Election 2022: The Tribune Editorial Board’s complete list of endorsements
If you’ve already voted, well done.
If not, do not panic. You can wait until Nov. 8 to drop your ballot in the mail or at a dropbox, or you can visit your polling place to vote in person.
But why wait? Ballots sent in early can be processed ahead of Election Day — thereby speeding up the vote-counting process — though results can’t be released until the polls close.
Looking for guidance?
Here is our complete list of local endorsements from The Tribune Editorial Board, as well as recommendations on state races that reflect the consensus of The Tribune, The Sacramento Bee, The Fresno Bee and The Modesto Bee.
Municipal races
Caren Ray Russom for mayor, Jim Guthrie for City Council
Both have the nuts-and-bolts knowledge of how city government operates, along with the ability to work with other local agencies on regional issues.
Atascadero
Susan Funk and Heather Newsom for City Council
This is a quiet election, which we take as a sign of voter satisfaction. Mayor Heather Moreno is running unopposed and the two council incumbents have only one challenger who lacks government experience.
Karen Bright for mayor and Dan Rushing for City Council
Grover Beach has made strides by adding businesses, fixing streets and encouraging home building. It’s also opening the first homeless shelter in all of the South County. We recommend sticking with incumbents Bright and Rushing to keep the momentum going.
John Headding for mayor; Casey Cordes and Cyndee Edwards for City Council
Headding has the experience needed to see the city through a transformation to a clean energy hub; Cordes and Edwards stand out in a field of newcomers for their understanding of local issues and their focus on the future.
Steve Martin for mayor.
Martin is the epitome of a moderate, well-spoken, professional leader. Paso Robles is lucky to have him.
Stacy Inman and Mary Ann Reiss for City Council
Reiss is a force of nature. With 26 consecutive years on the council, there’s no way she’ll lose. Inman, a former Planning Commission chair, is smart and highly knowledgeable. Yes, the City Council suspended her from the Planning Commission for 30 days — a move that was petty, uncalled for and highly political.
Erica Stewart for mayor, Michelle Shorseman and Emily Francis for City Council.
Stewart, appointed to fill the vacancy created by Heidi Harmon’s resignation, has been a competent and inspiring leader who is well deserving of a full term. Shoresman and Francis are well-qualified candidates who both have experience in city planning, which gives them a slight edge over Joe Benson.
School district elections
San Luis Coastal School District Measure C-22
Yes
There is never a good time to raise taxes, but putting off necessary repairs and renovations of buildings that are over 50 years old not only risks health and safety, it also is bad for student and teacher morale. The goal isn’t to transform schools into Taj Mahals, but to provide warm, welcoming, safe havens for students.
Paso Robles Unified School Board
Jim Cogan for Trustee Area 1; Sondra Williams in Trustee Area 4; and Adelita Hiteshew for the trustee-at-large position.
We don’t often weigh in on school board races, but given the turmoil in the Paso Robles district, we made an exception. Cogan, Williams and Hiteshew are excellent candidates; all have children who attend Paso schools and they would bring much-needed youth and racial diversity to the board. Most importantly, they’re in it for the right reason: for the success of students, not personal culture wars.
Cuesta College Board of Trustees
Adrienne Garcia-Specht for District 4. She is an excellent candidate who places a high priority on serving South County residents and on diversity, equity and inclusion. Her opponent, incumbent Peter Sysak, was censured in 2020 for posting racist, homophobic and other toxic content on Facebook. He’s got to go.
County Board of Supervisors
Bruce Gibson
Gibson describes himself as a “get things done candidate” and he has a long list of accomplishments to prove it. His election also would also put the current far-right majority out of power. Given its lack of accomplishments over the past eight years — together with a complete lack of respect for the county’s moderate majority — it’s time the other side had a turn.
California Assembly
Dawn Addis
Having served four years on the Morro Bay City Council, Addis is familiar with the challenges facing small communities — challenges that often get overlooked in Sacramento.
U.S. congressional races
Jimmy Panetta
Due to redistricting, Panetta’s District 19 now stretches roughly from Santa Cruz to Atascadero. Panetta has been instrumental in helping with water and housing projects in his area — issues that are top-of-mind in SLO County as well. Panetta’s opponent, Jeff Gorman, has been identified as an election denier by the Washington Post.
Salud Carbajal
Carbajal has a strong environmental record — he’s been a bulldog in the fight against offshore oil. His responsiveness to day-to-day issues affecting families is equally impressive.
He’s sponsored bills to boost the availability of baby formula; to ensure federal firefighters with job-related disabilities receive the same benefits as state, county and municipal firefighters; and to protect immigrant parents whose children are serving in the U.S. military from deportation.
