I am only endorsing in races on my ballot which are competitive. I will vote for Biden and Huffman of course, but I don’t think I need to elaborate as to why. I am happy to have those discussions if anyone wants.

Here are some more detailed endorsements for the four competitive races on my ballot.

Senator – Barbara Lee

The four leading candidates for Diane Feinstein’s position currently being held by a temporary appointee are the Democrats Adam Schiff, Katie Porter, and Barbara Lee – along with the Republican candidate of the 1970s Dodgers infield fame Steve Garvey.

Garvey isn’t the worst Republican, but like most Republicans who are serious about winning, he has to pander at least passively to the MAGA King. He seems to have consolidated the most GOP voter support despite several additional moderately well-known Republicans.

Schiff is famous for his role in the January 6 hearings and he prosecuted the second impeachment. He is well-liked among Democrats. Despite the fact that he is the most conservative of the big three Democrats, he is probably the most hated by Republicans. Should the November election be between two Democrats, I wonder whether the Republicans who vote that part of the ticket will vote for him against one of the more liberal candidates, or will vote for her to spite him.

Next is Katie Porter who has made an impression with her white board presentations and the fact that she is the youngest of the major candidates, and is not afraid to break the rules. She announced her candidacy before Feinstein confirmed that she was not running again – a transgression to some party insiders. She pretty much forced Feinstein’s hand. She is impressive, and my wife and mother are voting for her.

I support Barbara Lee because we come from similar political roots and I would love to see an unreconstructed left winger in the position. We only have two or three in the Senate right now. She was the only vote against the initial Afghanistan invasion. I actually didn’t agree with that vote, but I respected her political courage. She represents the East Bay where she replaced Ron Dellums when he retired in the 1990s. I see her as one of the more principled pol in the country.

Second District Assembly – Ariel Kelley

With Jim Woods’s retirement we have about seven candidates for the position. There is one Republican from Del Norte that nobody has heard of named Michael Greer. But he will probably be in the runoff in November just because he has an “R” by his name and the other six candidates are all Democrats. So who will be the opponent to crush him in this Democratic-heavy district?

The betting odds are with Rusty Hicks who moved to the north coast relatively recently. He also heads up the state Democratic Party, which is a bit of a controversy as many have called for him to step down from that position because it presents an unfair advantage against other Democratic candidates.

Cynthia Glick will be on the ballot, but she has suspended her campaign to support Frankie Myers, the Vice Chair of the Yurok Tribe. He has been an effective leader in removing the fish-killing Klamath dams and holds all the bonafides of a progressive candidate. He is my second-favorite candidate and if he wins I will be overjoyed.

However, I am supporting Ariel Kelley, Mayor of Healdsburg, because she is the progressive candidate I think is most likely to come in second place and displace Mr. Greer. She has experience winning elections and is well-known in the well-populated southern portion of the District (along with Chris Rogers, on the Santa Rosa City Council). She is energetic and passionately pro-choice and for universal healthcare and in my personal conversation with her she revealed a deep understanding of the needs of the 707 district. Most impressive is her record as Mayor reducing houselessness by 60 percent, partly through her efforts to facilitate access to affordable housing in a very gentrified community. With her election in 2020, she is the first Jewish Mayor of Healdsburg to be elected since the 19th century.

We actually have several good choices in this election, but please give serious consideration to Ariel.

Humboldt Superior Court Judge – April Van Dyke

I had decided to vote for April Van Dyke before the Commission on Judicial Performance had made public the potential ethics charges against Judge Kreis, mostly because her judicial philosophy and politics more closely mirror mine. I read the complaint and I have heard other attorneys complain about his behavior and decision making. I cannot say that these stories are corroborated by my own experience. He was always professional when I appeared before him when he was handling the probate calendar. He ruled for me and against me, and in at least one ruling against me I absolutely agreed with his decision.

It’s unfortunate that the Commission on Judicial Performance chose this time to make the potential charges known (they are not yet official charges as he has until later this month to respond to them, but the formal action seems a foregone conclusion). These are serious allegations, and not just the more salacious items. If he truly did not reveal conflicts of interest before presiding over trials, that is even more pertinent to his position as a Judge.

Unfortunately, he chose to respond on Instragram by calling everyone liars. I would have hoped and expected that he would say, “I will respond to these allegations through my attorneys. Please do not make assumptions about me until the process has run its course.” Or something along those lines.

His response is reminiscent of the Trumpian “deep state” conspiracy theories.

I do believe that the Commission was irresponsible to release the allegations a month before the election, and I have a hard time believing it was coincidental. The investigation has been running for four years. They could have moved earlier so that the issues could be vetted, or waited until after the election to avoid being an influence as the irresponsible Board of Supervisors and Grand Jury were with another local candidate a couple of years ago.

But the allegations are out and reporters are looking into the story and questioning key potential witnesses to the proceedings. The allegations are too serious to be ignored. So voters will have to read the stories and make up their minds.

The timing leads many to suspect that somehow his opposition is responsible for this, but I doubt that April has that kind of power. The Commission rarely acts on complaints against Judges, so when they do, you can bet that the evidence is serious. Personally, I think the timing was deliberate because the Commission doesn’t want to deal with this thing and is hoping Judge Kreis will lose the election so they can hand the mess off to the State Bar. But it’s also possible that the timing was based on the conclusion of their investigation and it is indeed coincidence (Even so, there should be some kind of rule or at least guideline that the Commission’s actions should avoid being an influence in an election even inadvertently.

So why did I prefer April before? I met her in person at a recent County Bar event and was impressed. And I have been impressed with her thoughtful responses to the LoCo forum questions. I appreciate her experience as a public defender and her capacity to understand the nuances of any given legal situation. From my brief encounter, she seems to have the temperament.

I am sad about how these events have played. But I will vote for April.

Supervisor First District – Gordon Clatsworthy

I am voting for Gordon Clatworthy for First District Supervisor. In addition to my political differences with Rex, I think he has been in the position too long. But Rex is very likely to win the very conservative First district by a wide margin. Mr. Clatworthy is actually more interesting than I thought he would be after that initial disastrous LoCo interview, and I would love to see him win, but he is clearly the underdog. His responses to the LoCo questions are thoughtful and unlike his opponent he’s not afraid to answer any of them.

Vote for Gordon Clatsworthy and never say never.