Tag Archives: Hannah-Beth Jackson

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Tobacco Money in California SD-19

Big tobacco is pouring money into the crucial California Senate  District 19 race!  See: Tobacco firm funds county GOP : Local News : Ventura County Star,

The nation’s largest tobacco company has donated $50,000 to the Ventura County Republican Central Committee as the local party gears up to help GOP candidate Tony Strickland in what is expected to be a multimillion-dollar campaign this fall in the 19th Senate District.

[. . .] “There’s an alarming trend of the tobacco industry increasing its influence by ramping up its political contributions,” said Jim Knox, vice president of the American Cancer Society Action Network.

Knox noted the tobacco industry played “a major role in killing healthcare reform in California last year. They don’t issue press releases, they don’t testify at hearings, but they’re hard at work in the halls of the Capitol.”

Senate District 19 is the potential “flip” seat in the senate.  If Hannah-Beth Jackson wins it could mean the vote that lets Democrats finally pass budgets.

So why is tobacco interested in keeping Republican ability to block budgets?  Why did they fight to block health care reform?

Part of the financing of the healthcare plan was to have been a $1.75 per-pack tax increase on cigarettes.

Please go read the rest of the article if you care about health and politics – and the health of politics – in California.

Disclaimer – I do some work for Speak Out California, which was founded by Hannah-Beth Jackson, but this post comes from my own concern over this and is not related to that work.

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June 2008 State Senate Endorsements

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Before we get into the next round of endorsements, we have a few comments in here about how we envision this working.   The endorsements are the opinion of the board, not the community as a whole – we would hope they generate a good discussion about the various candidates in every district.

Furthermore, these are primary endorsements, so somebody is not going to be happy about them. We apologize for that, but if you don't like our opinions, you should let us know that.  Write a comment here. Post a diary about the candidate of your choice.  Let the community know why you think your preferred candidate is the best choice in the Democratic Primary.  Unlike newspapers, this is a two-way medium. We not only accept comments on these endorsements, we encourage it. So, feel free to tell us how wrong we really are.  

And with that said, here are the State Senate Endorsements. Explanations over the flip.

SD-03: Mark Leno
SD-05: Lois Wolk (UPDATED)
SD-09: Loni Hancock & Wilma Chan
SD-12: Simon Salinas / Yes on Recall
SD-15: Dennis Morris
SD-19: Hannah-Beth Jackson
SD-23: Lloyd Levine and Fran Pavley
SD-25: No Endorsement
SD-33: Gary Pritchard

SD-03: Mark Leno
Brian Leubitz works for the Mark Leno campaign, but his vote was not counted.

Mark Leno has been a friend of the netroots from Day One. While his net neutrality bill ultimately died a swift death, on cannot underestimate his willingness to fight for sometimes unpopular issues.  That is not to say that Leno himself is not popular around the Capitol.  He has managed to maintain a presence of collegiality in the Assembly, and it will be valuable in the Senate.

Joe Nation is a good guy, but he's just too moderate for this district.  While we might be willing to support him for, say, McClintock's old seat, SD-03 is not the seat for him.  Carole Migden's blatant disregard for campaign finance rules is troubling, despite her record of fighting for progressive causes. Mark Leno will be the best representative for the district in the Senate.

UPDATE: SD-05: Lois Wolk

We missed this seat in our original endorsment list, but thhis will be one of the big battle grounds come November, despite a strong Democratic registartion advantage.  In 2004, Mike Machado won re-election by oly 1.4%. Asm.  Lois Wolk of Davis will be trying to keep this seat blue. Here challenger in the primary, C. Jennet Stebbens, while a leader in the African-American agriculture community, does not appear to have the resources to wage what will be a tough campaign against presumptive Republican nominee Asm. Greg Aghzarian.  Wolk's been a fine legislator in the 8th Assembly District, and would make the 5th SD proud in the Senate.

SD-09: Loni Hancock & Wilma Chan

The district should be proud that they have two strong candidates like this form which to choose.  Hancock's work for clean money has been exceptional.  Wilma Chan was a wonderful advocate for children and education while she was in the Assembly, and would continue her fine record in the Senate.  The IEs have been somewhat annoying in this seat, but progressives win either way. 

