WHO I VOTED FOR AT THE CONVENTION AND WHY

When you knock on someone's door before an election, very often the first question you hear is, "is the candidate a Democrat?"

Although it's an uninformed question --all the candidates you get to vote for in this race will be Democrats-- it's important to be able to say, "yes he is, and he's the ONLY candidate endorsed by the Democratic Party." The party throws money and resources into the endorsee's campaign and gives him or her a certain legitimacy in the minds of a lot of primary voters. There are also a lot of Democrats who prefer to focus on unity against the Republicans, and an endorsement can get those folks going early.

The Democratic Party of California voted to endorse Phil Angelides for governor, Debra Bowen for secretary of state, and Judy Chu for Board of Equalization (BOE). In some statewide races the candidates all agreed not to seek the endorsement, in others there was no real competition. In local races, for the Senate, Assembly, and House, it was up to the delegates from those areas.

To keep it brief I will forgo all the usual pros and cons of each candidate and just give the one or two most important factors in each decision. Here's how I voted:

GOVERNOR: Phil Angelides
State Treasurer Phil Angelides has been actively opposing Arnold Schwarzenegger for a couple of years and his loud voice has been instrumental in exposing the governor's fumblings and negative priorities. As an activist, that impresses me more than Steve Westly's tepid opposition.

But the main reason I support Phil Angelides is that he is honest about the fact that in order to get our financial house in order we need to raise some taxes. Phil would raise taxes for people making half a million a year and then roll back the college tuition increases from the past few years. Steve Westly says he'll raise taxes only as a last resort. Why not take a firm stand?

SECRETARY OF STATE: Debra Bowen
The secretary of state is in charge of our elections. With all the new technology in voting machines, and all the election fraud that has been exposed since 2000, this may be the most important race of the decade.

Debra Bowen doesn't just talk about election protection, she's led the fight in the legislature to make sure the new machines are accurate, fair, and unhackable. I want somebody whose first priority is making sure every vote counts. Debra Bowen begins her stump speech by saying, "I'm running for secretary of state for two reasons: Florida and Ohio!"

ATTORNEY GENERAL: Jerry Brown
Who else has that kind of resume? Before being elected the Mayor of Oakland, Jerry Brown was elected to the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees, then Secretary of State, and then Governor of California. His record is one of justice, charity, and realism.

Brown's opponent is a big believer in gang injunctions. Gang injunctions put people on a blacklist based on their tattoos or who they've been seen with, and take away their constitutional rights regardless of whether or not they've committed a crime. I'd like the state's top prosecutor to concern himself with real justice rather than unfair "tough on crime" techniques of questionable efficacy.

The Democratic Party deadlocked on this race and issued no endorsement.

BOARD OF EQUALIZATION: Judy Chu
This is the body that oversees taxation in California. In the Assembly Judy Chu authored two very important bills, one to prohibit companies from incorporating offshore to avoid paying taxes, and one offering tax amnesty for a limited time in order to collect back taxes. The state expected to collect $300 million from the amnesty, but it worked so well it brought in more than $4 billion.

Another important issue these days for any tax board is marriage equality. Judy Chu is endorsed by the major gay rights groups and has a 100% voting record from Equality California.

Judy Chu:
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a49/

Jerry Brown:
http://www.jerrybrown.org/

Debra Bowen:
http://www.debrabowen.com/

Phil Angelides:
http://www.angelides.com/