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Thomas Jefferson Cares
Thomas Jefferson Cares (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the California State Senate to represent District 33. He lost in the special primary on March 26, 2019.
Cares completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. Click here to read the survey answers.
Cares ran unsuccessfully in the Democratic primary for Governor of California in 2018.
Elections
2019
See also: California state legislative special elections, 2019
General election
Special general election for California State Senate District 33
Lena Gonzalez defeated Jack Guerrero in the special general election for California State Senate District 33 on June 4, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Lena Gonzalez (D) | 69.8 | 32,394 |
 | Jack Guerrero (R) | 30.2 | 14,049 | |
| Total votes: 46,443 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Special nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 33
The following candidates ran in the special primary for California State Senate District 33 on March 26, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lena Gonzalez (D) | 31.6 | 10,984 |
| ✔ | | Jack Guerrero (R) | 14.0 | 4,860 |
| Ali Saleh (D) | 9.6 | 3,334 | ||
 | Ana Maria Quintana (D) | 8.8 | 3,038 | |
 | Jose Solache (D) | 7.5 | 2,594 | |
| Denise Diaz (D) | 6.9 | 2,404 | ||
 | Martha Flores-Gibson (R) | 6.4 | 2,225 | |
| Leticia Vasquez-Wilson (D) | 5.3 | 1,839 | ||
 | Al Austin (D) | 3.9 | 1,356 | |
| Thomas Jefferson Cares (D) | 2.4 | 828 | ||
| Chris Garcia (D) | 2.1 | 720 | ||
| Cesar Flores (G) | 1.5 | 529 | ||
| Total votes: 34,711 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2018
See also: California gubernatorial election, 2018
General election
General election for Governor of California
Gavin Newsom defeated John Cox in the general election for Governor of California on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gavin Newsom (D) | 61.9 | 7,721,410 |
 | John Cox (R) | 38.1 | 4,742,825 | |
| Total votes: 12,464,235 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of California on June 5, 2018.
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. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
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)
Campaign themes
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Thomas Jefferson Cares completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2019. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Cares' responses.
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
Political Reform Revolutionizing access to opportunity Criminal Justice Reform and Civil Rights
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about?
1. Dignity: The first thing the state owes us is treating everyone with dignity. At its core, this means zero tolerance for police brutality and harassment. But it means much more. California would greatly benefit from having a State Department of Dignity that oversees and guides all facets of state and local government for the purpose of ensuring that all government-civilian interactions are dignified for the civilian, and to identify statutes that harm personal dignity (i.e. policies that result in poor people losing their drivers licenses for financial reasons). 2. Revolutionizing access to opportunity: I believe California can seize on the new digital currency revolution and install a legal framework that enables everyone to have their own currency, and make legally binding promises for their currency to be redeemable for things like future services or a small fraction of future income. The whole world could then have access to invest in the personal potential of Californians, generating a whirlwind of opportunity. I also believe the state should be more hands-on in connecting all Californians with opportunity. 3. Political Reform: We rely on governmental systems that were devised before we had electricity. Now is the time to start rethinking the best ways for a population to govern themselves. I’m passionate about integrating ‘Liquid Democracy’ into our political system. With Liquid Democracy, we can potentially stop relying on easily-corruptible contests to win whole units of political power for long periods of time (like how we elect our State Legislature). Instead, voters can directly vote on matters, while also having chosen someone to represent them when they don’t vote. Representatives then get to cast as many votes as the number of nonvoting voters who chose them. Voters can also change their representative any time. I believe this will enfranchise the disenfranchised, make society more harmonious, stronger, and better at solving problems. In our existing political systems, I’m also passionate about ranked choice voting, and using ‘democracy vouchers’ to reform campaign financing. 4. Ending Mass Incarceration: California incarcerates at almost 6 times the rate of Canada. This is a cancer in our soul. We must start to do things differently, not just with how we handle criminal justice and sentencing, but also in ensuring that crime never feels like the best choice for anyone. 5. Halting Climate Change: California has been a good leader on this issue but can still be better. I believe we need high taxes on things that worsen the problem of climate change, such as fossil fuels and meat. While these taxes would be important for deterrence, they should not be at the expense of the poor and middle class. Revenue from these taxes should be redistributed equally to every Californian.
What qualities do you possess that you believe would make you a successful officeholder?
I believe I can see further ahead on how policies will really come to affect people, and predicting unintended consequences. I'm also very good at being aware of what I don't know, and recognizing who knows best on a particular matter. I've also experienced so many of the problems that affect Californians. I've been assaulted by police. I've felt the brunt of the state's abusive 'criminal justice system'. I've experienced homelessness. I was a runaway teen and an emancipated minor. I've raised a family... I also have a strong background in business and finance, and a lifelong obsession with public policy. My particular life experiences and background will go a long way in making me an effective Governor who serves all Californians.
What legacy would you like to leave?
I want to leave the State's political system in unrecognizably better shape. I want to leave Californians taking it for granted that they will always be able to do things with their life that feel meaningful to them. I want to leave behind a government that cherishes each person's dignity making police brutality and mass incarceration a thing of the past.
What is the first historical event that happened in your lifetime that you remember? How old were you at the time?
I was 12 years old during the Bush v. Gore election. I paid very close attention to the campaigns and the recount issues afterward. I'd always been interested in politics and policy but that election made me also think about electoral reform, including how Nader had been blamed for Gore's loss. Shortly after the 2000 election I though I invented a great system to prevent the so-called spoiling of elections. After I told a couple of dozen people about it, I was happy to hear that what I thought I invented was called 'Instant Runoff Voting', and that there were already activists trying proliferate its use.
What was your very first job? How long did you have it?
My first job was when I was 15. I worked for a few months at a party supply rental store on the corner of Washington and Crenshaw in Los Angeles. At first, I loaded a truck for 16 hours a day. It was intense. Eventually, the business and I realized I could be more useful setting up databases to make the business more efficient and helping in other administrative capacities.
What is your favorite holiday? Why?
Does Burning Man count as a holiday?
What do you love most about your state?
The people. The diversity. The innovativeness.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2019 Elections
External links
Footnotes
