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MyspaceIt’s a good thing the folks in charge of redrawing California’s political map approved their own work this week.
It would have been hard to get the pols who jump started the race for Santa Barbara’s new state senate seat to stop running.
After six months of hearings – and 10 years of controversy over gerrymandering – the independent California Citizens Redistricting Commission on Monday adopted final new lines for the state’s 177 congressional, legislative, and tax administration districts, based on the 2010 Census and prepared for the 2012 elections.
Well before the vote, however, local candidates began lining up support, contributions, and campaign organizations to compete for the wide-open 19th Senate District, home to nearly 1 million people in a 120-mile stretch between Santa Maria and Camarillo.
The race will be one of the state’s most closely watched legislative contests, a key factor in the Democrats’ effort to reach the two-thirds majorities in the Capitol they need to bypass Republicans on crucial votes on taxes. The campaign’s out-of-the-chute start also reflects the political uncertainties of California’s new primary election rules, and the enormous importance of early fundraising in a race with no incumbent, with table stakes of at least $1 million.
Paul Wellman
Hannah Beth Jackson
“I’m throwing my hat in the ring,” former Assemblymember Hannah Beth Jackson told The Independent, adding with a laugh that, “I probably should have my head examined.”
Jackson, who barely lost a 2008 senate race to Republican incumbent Tony Strickland, said the new district is a good fit for her progressive politics, noting that she represented a large chunk of it in the Assembly from 1999-2005. She has already formed a committee to begin raising money and is collecting endorsements for a formal announcement next month.
Her entry will end speculation about Assemblyman Das Williams jumping into the senate contest, a maneuver that could have gained him an extra four years in Sacramento under the state’s term limits laws. Williams, who got his start in politics working for Jackson, is strongly backing her, she said: “Das is the one who’s been encouraging me to run.”
“I’m very experienced [and] I feel I need to go back to Sacramento,” Jackson added. “We need to have some people there who know what they’re doing to help turn the state around.”
newsleaderscouncil.org
Jason Hodge
But Jackson will be challenged by fellow Democrat Jason Hodge, a well-connected Ventura County firefighter and elected member of the Oxnard Harbor Commission. Born and raised in the area, the 36-year old Hodge has worked for eight years as the political director for the Ventura County Professional Firefighters Association, in a host of local and state campaigns – including Jackson’s 2008 senate bid – and has his own political network in Sacramento, where his fiancée, Fiona Ma, represents San Francisco in the Assembly.
“I have a passion for the area, for policy and for being a problem solver,” he said in an interview.
Among his fans, Hodge counts former Assemblymember Pedro Nava, who himself has been weighing a senate run. Nava said he’ll make up his mind within the next few weeks, but would clearly favor Hodge – “he works well with everybody, doesn’t polarize, and denigrate opponents,” he said – over political enemies Jackson and her ally Williams.
Paul Wellman (file)
Pedro Nava
“That senate district with the right candidate ought to be a Democratic win,” Nava told me. “I know for a fact Hannah Beth Jackson is the wrong candidate.”
Democrats hold a 12-point voter registration advantage over Republicans in the new district. However, the state’s new open primary system could benefit a well-financed GOP contender in a campaign largely shaped by an intra-party Democratic battle, a scenario that has former county supervisor Mike Stoker organizing behind the scenes.
Noting that he outpolled Republican registration in his failed Assembly race against Williams last year, Stoker said he is “90 percent certain I’m running” and expects to announce next month.
P.S. State Republican party leaders announced shortly after the commission vote that they will back a referendum effort to repeal the new districts, claiming they unfairly benefit Democrats. Stay tuned.
Previous Month
Comments
The fact that State Republican leaders want to now repeal the new districts drawn by the Redistricting Commission is so rich in irony. It was the Republicans after all that pushed the original referendum to form the Commission. They got what they wished for and now they don't like it. HAHAHAHAHA.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Democrats may "hold a 12-point voter registration advantage over Republicans in the new district" but with friends like Pedro Nava I'm still worried!
LC (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 12:51 p.m. (Suggest removal)
All five of them should go for it in the June primary. Put up or shut up and let the process work, with Stoker coming in fifth.
By the way, Nava ain't helping himself with anyone with trash talkin like that regarding Jackson.
John_Adams (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Glad to see Hannah-Beth in this race!
hopeful (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 4:37 p.m. (Suggest removal)
jfklbj, what are you talking about? The Commission went out of their way to prevent gerrymandering. Look at the maps, especially the ones that encompass Santa Barbara County. You could not get a less gerrymandered set of districts for Santa Barbara County. We have nothing in common with Thousand Oaks and Westlake so fair thee well to those folks. Putting SLO and SB together for the Congressional District makes sense and makes it competitive. Poor Mike Stoker does not have a chance, but some Republican has to run in that State Senatorial District. It might as well be him. The best thing that the Commission did for this area is keep the coast together. Coastal issues are different and unique and need solid representation in government. Anyone running will have to assure the voters that he or she will protect the coastal environment and protect us from becoming Orange County. Democrat or Republican, it will be good.
Eckermann (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 7:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You just can't use logic or reason with anyone that has so many initials or pseudonyms. It is like a personality disorder, like multiple personalities. Mega Dittos for anyone calling themselves 'conservative' 'tea party' 'independent' or 'republican.' They're all as nutty as a XMAS fruitcake. And I think the scorned Pedro Nava, with has conflating of social symptoms like gangs and homelessness, has pretty much joined the fruitcake crowd. Too bad; at one time I thought he was a decent legislator. Now he might as well be Dr.Dan.
DonMcDermott (anonymous profile)
August 16, 2011 at 10:36 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Looks like an interesting race is developing. I think the new primary rules will select the two top vote getters regardless of party. Could have two Democrats vying for the general election vote.
The predominance of Democratic registrations doesn't prove much. Independents will, ultimately, determine who wins if the Democrats and Republicans vote the party line. (They all won't, but will tend to.)
The bad blood between among Santa Barbara Democrats goes back at least to the race between Das Williams and Nava's wife for the primary position in the Assembly race. The lines are still drawn.
maven12 (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2011 at 5:33 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Jackson is the class act here.
Nava is a sinking ship after he defeated the plan to take down some offshore oil rigs off Santa Barbara County. Hodge would be wise not to garner Nava's support.
Georgy (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2011 at 10:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The hope of independent redistricting and the new primary rules is that they will lessen the hyper-partisanship that many of us are tired of. Jackson and Stoker are past candidates/officials that represent this current partisanship. I don't know anything about Hodge but I and many others will certainly be open to someone new, from the middle ground politically that can convince us they will not be a partisan idealogue.
mlewellen (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2011 at 11:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Here, this issue and now, I agree with Nava. One Das is another in the legislature - and we do not need his mentor, Jackson, in the Senate. I look forward to learning more about Hodge. Das's ad, photoshopped of Susan Jordan, continues to bite him. Jackson's arrogance (“We need to have some people there who know what they’re doing to help turn the state around.”) is boundless.
citti (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2011 at 12:35 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Is Nava so blinded by his ego or bitterness that he is unable to see the hypocrisy of his own statement? Unbelievable!
Jackson served our community effectively when she was in the Assembly, and we'd be lucky to have her back in Sacramento again.
anonymous1234 (anonymous profile)
August 17, 2011 at 4:28 p.m. (Suggest removal)