SD-12: Yes on the Recall/ Simon Salinas

While outgoing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata has “dropped” the recall bid against Jeff Denham, Simon Salinas isn't planning on dropping the campaign.  This district should be a Democratic seat, and Simon Salinas, while not a perfect progressive, would be a far better representative for this district than Republican Jeff Denham.

SD-15: Dennis Morris

This is a marginal district without a Democratic candidate.  Dennis Morris agreed to step up and try to get on the ballot.  He's a non-politician, an intellectual property lawyer to be exact. We hope he can get on the November ballot and give Maldanado at least a reason to spend some money in his own district.

SD-19: Hannah-Beth Jackson

Hannah-Beth Jackson has no primary challenge, as Jim Dantona dropped out a few months ago. However, Hannah-Beth has long been a friend of the netroots through SpeakOut California. She will be a champion of education and environmental issues, and there is no doubt that she will be a better Senator than termed-out Tom McClintock or her own likely opponent, Tony Strickland.

SD-23: Dual Endorsement of Lloyd Levine & Fran Pavley

We liked both Asm. Levine and former Asm. Pavley's appearances on the Calitics Show a few weeks back.  Both are strong leaders on the environment and education.  Levine seemed to understand the long-term issues of the budget a little better, and Pavley's resume of work on the environment was a bit longer.  We do wish that the IEs would cut it out with the lame mailers though.  Whomever wins, the district wins.

SD-25: No endorsement

Asm. Mervyn Dymally and former Asm. Rod Wright are running for the seat of termed-out Ed Vincent. Dymally, who has a tremendous history of leadership in this state, had some problems with handing out badges and could be better on a wealth of issues. Wright is a moderate Democrat courting business interests. We couldn't bring ourselves to endorse either.

SD-33: Gary Pritchard

This is the district of the termed-out Dick Ackerman.  Mr. Pritchard does not have a primary opponent, but he will be a heavy underdog to whichever far-right Republican that emerges from the battle of Harry Sidhu and Mimi Walters. We wholeheartedly support Pritchard's run.  We certainly can't defeat the Republicans if nobody is running against them.

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SD-19: Strickland’s Phony Enviro Pose

An amusing article written today by Ventura County Star’s Timm Herdt on Republican candidate Tony Strickland (running vs. Hannah-Beth Jackson) on Strickland’s ballot designation as an ‘Alternative Energy Executive.’ Turns out he’s the President of GreenWave Energy Solutions, a newly-created company that is designed to develop wave energy technology. The staff is basically made of Strickland’s Senate campaign workers, and his avowed interest and faith in alternative energy is belied by the fact that he hasn’t even put up the $5,000 investment that his four partners have. In fact Strickland, when he was a member of the Assembly, voted against legislation that would have required energy companies to supply more of their energy from renewable energy resources, which would have created a real market for GreenWave Energy (and many other green technology companies). Strickland’s opponent, Hannah-Beth Jackson, was a co-author of two bills in 2002 designed to expand markets for just such companies (SB 1038, SB 1078).

What’s really funny, though, is Strickland’s environmental pose. As a legislator he was a one-man wrecking crew on initiatives to protect our air and water, never missing an opportunity to side with polluters against the environment He voted against air quality standards, emissions caps, greenhouse gas standards, strengthening penalties for air quality violations, incentives for low-emission vehicles, environmental regulation of Mexican trucks, reduction in diesel and port pollution, a ban on oil tanking along the California coast. He voted to protect agricultural burning and offshore waste incineration. He opposed a ban on the sale and manufacture of items (including children’s toys!) that contained mercury. He even voted against a Jackson-authored measure to prevent pesticide spraying next door to schoolchildren.

Hannah-Beth has long been regarded as an environmental champion, receiving the endorsement of the California League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club in every election in which she’s run. In the Assembly she chaired the two key environmental committees, and authored over 30 pieces of legislation designed to promote alternative energy sources, protect air and water quality, reduce coastal pollution, preserve open space, protect against pesticides and toxics in our daily lives, and protect the Coastal Commission and the California coast against overdevelopment and pollution. To find out more about Hannah-Beth Jackson’s campaign for State Senate, or join this important push to turn a historically red district blue, please visit our website.

