Woodrow Sanders III
Woodrow Sanders III (independent) (also known as Woody) ran for election for Governor of California. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.
Biography
Woodrow Sanders III earned an A.S. in computer information science from American River College and a B.S. in computer science from California State University at Sacramento. Sanders' career experience includes owning a business and working as the executive director of a nonprofit and as a California state government employee.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: California gubernatorial election, 2022
General election
General election for Governor of California
Incumbent Gavin Newsom defeated Brian Dahle in the general election for Governor of California on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Gavin Newsom (D) | 59.2 | 6,470,104 |
 | Brian Dahle (R) | 40.8 | 4,462,914 | |
| Total votes: 10,933,018 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Governor of California
The following candidates ran in the primary for Governor of California on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Gavin Newsom (D) | 55.9 | 3,945,748 |
| ✔ | | Brian Dahle (R) | 17.7 | 1,252,800 |
 | Michael Shellenberger (Independent) | 4.1 | 290,286 | |
 | Jenny Rae Le Roux (R) | 3.5 | 246,665 | |
 | Anthony Trimino (R) | 3.5 | 246,322 | |
 | Shawn Collins (R) | 2.5 | 173,083 | |
 | Luis Rodriguez (G) | 1.8 | 124,672 | |
 | Leo Zacky (R) | 1.3 | 94,521 | |
 | Major Williams (R) | 1.3 | 92,580 | |
 | Robert Newman (R) | 1.2 | 82,849 | |
 | Joel Ventresca (D) | 0.9 | 66,885 | |
 | David Lozano (R) | 0.9 | 66,542 | |
| Ronald Anderson (R) | 0.8 | 53,554 | ||
 | Reinette Senum (Independent) | 0.8 | 53,015 | |
 | Armando Perez-Serrato (D) | 0.6 | 45,474 | |
 | Ron Jones (R) | 0.5 | 38,337 | |
 | Daniel Mercuri (R) | 0.5 | 36,396 | |
 | Heather Collins (G) | 0.4 | 29,690 | |
 | Anthony Fanara (D) | 0.4 | 25,086 | |
 | Cristian Morales (R) | 0.3 | 22,304 | |
 | Lonnie Sortor (R) | 0.3 | 21,044 | |
 | Frederic Schultz (Independent) | 0.2 | 17,502 | |
 | Woodrow Sanders III (Independent) | 0.2 | 16,204 | |
 | James Hanink (Independent) | 0.1 | 10,110 | |
 | Serge Fiankan (Independent) | 0.1 | 6,201 | |
 | Bradley Zink (Independent) | 0.1 | 5,997 | |
| Jeff Scott (American Independent Party of California) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 13 | ||
| Gurinder Bhangoo (R) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 8 | ||
| Total votes: 7,063,888 | |||
| = 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
- Errol Webber (R)
- Laura Smith (R)
- Chaz Flemmings (Independent)
- John Drake (D)
- Mohammad Arif (D)
- Hilaire Shioura (Independent)
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2022
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Woodrow Sanders III did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign website
Sanders' campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
Government Operations Allow Departmental Employees to Choose Their Department Head While the California constitution gives the governor authority to appoint his own department heads, such matters should involve the people impacted most by such a decision: departmental employees. As governor, I will only appoint department heads that have been recommended by departmental rank-and-file employees. Similarly, I will remove any department head that doesn’t have the confidence of a super majority of departmental rank-and-file employees. Finally, I won’t tolerate department leaders (executives, managers, supervisors, and leads) who promote policies that create an unpleasant or hostile work environment. The Employment Development Department is one agency that could possibly benefit from such a practice considering Governor Newsom has appointed its third director in 13 months; either he has unrealistic expectations of these individuals or he’s appointing incompetent leaders. Consolidate California's 235 Departments California had 234 state agencies when Governor Newsom assumed office in January 2019; we now have 235 because of his questionable decision to create an Office of Digital Innovation (ODI). During Newsom’s tenure as governor, he has signed three state budgets. Did it ever strike him as odd that we have TWO HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE departments? Having served as Lieutenant Governor, Mayor of San Francisco, and a member of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors, he has first-hand knowledge of the extraordinary level of bureaucracy that exists in our state. Creating ODI only exacerbates this problem. Rather than create a new department, a more optimal solution is to simply create a position (i.e., Chief Innovation Officer) within the Office of the Governor that reports directly to the governor and is responsible for championing innovation across all state departments. Directives coming from the Office of the Governor carry more weight than those that come from ODI. Listed below are a few of the questions that I intend to ask department leaders when evaluating their departments for consolidation:
Limit Amount of Time Department Leaders Can Hold Same Position There’s a tendency in local and state government to allow department leaders to hold the same position indefinitely; in fact, there are departments where a supervisor, manager, or executive has held the same position for ten years or longer. Absent performance metrics for evaluating all departmental operations and reliable methods for monitoring them, we should not allow department leaders to hold the same position for more than five years. Allowing lengthy tenures for department leaders has the potential to diminish the quality of public services, produce a work environment that discourages innovation, and contribute to conditions where mismanagement can occur. My plan involves adopting a “3 + 2” system where department leaders are initially limited to holding their position for a maximum period of three years; however, they can extend this term by two additional years provided they receive favorable 360 reviews (limited to their departmental and other municipality staff) and their unit consistently meets quantifiable performance standards centered around process improvement and operating cost reductions.
