The Tribune endorses Dawn Ortiz-Legg for state Assembly

The campaign to replace termed-out Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian in the 35th District has not been pretty.

Democrat Dawn Ortiz-Legg was wrong to attack her opponent, attorney Jordan Cunningham, for defending clients accused of serious crimes. We’d expect that tactic from the Trump campaign, which went after Hillary Clinton for once defending a client accused of raping a child and vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine for defending clients on death row. We would not expect it from a candidate who describes herself as a moderate Democrat.

Did the Ortiz-Legg campaign (and the Trump campaign) forget that under the Sixth Amendment, all defendants, no matter how heinous their alleged crimes, are entitled to representation?

That’s not to say Cunningham’s supporters have never strayed from the high road. They demonize Ortiz-Legg for her association with the anti-war group Code Pink (she co-founded a local chapter in 2004) by hauling out 10-year-old headlines about protests that occurred across the country, in Washington, D.C.

What treasonous acts did Code Pinkers commit here? They sponsored a blood donation drive. They took part in marches protesting the war in Iraq, where they held up signs saying incendiary things such as “Peace is an option.” In short, they exercised their First Amendment rights.

We urge voters to look past the campaign rhetoric and focus on what matters, which is the representation each candidate will provide in the state Assembly.

We believe Ortiz-Legg will better reflect the moderate leanings of the Central Coast and will approach issues without ideological blinders.

“I want to know what is and isn't working — rather than just going along with the ‘everything is broken’ mantra,” she told us.

Ortiz-Legg has a strong business résumé that includes work on solar energy projects, and she’s an advocate of creating and maintaining jobs. For example, she supported the continued operation of the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.

She also initially supported the Phillips 66 oil spur project, which would allow oil trains to transport crude to the Nipomo Mesa refinery. She changed her mind after county staff reviewed the project and recommended denial. Some have criticized that as “flip-flopping.” We disagree. We wish more politicians were willing to change course in light of additional information, rather than stubbornly staking out positions and ignoring new evidence.

A few words about Cunningham: He’s smart, he’s personable, and we respect the fact that he’s served as both a prosecutor and defense attorney.

But as a conservative Republican in an Assembly dominated by Democrats, he would not have the power to effect change. Also, we believe his anti-tax crusade — he’s past president of the Central Coast Taxpayers Association — is not good for the Central Coast, or for California. For example, he opposes Measure J, the transportation sales tax proposed in San Luis Obispo County, even though it’s supported by the vast majority of local officials, who recognize there is really no feasible alternative source of funding — and that gridlock will only worsen the longer we wait.

Bottom line: We don’t like the campaign that Ortiz-Legg has run. We strongly urge her and her advisers to clean up their act. We do believe, however, that she is a true moderate who considers all sides of issues and will represent the interests of the majority of Central Coast residents.

The Tribune endorses Dawn Ortiz-Legg for state Assembly.

This story was originally published October 14, 2016 at 9:46 PM with the headline "The Tribune endorses Dawn Ortiz-Legg for state Assembly."