Chris Lanier Campaign Manager Friends of Hannah-Beth Jackson

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A Key Race – CA SD-19, Hannah-Beth Jackson

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(You should meet Hannah-Beth. She’s pretty cool. – promoted by Brian Leubitz)

In California Hannah-Beth Jackson is running for the State Senate.  This is a key race because this is the Senate seat that could flip from Republican to Democrat, finally giving the Dems a 2/3 majority and enabling them to finally pass budgets. Her website is: Meet Hannah-Beth

Hannah-Beth is a former member of the California State Assembly who founded Speak Out California, where I post once or twice a week, and the Institute for the Renewal of the California Dream (which does not yet have a website) where I am a Senior Fellow.  This should tell you that she is a solid progressive, concerned with advancing democracy, community, and the mutual prosperity of all Californians instead of the benefits of our work and investment being funneled to the corporations and wealthy.  So she has my endorsement and I hope she can earn yours.

California

First Quarter Fundraising and Labor Stepping Up

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Charlie Brown reported $225,000 in the first quarter of 2008, with over a million dollars raised throughout the campaign.  He’s had 12,000 donors thus far.

Russ Warner took in $100,000 in the first quarter and has $220,000 cash on hand.

But I was more interested in this story, which shows the CNA making an electoral play in two swing districts to help the Democrats reach a 2/3 majority.

This year the nurses union also is backing two Democrats vying for open seats which are being vacated by Republicans:

Up north, longtime San Ramon Valley School Board trustee Joan Buchanan seeks the East Bay’s open 15th Assembly District being vacated by termed-out Assemblyman Guy Houston. In January she reported a $166,000 war chest and most likely will face off against San Ramon Mayor Abram Wilson.

Down south, former Santa Barbara Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson wants to fill Ventura County’s open 19th District state Senate seat being surrendered by termed-out Tom McClintock, who’s heading north to run for an open congressional seat near Sacramento. Ex-Assemblyman Tony Strickland is the GOP’s anointed successor.

“We only need two more Democrats in the senate and six more in the assembly to have a two-thirds Democratic majority,” said CNA legislative director Donna Gerber, who spent six years as a Contra Costa County supervisor.

“When there are budget cuts those budget cuts pretty much happen in health care and education. So for sure we are supporting Hannah-Beth Jackson and Joan Buchanan. Those are two that we’re putting a lot of our energy into.”

If labor jumps in explicitly in these legislative races to aid in the drive for 2/3 then we’ll have a distinct financial advantage.  Remember that the CA Republican Party is essentially broke.  This is the best news I’ve heard all week and I know the rest of labor will follow suit.

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SD-19: Dantona Drops Out

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In what I can only describe as a shocking development, Jim Dantona, the moderate Democrat looking to notch a pickup in the Thousand Oaks/Simi Valley/Santa Barbara Senate seat held currently by Tom McClintock, has dropped out of the race, clearing the field for Hannah Beth-Jackson.  This will allow Jackson to go up against Tony Strickland, in all likelihood, in this Senate seat which is rapidly becoming a bluer district.  Here’s his statement:

“Our polling shows I could defeat Strickland by as much as 10% and I would certainly do well against Jackson here in east Ventura County where polling indicates she is a relative unknown.  But my intention was never to run against a fellow Democrat for this seat.  I was running to bring leadership to this district that represented the will of the people, instead of the continual fringes of partisanship.”

 

“Even with solid polling numbers, Jackson and I would have to spend a fortune against each other and that was never my intention. Tony has already put together a healthy war chest with no primary battle. The reality is that if we fight each other, we may as well hand him the Senate.  I am a team player and I wish Hannah Beth only best in her race.”  

“As for me, business is very good and I am sure to be back and forth between Sacramento, Washington D.C. and Simi Valley.  I am in negotiations with several companies in Italy and I’ve been asked to get involved in the Presidential elections, which I am very much looking forward to.” (Dantona previously consulted for Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter)

 

“I will continue to work for the causes I believe in and I will always reach across the political aisle to garner support for our community.”

I did not see this one coming, but I wish Hannah-Beth Jackson great luck in turning this seat blue and getting us closer to a 2/3 majority in the Senate.  Hopefully Dantona will assist in that effort.  And I’m excited that we’ll get a real test to see just how this district is trending.

California

The Drive For 2/3: Democratic Values on the Ronald Reagan Freeway

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(The second in an occasional series of articles highlighting California legislative districts and candidates that could provide Democrats with a vital 2/3 majority.)

