A new law extends Dan Dow’s current term by 2 years. That could be a good thing | Opinion
A little-known law signed by Gov. Newsom last fall extends the terms of California’s elected sheriffs and district attorneys by two years, shifting those elections in most counties to align with presidential election years.
The signing of Assembly Bill 759 means San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow and Sheriff Ian Parkinson will automatically serve six-year terms through 2028, rather than face voters in 2026.
Progressive-minded local voters might wonder if this is a good or bad development, especially regarding Dow: On one hand, Dow will be burrowed into that office an extra two years. On the other, we have two extra years to recruit a level-headed opponent.
Assemblymember Kevin McCarty, D-Sacramento, co-author of AB 759, claims it will increase voter participation in countywide elections and is “good for representative democracy,” the Orange County Register reported in the runup to the bill’s signing.
That doesn’t swing with many California sheriffs – nearly all Republican – who object to the bill as a bald attempt to elect progressive sheriffs and DAs, since Democrats turn out in higher numbers in presidential elections.
In reality, this law won’t matter much if Democrats don’t leverage it, especially in SLO County, where Dow has provided plenty of grist for a challenge: The Tianna Arata legal fiasco, the “Pastor Dan” act, the ultra-partisanship, the pandering to radical-right extremists, the $25,000 political attack on Supervisor Bruce Gibson, etc.
Parkinson appears to be in better favor, having made a not-so-subtle effort in recent years to come off as less partisan than Dow — adapting adroitly to the intersection of mental illness, addiction, poverty, homelessness and the role law enforcement plays there.
Dow ran unopposed in 2022. One reason is the SLO Democratic Party, local donors and activists focused on the three county supervisor contests that ushered in a new board majority, ousting hard-right Lynn Compton and protecting Gibson’s gerrymandered seat.
Their thinking: Dow was a lesser priority than the former board majority, so resources went to those races. The horrendous gerrymandering of supervisor district boundaries sparked a firestorm of activism and fundraising among newly energized voters seeking a change of direction after a decade of Republican rule of county government.
In 2024, as a result of AB 759, every voter in SLO County will have their votes “deferred,” since we won’t vote in the district attorney or sheriff’s races until 2028, a six-year gap.
That’s the downside.
The upside is that political activists and donors on the left have two extra years to recruit qualified, reform-minded candidates to run for district attorney. That’s good, since efforts to recruit a viable opponent for Dow could be challenging. First elected in 2014, Dow won reelection in 2018 and ran unopposed in 2022. A competitive race in 2028 requires the right candidate, a lot of money and sustained public energy.
Stuck in a 20th Century mindset, Dow seems unwilling or unable to adjust to our 21st-century problems of mental illness, addiction, poverty and homelessness.
Parkinson seems to have pivoted to that new reality. Maybe Dow can, too. Would that the change be sooner than later.
In the meantime, Dow maintains a steady stream of press releases and social media posts boasting of convicting common criminals for crimes large and small. These nogoodniks have harmed people, and they deserve punishment.
But while this public perp flogging and breezy scapegoating feeds Dow’s base for the next six years, it serves no societal purpose.
We wait for 2028 — by then more than a quarter of the 21st century gone — for a chance at change in that office of the kind Parkinson has made in his, of the kind voters made to the Board of Supervisors.
It comes not soon enough.
Tom Fulks is an elected member of the SLO County Democratic Central Committee.