAVELING TO LONG BEACH," August 12, 2017
- ↑ Antonio for California, "Labor Icon Maria Elena Durazo Endorses Antionio Villaraigosa for Governor," April 10, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich endorses John Cox in governor's race," March 12, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Newsom's gun control efforts win him big endorsement," January 26, 2018
- ↑ The Mercury News, "Republican Meg Whitman backs Democrat Antonio Villaraigosa for governor," May 24, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY CA INSURANCE COMMISSIONER & FORMER HIGH SCHOOL RUNNING MATE DAVE JONES," April 16, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "FORMER HOUSE MAJORITY WHIP TONY COELHO ENDORSES ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," December 13, 2017
- ↑ Antonio for California, "SAN DIEGO ASSEMBLYWOMAN SHIRLEY WEBER ENDORSES ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," December 2, 2017
- ↑ Antonio for California, "CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY MAJORITY LEADER IAN CALDERON ENDORSES ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," November 27, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "California Secretary of State Alex Padilla backs Gavin Newsom for governor over former colleague Antonio Villaraigosa," October 26, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "LATINA LAWMAKER BREAKS FROM PACK: ASSEMBLYWOMAN LORENA GONZALEZ FLETCHER ENDORSES JOHN CHIANG AT SAN DIEGO COUNTY DEMOCRATIC CONVENTION," October 21, 2017
- ↑ OCDaily, "Board of Equalization Member Diane Harkey Endorses Travis Allen for Governor," October 21, 2017
- ↑ 81.00 81.01 81.02 81.03 81.04 81.05 81.06 81.07 81.08 81.09 81.10 Travis Allen for Governor, "Travis Allen Announces Legislative Republican Endorsements," October 10, 2017
- ↑ Antonio for California, "STATE SENATOR STEVEN BRADFORD ENDORSES ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," September 20, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE, JOHN CHIANG RECEIVES ENDORSEMENT FROM SENATOR BOB WIECKOWSKI IN ALAMEDA COUNTY," July 3, 2017
- ↑ [https://antonioforcalifornia.com/news/eduardo-garcia-coachella-valley-leaders-endorse-antonio-villaraigosa/ Antonio for California, "ASSEMBLYMAN EDUARDO GARCIA LEADS PROMINENT COACHELLA VALLEY LEADERS ENDORSING ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," June 21, 2017]
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "Democratic elder John Burton endorses Gavin Newsom for governor," June 20, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "ASSEMBLY SPEAKER ANTHONY RENDON ENDORSES JOHN CHIANG FOR GOVERNOR," February 7, 2017
- ↑ John Cox for Governor, "Endorsements," accessed February 18, 2018
- ↑ Santa Barbara Independent, "Santa Barbara District Attorney Endorses Villaraigosa for Governor," May 24, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Janice Hahn backs Gavin Newsom for California governor," May 14, 2018
- ↑ 90.0 90.1 San Francisco Chronicle, "Tom Ammiano, Harry Britt endorse Delaine Eastin for governor," May 8, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "African American leaders endorse Antonio Villaraigosa in California governor's race," May 3, 2018
- ↑ Bristol Herald Courier, "Latino support becomes a flashpoint in race for California governor," April 7, 2018
- ↑ 93.0 93.1 93.2 Antonio for California, "San Jose Councilmembers Raul Peralez, Chappie Jones & Sergio Jimenez Endorse Antionio Villaraigosa for Governor," April 2, 2018
- ↑ 94.0 94.1 'Antonio for California, "LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS CURREN PRICE & MARQUEECE HARRIS-DAWSON ENDORSE ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR CITING HIS COMMITMENT TO QUALITY EARLY EDUCATION," February 5, 2017
- ↑ The Mercury News, "San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo to endorse Antonio Villaraigosa for governor," January 31, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia endorses Gavin Newsom for governor," November 30, 2017
- ↑ CBS Sacramento, "Mayor Darrell Steinberg Endorses Gavin Newsom’s Campaign For Governor," November 27, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY IBEW LOCAL 47," May 23, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY CALIFORNIA NOW (NATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR WOMEN)," May 15, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "San Diego Union-Tribune: 'Antonio Villaraigosa: the clear choice for California governor'," May 11, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "LA Times: 'Antonio Villaraigosa Showed Political Courage in Hard Times. He Should be California's Next Governor'," May 10, 2018
- ↑ Santa Barbara Independent, "Endorsements, June 2018," May 10, 2018
- ↑ San Francisco Chronicle, "The Chronicle endorsement: Gavin Newsom for California governor," May 9, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Endorses Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor of California," May 9, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY FONTANA DEMOCRATIC CLUB," May 8, 2018
- ↑ Join Travis Allen, "The Santa Barbara County Republican Party JUST ANNOUNCED that they endorsed Trav…" May 5, 2018
- ↑ Santa Cruz Sentinel, "Editorial: Newsom best choice to follow Brown’s success as governor," May 5, 2018
- ↑ San Francisco Bay Guardian, "Endorsements: Kim and Leno for mayor. Mandelman for supervisor. Eastin for governor. Yes on F, No on H," May 2, 2018
- ↑ Times of San Diego, "Howard Jarvis PAC Endorses Rancho Santa Fe’s John Cox for Governor," April 30, 2018
- ↑ The Mercury News, "Editorial: Newsom most thoughtful candidate for governor," April 28, 2018
- ↑ The Sentinel, "Kings County Republican Party endorses Travis Allen for governor," April 27, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "African-American Farmers of California Endorse Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor," April 24, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "News: The Nisei Farmers League Endorses Antonio Villaraigosa for Governor of California," April 24, 2018