On the drive out from Santa Monica to Simi Valley, there’s a moment when you know that you’ve left Los Angeles County and ventured into Ventura.  Suddenly, the greenery recedes away, the canyon walls rise, and the scene becomes positively dramatic.  If you let your mind wander, you could picture yourself in the middle of a John Ford movie backdrop or a national monument somewhere in Utah, despite being just 35 miles from downtown LA.

I was headed out to a fundraiser, driving along the 118 Freeway, which area transportation poohbahs see fit to remind you is named the “Ronald Reagan Freeway” about every 8/10th of a mile.  Astonishingly enough, this was a Democratic fundraiser.  For a candidate seeking a seat held by Tom McClintock, arguably the most rock-ribbed conservative in the entire state.  And it’s a seat Democrats can win.  Things are changing along the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

If you want to look at it statistically, there’s no better resource than ortcutt’s fantastic rundown.  The raw numbers are pretty clear.  Over the last 5 years, Senate District 19, serving Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties, along with a sliver of LA County at Santa Clarita, has gone from a 7-point Republican registration advantage to just over a 4-point one, one of the larger moves in the whole state.  The state’s districts were designed not to have any variability, and yet that’s what’s happening.  And this is not just about registration.  Feinstein and Boxer both carried this district, and in 2004 Bush carried it by a mere two points.  And that was before his disastrous second term.  For this and other reasons, the demographics are changing here.

SD-19 (here’s a map) covers major areas like Santa Clarita in LA County, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Camarillo (hello outlet malls) and San Buenavento in Ventura, and large sections of Santa Barbara County like the city of Santa Barbara.  Far more of the district is located in Ventura County, however, and the area has seen a migration of sorts, as residents priced out of the wealthier Santa Barbara housing market have moved in.  And Ventura County Democrats have been relentless.  I have seen their work up close; my region as an AD delegate stretches up through this district, and I have seen presentations of the innovative efforts that were instrumental in closing the registration gap.  These shifts did not happen by accident.  Sure, the different socioeconomic shifts played a part, as well as the failed leadership of the President and an incumbent State Senator who values budget numbers in a ledger far more than constituent services.  But more than that, they were the work of aggressive new tactics.  One of these programs is Vote Blue Committee Central Coast, designed to register and bring to the polls 13,900 new Democrats in 2008.  The group is targeting new residents, building a reliable, locally-based voter file, and encouraging vote-by-mail.  This is the kind of new tactics we need to see replicated throughout California to realize the goals of a true 58-county strategy.

This is why I’m excited about SD-19, regardless of who ultimately runs in the general election.  On the Republican side, Tom McClintock is a termed-out incumbent who is already raising money for yet another statewide run, this time for the Board of Equalization.  I’d be absolutely shocked if this committed conservative would go back on core ideology and decide to run a third term, should the ballot initiative pass and allow him to do so.  Anyway, there’s already a candidate, last year’s State Controller nominee Tony Strickland.  He has the signed endorsement of every member of the Republican Caucus.  He’s looking to join his wife, an Assemblywoman, back in Sacramento.  But he’s really just looking for something to do until Elton Gallegly retires from the Congress.  There’s no burning desire to serve the public here, just a resume-builder until Strickland graduates to the seat he thinks he’s entitled to. 

Which is why I think it’s healthy to have two excellent candidates in a primary, raising the profile of Democratic values, fighting for the right to take down Strickland next November.  We all know about Hannah-Beth Jackson from her incredible work at Speak Out California and her tireless advocacy of progressive ideals.  Let me tell you a little bit about Jim Dantona, who’s been in the race about four months and who you may not know as much about.  First of all, Ventura County Democratic activists in the area pushed very hard for him to run.  I usually give latitude to the locals on the ground for determining who is their best candidate to serve their district.  In this case, Dantona has a resume that is undeniably impressive.  After a brief baseball career with the Chicago Cubs in 1969, he taught elementary school before spending 10 years as chief of staff to longtime Senate President Pro Tem David Roberti.  Later, he founded an organization called “Baseballers Against Drugs” to teach kids the importance of staying clean and addiction-free.  And he’s a single parent of three grown children.

I attended a fundraiser for Dantona last Thursday, featuring longtime friend and former Maryland Lt. Governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend.  The blogger Mark Gage at Conejo Valley Democrat, who I met at the event, has an excellent writeup.  Dantona likes to style himself a “centrist,” and I have no illusions that he’ll be with the most progressive elements of the party on every issue.  But I will say this.  The three main points in his stump speech were jobs, health care for every Californian, and scrapping No Child Left Behind.  As centrism goes, I’d say he’s more Tip O’Neill than Joe Lieberman.  And he didn’t have a bad word to say about Hannah-Beth Jackson, which to me is crucial.

