As discussed in last week’s edition, Calpeek loves all elections, even the special ones. The voters, on the other hand, tend to dislike special elections resulting in exceedingly low turnouts. However, special elections do provide much needed work for campaign staffers, consultants, printers, mail houses, designers, social media mavens, etc. along with advertising revenue.
Voters in various districts around the state will participate in special elections on Tuesday, April 5 – reminder that these campaigns are being run in the existing legislative districts. Elections for the new reapportioned districts will not take place until the June 7 primary election.
See below for a list of the candidates in each race.
In northern California’s AD 11, Suisun Mayor Lori Wilson has probably started looking for housing in Sacramento since she will be elected on Tuesday – she is the only candidate on the ballot.
The race for AD 62 in Los Angeles is contested and may go to a runoff in June. Yes, there will be an election to fill the vacancy left by former Assemblymember Autumn Burke on the same day as the primary election in the new AD 61 with the same candidates plus one more – that is not a typo – the old AD 62 is now the new AD 61. Oy.
In AD 80, San Diegans will likely decide the election to fill the vacancy of former Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez (pronounced “lo-wren-a” – see Calpeek’s March 18, 2022 edition for more details) on Tuesday. Democrats outnumber Republicans 6-1 in the old AD 80. The Republican candidate has not raised enough money to be required to file a campaign finance report. Both Democrats are well funded and have significant independent expenditure campaigns supporting them.
In the central valley’s Congressional District 22, there are 6 candidates vying to replace former Congressmember Devin Nunes (not the Twitter cow). The district leans Republican and will probably go to a June runoff. The race for the redistricted district has more experienced candidates but is actually a couple of different districts. Confused yet?
Here is a list of the candidates qualified to appear on the ballots on April 5:
Democrat Lori D Wilson – Mayor/Finance Director
Democrat Tina Simone McKinnor – Non-Profit Director/Businesswoman
Democrat Robert Pullen-Miles – Mayor, City of Lawndale
Democrat Angie Reyes English -Councilwoman/Councilmember’s Deputy
Democrat Nico Ruderman -Neighborhood Councilmember
Democrat David Alvarez – Small Business Owner
Democrat Georgette Gómez -Environmental Advocate/Businesswoman
Republican Lincoln Pickard – Retired Contractor
Democrat Eric Garcia – Father/Therapist
Democrat Lourin Hubbard – Water Resources Manager
Republican Connie Conway – Small Business Owner
Republican Elizabeth Heng – Small Business Owner
Republican Michael Maher – Aviation Business Owner
Republican Matt Stoll – Small Business Owner