U.S. Senate race
Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom in January 2021 to finish the term of now-Vice President Kamala Harris, Padilla is on the ballot in two races in the November general election. One is for a six-year term beginning in January; the other is for a term of 56 days to run between the Nov. 8 general election and the beginning of the next full term. Padilla deserves to be elected for 56 days and six years. His Republican opponent, attorney Mark Meuser, is not a serious candidate.
Statewide offices
California governor
Despite setbacks, Newsom has compiled a record of qualified but undeniable progress in several areas, and vows to do more. Take housing and homelessness: “I have got to drive accountability much more aggressively,” Newsom told McClatchy’s California editorial boards. “I mean business on this. ... No excuses anymore.”
Lieutenant governor
At this stage of her political ascendancy, Kounalakis is as cautious as she is ambitious. She is also careful to maintain a respectful relationship with Newsom while tirelessly working on important issues in the background.
Attorney general
Bonta has shown attentive leadership on many of the state’s most pressing public safety challenges. He has also worked to put teeth in the state’s housing laws, protect reproductive rights, enforce sensible gun laws and address environmental justice issues that matter to ordinary Californians.
Secretary of state
Weber, who was appointed to the office in 2020, has put in a strong performance in a short time and deserves the chance to lead her office for the next four years.
Controller
Chen could make the controller a meaningful bulwark against misuse of public money. A fellow at Stanford’s Hoover Institution and onetime policy adviser to the presidential campaigns of Mitt Romney and George W. Bush, Chen has the knowledge to be an effective controller and a plan to put it to use.
Insurance commissioner
Incumbent Ricardo Lara repeatedly took campaign money from the industry he regulates, intervened in official disputes to the benefit of his contributors, broadly assured insurers of his willingness to do their bidding, charged taxpayers for a second home, took concert tickets from a fossil fuel company and oversaw the preemptive destruction of public records. His Republican opponent, Robert Howell, doesn’t inspire confidence that he could serve competently in the office, let alone come anywhere near being elected to it.
Treasurer
Ma has also exhibited poor judgment on several fronts; for example, a lawsuit filed by one of her former top aides alleges sexual harassment, wrongful termination and racial discrimination. Sadly, she is a better candidate than her Republican opponent, Jack Guerrero, an accountant and city councilman in the Southern California city of Cudahy. He catastrophizes the state of California’s economy and rants about election fraud in 2020.
Superintendent of public instruction
This California election features two unqualified candidates. Our endorsement just barely goes to Thurmond, who is likely to win because those once motivated to beat him are staying home. The hope is that he does as little damage as possible before the Legislature and voters address the structural problems with his office.
Statewide propositions
Would enshrine in the California Constitution a right “to choose whether or not to have an abortion and use contraceptives” — a right that is now not guaranteed on the national level. YES
Would legalize in-person sports betting at casinos run by Native American tribes and at select race tracks. Independent cardrooms — a source of revenue for local government agencies — say language in the measure also would allow tribal casinos to file lawsuits against them that could put cardrooms out of business. NO
Would allow both licensed tribes and gambling companies to offer online sports betting. The measure is heavily backed by online gambling companies FanDuel and DraftKings, which have poured more than $50 million into the campaign.
All told, nearly $450 million has been contributed to campaigns for and against Props. 26 and 27, making it the most expensive ballot fight in California history. NO
Would require California to allocate at least 1% of school funding to art and music education, amounting to approximately $1 billion per year. At least 90% of the money distributed to schools would have to fund art or music programs; only 1% could be used for administration. YES
Requires dialysis clinics to keep a doctor, nurse practitioner or physician’s assistant on-site during operating hours. The requirement would significantly increase expenses for dialysis clinics; opponents estimate the statewide cost increase would be between $229 million and $445 million a year.
If this ballot measure sounds familiar, it should. This is the third time in four years that voters have been asked to weigh in on the issue. Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West is behind Prop. 29 and its predecessors. NO
Would tax Californians earning more than $2 million per year an additional 1.75%, generating between $3.5 billion and $5 billion per year for clean air efforts: 45% to incentives for electric vehicle purchases, 35% to build charging stations and 20% to wildfire mitigation.
The campaign has been heavily funded by Lyft. Like Uber and other ride-hailing services, it faces a 2030 deadline to convert most of its vehicles from gasoline to electric. If we’re going to soak the rich, let’s do it for a reason other than private gain. NO
Would ban the sale of menthol cigarettes and candy-flavored tobacco products, which are vastly preferred by young smokers and can lead to lifelong addiction.
The issue wound up on the ballot in a roundabout way: The California Legislature passed a statewide ban in 2020, but before it could take effect, the tobacco industry financed a signature-gathering campaign to put the issue in front of voters. A yes vote will uphold the legislation and allow the ban to go into effect; no will repeal it and permit the products to stay on shelves. YES
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 5:30 AM.