I’m agnostic about the primary, other than thinking it’s very good for the Democratic Party in this area to have two proud Democrats discussing important issues that people in this district haven’t heard about for 8 years.  The locals clearly see this as a terrific opportunity to change the seat and get halfway to that elusive 2/3 majority in the Senate.  And it would obviously set Republicans spinning in their McMansions to see a Democrat representing the towns along the Ronald Reagan Freeway.

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Blog Roundup, Environment, Health Care, San Diego, San Francisco

October 20, 2007 Blog Roundup

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SD-19: Hannah-Beth Jackson enters the race

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Yesterday, a good friend of Calitics, and somebody whom I hold in very high regard, former Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson, announced that she was going to run for the 19th Senate District. The seat is currently held by Tom McClintock, who is termed out (unless the term limits measure passes). Ms. Jackson is a progressive.  Pure and simple, there is no arguing that. Not only that, she is our kind of progressive. She founded SpeakOut California and has been reporting from the Capitol about issues that matter to us. She is one of us.

However, she is not the only Democrat in the race.  On the other corner, we have political consultant Jim Dantona, whose prior experience includes losing an election for Ventura County Supervisor last year and staff work for Senate Pro Tem David Roberti. While he’s not known as a progressive, he does raise the specter of a costly primary battle and would be a strong candidate in his own right. However, while Perata seems to be supporting Dantona, it looks like many of Ms. Jackson’s former colleagues are supporting her bid for the seat.

The Republican candidate, Tony Strickland, seems all but certain at this point. It would be a tough matchup for either Democrat, but it’s a winnable seat.  I look forward to working with Ms. Jackson to help take back this seat and bring us that much closer to 2/3.

California

California Senate District 19 – can Dems take McClintock’s throne?

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Tom McClintock is termed out in ’08 and the race to replace him is heating up.

Tony Strickland is a leading GOP candidate, with McClintock staffer Mike Stoker also in the running. Since the eastern portion of the district is seen as key to victory, other names mentioned include Simi Valley councilman Glen Becerra.  This promises to be a very ugly, expensive primary for the GOP.

Democrats are waking up to the possibility of  taking this seat away from the GOP and adding to their current majority in the State Senate.

GOP registration advantage has been slipping and is now just over 4%, including many liberal republicans in Santa Barbara. The problem area of the district is seen as the GOP strongholds of Simi Valley, Moorpark & Thousand Oaks.  We need a Democrat who can run strong in those areas.

Many Dems have been mentioned. Ventura Supervisor Steve Bennett, former Santa Barbara Assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson and current Assemblyman Pedro Nava have said they’re not running or are leaning that way. They’re all from the Santa Barbara or the western part of the district.

My favorite possible candidate is Jim Dantona. We need to draft this guy to run! 

He ran for a Supervisor’s seat last year in the Simi Valley/Moorpark area, which only has 30% registered Democrats.  He is credited with unseating the longtime Republican incumbent in the June Primary, but unfortunately lost the  final in a bitter general election race to a well funded ultra-right candidate in November, by only 895 votes. In the end, Jim Dantona took 48.5% of the vote in a heavily gerrymandered GOP district. It’s clear that he received strong support from voters across the isle. 

Who is Jim Dantona?  Currently a legislative advocate and small business owner, Dantona was Senate Pro-Tem David Roberti’s Chief of Staff for 10 years in Sacramento.  A former major league baseball player and single father of 3, he taught & coached elementary school for 5 years, and has been involved in philanthropic projects in his community for over 20 years, including establishing the organization B.A.D. – Baseballers Against Drugs.

Strong on environmental issues, he’s been outspoken against Waste Management’s plan to triple the size of their landfill footprint in Simi Valley, and has consistently advocated for  stronger action against Boeing to protect families & the community from the Rocketdyne facility groundwater/site contamination. This area’s residents have been plagued by cancer clusters & a myriad of health problems for years. Dantona has been one of the few community leaders to consistently demand answers and action.

We need a strong candidate in this district who has proven he can appeal to voters across party lines, while maintaining Dem core values. 

We need to draft Jim Dantona.

Dantona 08: A home run for the 19th