Democratic Club

by Mary Larson

LW contributor

By the time this column appears in the LW Weekly, all LW voters have received their vote-by-mail ballots. Most voters will have already begun making choices as to who they think are the best candidates in the 32 different races, and some Leisure World residents may have already voted. Which candidates get the most votes in these 32 races will be important. However, the candidates most of our LW voters select in many of these races—regardless of their party affiliation—will go on to face one another in the November General Election. This will not be the case in all races. The vote in the Primary will be final in the election of at least five Superior Court judges. The Leisure World representative in the California Senate and the Orange County Superintendent of Schools will also be determined in the Primary, as will races with only one candidate.

The Democratic Party has endorsed Mark Gibbons for Superior Court Office No. 11, Ray Brown for No. 21, Jessica Cha for No. 28 and Israel Claustro for No. 45. The party has also endorsed Kim Carr for the California Senate.

The Democratic Party has also endorsed Michele Bell for Superior Court Judge Office No. 30. However, there are four other candidates running for this office. The winner will probably not be decided until the November election.

There are two Democrats, Kimberly La Salle and Claudia Alvarez, running for Superior Court Judge Office No. 5. The party did not make an endorsement in this race or in Office Nos. 9, 22 and 33. They also did not endorse a candidate in the race for the nonpartisan Orange County Superintendent of Schools.

In all likelihood, Al Mijares will be re-elected as Superintendent of Schools, despite challenger Stefan Bean being supported by the conservative members of the OC Board of Education. Bean serves on the board of a private charter school organized by Jeff Barke, husband of the chair of the Board of Education, Republican Mari Barke.

••• The Democratic Club is grateful for the volunteers who recently helped mail over 3,700 letters to Democrat and Decline to State LW voters. The letters stressed the importance of voting and included a list of endorsed candidates. The club also thanks the volunteers at the club’s Information Booth.

The Democratic Club’s booth outside Clubhouse 6 will be open every Tuesday from 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. until after the Primary. Volunteers will also be available to assist voters in getting their ballots to the Registrar of Voters drop-box located on St. Andrews Drive, by the Amphitheater. Call (562) 296-852 for more voting information.

For more information about candidates and other issues, LW Democrats and supporters can subscribe to the club’s free electronic newsletter by emailing democraticclubsblw@gmail.com

or calling editor Mary Larson at (562) 296-8521.