Remove Politics from California's Parole & Clemency Process Governor Newsom lives in a world that few us can relate to. First, he’s a multi-millionaire that’s married to a multi-millionaire. He surrounds himself with the ultra-rich, who also fund his political campaigns. He leads from a distance and lacks meaningful connections with most Californians. If you review his parole reversal decisions, you can clearly see he’s making uninformed and politically-motivated decisions about someone whom he has never met or spoken with. As your governor, I will not let fear or self-preservation or special interest groups influence my decisions. While the California constitution gives the governor authority to reverse a parole decision made by the Board of Parole Hearing (BPH) commissioners to parole an inmate, one notable case underscores why a governor should not have that power. What’s most troubling about such cases is that Governor Newsom and his predecessors overrule professionally-trained and experienced correctional staff that have reviewed an inmate’s rehabilitation efforts, repeatedly interacted with them throughout their sentence, and personally spoken with an inmate prior to reaching a decision to recommend parole. During Newsom’s tenure as governor, he has reversed countless parole decisions. It’s astounding that he can make such an important decision concerning an inmate’s life without first talking with them to determine to what extent they’ve changed since the commission of their crime. Not only are the governor’s actions illogical, but they’re undermining the credibility of the Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation (CDCR) and implicitly stating the department’s rehabilitation and parole programs are ineffective. According to California’s Legislative Analyst’s Office, it costs taxpayers $106,131/year to incarcerate a SINGLE inmate. Governor Newsom’s policies and parole reversal decisions are literally bankrupting the state. Implement the "Start Over Connected" Program to Reduce Parolee Recidivism & Homelessness Advocating for the release of CDCR prisoner Michael Tubbs Sr. (CDCR# J42679) and interacting with parolees that have successfully transitioned back into society has allowed Woodrow to develop a deep understanding of the California prison system and its prisoners. As a result of these experiences, Woodrow will assume a lead role in implementing the Start Over Connected (SOC) program. SOC is designed to help parolees successfully transition back into society by teaching them how to operate a smartphone and connect with the seemingly limitless life-affirming services it provides. Woodrow discussed the project with a prison reform advocate and a recent former CDCR inmate who served 21- and 30-year prison sentences, respectively; they both agreed that having such a program would have been immensely beneficial to them coming out of prison. Woodrow's Relatable Life Experiences Can Transform Struggling Minority Communities Woodrow knows first-hand the challenges of growing up in struggling communities. He was born in a low-income section of Fayetteville, North Carolina where he learned at a young age to defend himself and protect his siblings. He was a young child when his parents divorced; as a result, Woodrow was constantly being shuttled back and forth between living in Fayetteville with his mother and living in Augusta, Georgia, with his father, who was in the U.S. Army at the time. In 1989, Woodrow’s father received a permanent change of station military assignment to Northern California. Woodrow’s first academic and social introduction to the Golden State was Rio Linda High School (RLHS). At the time, RLHS did not have the best reputation for student/staff safety and academic success; in fact, RLHS was similar, in some regards, to the last school Woodrow attended in Augusta, the Academy of Richmond County (ARC). Although Woodrow did not serve in our country’s armed forces, his participation in ARC’s and RLHS’ Army and Air Force JROTC programs, respectively, taught him discipline, patience, and a laudable work ethic that will serve California well if he is elected governor. Woodrow later graduated from Center High School in Antelope where his family purchased their first home since relocating to California.[2] |
” |
| —Woodrow Sanders III's campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
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Candidate Governor of California |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Woodrow Sanders III, "Why Woodrow?" accessed May 5, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Woodrow Sanders III, “Woodrow's Plan,” accessed April 28, 2022
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