One of the many flaws of California’s term limits law is that it creates needless conflict and enmity between would-be allies each vying to do their part to make the State a better place, as each candidate is forced to abandon a job they have just barely learned, to campaign for a different job. Conflicts arise in this perpetual game of musical chairs, accountability is minimal, and activists are left in a jam deciding whom to support.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in AD-35, where Assemblymember Pedro Nava has been termed out, forcing a run at the Attorney General job. The power vacuum left by in Nava’s absence has opened the field for two impressive candidates, both of whom are well-liked in the district: Susan Jordan, Mr. Nava’s wife and co-founder of the California Coastal Protection Network (CCPN) and Vote The Coast, and Das Williams, Santa Barbara City Councilman and longtime community activist through CAUSE as their legislative analyst. Williams also serves as a national board member of the National Organization for Women, and is on the Peabody Charter School Board.
The Republican banner will be carried by former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker. However, given the 20-point voter registration advantage favoring Democrats in the district, the winner of the Democratic primary is almost certain to hold this safe Democratic seat.
Most activists here in the Ventura and Santa Barbara areas know each of these individuals well, and have worked with them on multiple issues. As the race intensifies, it is painful for many to make a choice between them, and many have avoided doing so to date. I personally have endorsed Mr. Williams, having worked with him on a number of different issues here already in less than a year of local activism, while my contact with Ms. Jordan has been more limited. Each candidate has amassed a long list of endorsers, though neither campaign has publicly distributed an official list of endorsers to date (a print flyer has been made available by the Jordan campaign, but it is not online and not currently in my possession), and a large number remain on the fence. Ms. Jordan’s biggest ally, obviously, is Assemblymember Nava; Mr. Williams, however, counters with the almost equally hard-hitting support of Hannah-Beth Jackson, whom he served as Chief of Staff in the SD-19 2008 election.
On a personal level, there is already significant rancor between the two sides: while both have promised a positive campaign, and neither candidate has made overt attacks on the other, various operatives have been busy attempting to earn support with some negative charges. Williams had expected to be next in line for the spot and hint at nepotism between Nava and Jordan; Jordan backers paint Das as overly ambitious because Williams previously ran unsuccessfully for Supervisor, and because of Das’ comparative youth at 34 years of age. Williams is in his second term on the Santa Barbara City Council, and will be termed out–needlessly adding increased stakes under the the guise of “reform” through term limits.
Also an issue in the race is the vaunted PXP drilling: during the early days of the proposed deal, Williams backed a variety of local environmental organizations in supporting the deal. Jordan and Nava were opposed, due to precedent and the belief, later reinforced by various agencies, that the deal’s sunset provision would be unenforceable. The deal eventually became the famous statewide issue it is today, it will sure to be a major attack avenue against Mr. Williams by Ms. Jordan.
To date, the race is playing out similar to the Clinton-Obama primary war in a battle between youth/change and experience/responsibility–but with an added wrinkle. While Mr. Williams is young, he also boasts greater experience in elected office, particularly in the field of balancing budgets, an issue particularly crucial to Assembly candidates. Mr. Williams has repeatedly referenced Santa Barbara’s continued balanced budgets as proof of his ability to make difficult budget choices in a progressive fashion, and contrasted his record in Santa Barbara with that of the legislature in Sacramento (somewhat unfairly, as the SB city council is not hamstrung by a 2/3 rule). Ms. Jordan, meanwhile, will be running ostensibly (and probably unfairly) to the left of Mr. Williams on environmental issues, and as an outsider to the political process despite her connection with Mr. Nava, while attempting to frame Mr. Williams as a career politician.
It is in this somewhat unpleasant context that the Williams campaign released their surprisingly strong fundraising numbers this evening. While it was expected that Ms. Jordan would outraise Mr. Williams due to greater large-scale institutional support and an earlier head start (including a high-profile fundraiser at the home of Pierce Brosnan), the opposite has proved true, with the Williams campaign having raised over $120,000 as of the June 30th deadline, compared with the Jordan campaign’s $110,000.
The full text of the emailed press release follows below the fold:
Local Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams Outraises Main Opponent In Campaign for Assembly District 35
Santa Barbara, CA – Showing that local residents are looking for a new kind of elected leader in Sacramento, local Santa Barbara City Councilman Das Williams today reports having raised over $120,000 in his campaign for Assembly District 35 as of the June 30th reporting deadline. In significantly less time, Das Williams outraised his main opponent Susan Jordan – wife of the District’s current Assemblymember Pedro Nava – who raised $110,000.
Das’ strong financial showing complements his already strong grassroots network and growing list of local endorsers and supporters.
“Das Williams raised more money than Susan Jordan in just half the time,” said campaign spokesperson Josh Pulliam. “Loaded with a $12,500 personal loan and strapped with unpaid debt, Susan Jordan’s financial report comes straight out of the same Sacramento playbook that brought us a historic budget crisis. These financial reports illustrate that voters in the district are ready for change. As a local councilmember, Das already represents nearly a quarter of the Assembly District, and today’s numbers prove that he’s going to have the necessary resources to mount a successful campaign.”
Das Williams is campaigning to succeed termed-out Assemblymember Pedro Nava.
Das Williams grew up on the Central Coast and is a product of local public schools. In 2003, Das Williams became the youngest person ever to be elected to the Santa Barbara City Council, and was re-elected in 2007. Das has worked as a teacher, a policy aide for former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, and a community organizer working to stop the development of a Wal-Mart in Ventura and enact local living wage laws in Santa Barbara and Ventura. Das serves on the Peabody Charter School Board and is a national board member of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Das received his undergraduate degree from the University of California at Berkeley and holds a graduate degree in Environmental Science & Management from the University of California at Santa Barbara.