Bruce Jones slammed Republican opponent during the primary. Now he has his endorsement
Geoff Auslen endorsed his fellow Republican, Bruce Jones, for the District 2 seat on the San Luis Obispo Board of Supervisors — but their relationship hasn’t always been rosy.
During the June primary, Jones’ campaign launched a series of personal attacks on Auslen, causing him to hesitate to endorse Jones during the general election, Auslen told The Tribune in July.
Jones has since apologized to Auslen for the attacks, which inspired him to endorse the Republican, Auslen said.
“He’s talked to me several times and buried the hatchet and apologized,” Auslen said. “I have to accept that.”
Jones and incumbent Bruce Gibson were the top two vote-getters in the primary for the District 2 seat on the San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors, catapulting them to the November election.
Auslen and military veteran John Whitworth lost the District 2 primary, and both have now endorsed Jones.
Auslen’s endorsement arrived just two weeks before the vote and comes down to a single issue: He thinks Jones will better support the continuing operation of Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant.
Which Bruce will better support the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant?
Diablo Canyon was originally scheduled to shut down by 2025. But that changed in October when the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 846 to provide funding to PG&E to keep the plant open until 2030.
If PG&E secures the necessary permits from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, it can operate the plant for an extra five years.
The Board of Supervisors has no authority over whether the plant stays open; that’s up to PG&E and the NRC, but Auslen said it’s important for the board to apply pressure to the state to support PG&E in keeping the plant open.
“If the county has a temper tantrum against keeping it open, Sacramento is going to listen,” Auslen said.
In February, the Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 to send a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom to support PG&E keeping the power plant open. At the time, Gibson cast the lone vote against the letter, so Auslen doesn’t trust him to support the plant.
“If you come out as a ... supervisor against keeping it open, it just makes it more difficult for PG&E and everyone else to operate within the county,” Auslen said.
Auslen said he trusts Jones to “lean partisan” and “operate as a swing vote” on the board, hopefully voting to secure more funding for the county and PG&E, while pressuring the state to keep the plant open for more than five years if the electricity is needed.
Meanwhile, Gibson says that he supports continued operation of the power plant.
At the League of Women’s Voters candidate forum in September, both Gibson and Jones said they support keeping the Diablo Canyon open.
“When the wind isn’t blowing and the sun’s not shining, we need a source of electricity,” Jones said at the forum. “Without it, we will get more electricity from out of state. It will be made by burning natural gas or coal. If we care about carbon emission we should favor Diablo Canyon.”
Jones said that the letter to Gov. Newsom is evidence that Gibson doesn’t support the power plant.
Gibson, however, said he does support Diablo.
“I think we can benefit from another five years of its operation,” Gibson said at the forum. “The benefits of Diablo Canyon to the state as a whole are indisputable. It is nearly carbon-free electricity, and I believe that it’s possible that nuclear power can be operated safely.”
Gibson said his primary concern is public safety, and he hopes PG&E completes maintenance of the plant, from seismic retrofits to updating the emergency response system.
Gibson also said the county must ensure that continuing to operate the plant doesn’t “get in the way of our economic future,” and that the county also focuses on supporting projects like the offshore wind farm near Morro Bay.
Though Auslen endorsed Jones, he said Gibson could do some good for District 2, too.
“He’s probably better for the city of Atascadero,” Auslen said, because he could use his connections in the California Legislature to secure state funding to transform the National Guard Armory in downtown Atascadero into an emergency services center for the police and fire department “all housed under one roof,” he said.
However, Auslen said Jones would be a better leader at the county level, as he would provide that third conservative vote on the board and better support the nuclear power plant.
Jones apologized for attack advertisements
Auslen’s endorsement is a notable turnaround, given the attacks he faced from the Jones campaign during the June primary.
SLO County Republican Party official Erik Gorham criticized Auslen on a February episode of the Dave Congalton radio show.
“There’s a reason the Republican Party didn’t endorse him,” Gorham said on the show. “I equate him more to an Adam Hill.”
Hill, the liberal-leaning supervisor who was originally elected to represent District 3 in 2008, died by suicide while in office in August 2020 after being accused of taking payoffs from cannabis businessman Helios Dayspring. Dayspring later pleaded guilty to bribing Hill to vote in ways that benefited his business, the Natural Healing Center.
It’s unclear whether Gorham was referring to Hill’s politics or the corruption scandal.
Auslen also said a member of Jones’ campaign called his wife a “liberal progressive” on the radio.
“You just don’t go there,” Auslen said. “I don’t think you should ever go after somebody’s spouse.”
The Jones campaign also posted a letter on his website that criticized Auslen’s business practices, according to previous Tribune reporting. Jones has since removed the letter.
Auslen said candidates should focus on challenging their opponent’s record, not their livelihood or family.
Nevertheless, Auslen said he decided he could endorse Jones after Jones apologized for the negative campaign tactics.
“I was pretty upset from the campaign and the way I was treated,” Auslen said. “But the guy running has definitely met the apology threshold with me, and I have to accept that.”
Regardless of his endorsement, Auslen said he doesn’t appreciate Jones supporters throwing personal attacks at Gibson.
Auslen said he’s seen mailers and heard radio advertisements that criticize Gibson’s marriage. He wasn’t sure if the advertisements were circulated by independent political action committees or the Jones campaign, but either way, he doesn’t support them.
“You can go out for somebody’s record all day long, but I think going after somebody personally is not cool — even though I did endorse,” Auslen said. “When I said I was running, I flat out told Supervisor Gibson I could beat him on his record.”
Auslen said that negative political rhetoric like that can fuel political violence, “even at the local level.”
He pointed to the attack on Paul Pelosi, husband of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. He was assaulted inside their San Francisco home on Oct. 28. Auslen said he’s worried about local politicians being attacked in similar ways, especially as campaigns devolve into personal attacks.
“The threats are crazy now,” Auslen said. “You can’t go to a town hall meeting publicly without some form of a security detail, whether its police or private or public.”
“It’s horrible that Washington politics in campaigns and ideology has made it to the Central Coast,” Auslen said. “We were always better than that.”
As for his future in politics, when asked if he would run for office again, Auslen said, “I don’t close any doors.”
This story was originally published November 2, 2022 at 8:00 AM.