- ↑ Join Travis Allen, "Travis Allen WINS the Orange County Republican Party Endorsement!" April 18, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY SILICON VALLEY ASIAN PACIFIC AMERICAN DEMOCRATIC CLUB," April 13, 2018
- ↑ California Labor Federation, "California Labor Federation Endorses Gavin Newsom for Governor," April 12, 2018
- ↑ Join Travis Allen, "San Diegans for Secure Borders Endorses Republican Travis Allen for California Governor," April 11, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY AAPI DEMOCRATIC CLUB OF SAN DIEGO," April 2, 2018
- ↑ EdSource, "While criticizing Newsom, California charter school group endorses Villaraigosa for governor," March 27, 2018
- ↑ PRNewsWire, "Teamsters Joint Council 42 Endorses Antonio Villaraigosa For Governor," March 14, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Powerful labor union backs Gavin Newsom for California governor," February 13, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA STATE SUPERVISORS," February 7, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Blade, "Equality California endorses Gavin Newsom for Governor," January 30, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY BURBANK DEMOCRATIC CLUB," January 29, 2018
- ↑ Twitter, "Doug Sovern," January 19, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "PEACE OFFICERS RESEARCH ASSOCIATION OF CALIFORNIA ENDORSE ANTONIO VILLARAIGOSA FOR GOVERNOR," January 11, 2018
- ↑ LifeNews.com, "California Pro-Life Democrats Endorse Pro-Life Republican John Cox for Governor," January 10, 2018
- ↑ San Francisco Berniecrats, "SF Berniecrats Endorse Delaine Eastin for Governor!" January 4, 2018
- ↑ PR Newswire, "Teamsters Joint Council 7 Endorses Gavin Newsom For California Governor," December 8, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE JOHN CHIANG ENDORSED BY LOS ANGELES DEPUTY SHERIFFS," December 1, 2017
- ↑ PRNewswire, "California Laborers' Union Endorse Gavin Newsom For California Governor," November 1, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "California Teachers Assn. votes to endorse Gavin Newsom for governor," October 21, 2017
- ↑ National Union of Healthcare Workers, "After hosting debate, NUHW leaders endorse Gavin Newsom for California governor," October 18, 2017
- ↑ Highland Community News, "CALIFORNIA PROLIFE PAC ENDORSES JOHN COX FOR GOVERNOR," October 17, 2017
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "CAPE ENDORSES JOHN CHIANG FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA," June 22, 2017
- ↑ John Cox for Governor, "Statewide grassroots organization-California Impact Republicans-endorse and unite behind Businessman John Cox for Governor 2018," April 23, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "California nurses union endorses Gavin Newsom in governor's race," December 2, 2015
- ↑ Travis Allen for Governor, "Endorsements," accessed February 18, 2018
- ↑ KSBY, "California Governor candidates face off in live debate," April 29, 2018
- ↑ NBC Los Angeles, "Watch: Five Candidates for California Governor Meet in Debate," March 27, 2018
- ↑ ABC 7, "4 candidates running for California governor face off in gubernatorial forum," March 25, 2018
- ↑ The San Diego Union-Tribune, "GOP governor candidates debate in Poway," March 14, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Three of the top Democrats in the governor's race vow to make California — and Sacramento — more diverse," February 14, 2018
- ↑ Courthouse News, "Environment Dominates California Gubernatorial Debates," February 7, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Republican candidates for California governor square off at debate over harassment allegations, conservative credentials," February 7, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Democratic candidates for California governor in perfect harmony at debate over abortion rights," January 30, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Daily News, "Gavin Newsom is the target as 6 candidates battle in California governor debate," January 13, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Republican candidates for California governor spar over support for Trump in their first debate," January 5, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Democrats running for governor face off in San Francisco over healthcare, charter schools," October 24, 2017
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Democrats running for California governor debate over bringing single-payer healthcare to the state," October 22, 2017
- ↑ The Sacramento Bee, "California Republican activists favor John Cox for governor but remain divided," May 6, 2018
- ↑ KTLA 5, "After Close Race for Endorsement Between Newsom and Chiang, Democratic Party Fails to Back a Candidate," February 25, 2018
- ↑ Sacramento Bee, "Super PAC led by Obama, Clinton vets forms to help Villaraigosa in governor’s race," January 12, 2018
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "A few rich charter school supporters are spending millions to elect Antonio Villaraigosa as California governor," May 16, 2018
- ↑ Twitter, "Rob Pyers," accessed May 31, 2018
- ↑ 156.0 156.1 156.2 156.3 156.4 156.5 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Join Travis Allen, "It's Time to Take Back California," accessed March 13, 2018
- ↑ John Chiang for Governor, "Where He Stands On the Issues," accessed May 11, 2018
- ↑ John Cox for Governor, "My Policy Agenda," accessed March 13, 2018
- ↑ Delaine Eastin for Governor, "A California That Works for Everyone," accessed March 13, 2018
- ↑ Gavin for Governor, "Home," accessed March 13, 2018
- ↑ Antonio for California, "Issues," accessed March 13, 2018
- ↑ California Demographics, "California Cities by Population," accessed April 2, 2018
- ↑ U.S. Census Bureau, "Quickfacts California," accessed April 2, 2018
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' statewide election results by congressional and legislative districts," July 9, 2013
- ↑ Daily Kos, "Daily Kos Elections' 2016 presidential results for congressional and legislative districts," February 6, 2017
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