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Hey Focus fans!
Five days till Election Day, and 18% of us here in Stanislaus County have cast our ballots.
Is that disappointing? Actually, it’s an improvement from five days before the June primary, when only 11% had voted.
The more notable change is in who’s voting.
Most early ballots before the June election were cast by Republicans. This time, more Democrats are engaging early, here in Stanislaus and neighboring counties.
Why the change?
Before June, Dems not terribly invigorated with a plethora of gubernatorial candidates kept waiting for a star to emerge, and delayed voting. There’s only one choice (Xavier Becerra) this time.
And many Republicans this time are less energized, hearing consistent predictions about losing control of the U.S. House and maybe the U.S. Senate. Also, the exciting local GOP tug-of-war in June between state Senate candidates (incumbent Marie Alvarado-Gil, who finished out of the money, and Alexandra Duarte, who advanced to November against Democrat Jaron Brandon) no longer applies.
The fact that more local Dems are voting no doubt bodes well for incumbent Rep. Adam Gray in his feisty battle with Republican Kevin Lincoln. Their 13th California Congressional District has even more voters in Merced County than in Stanislaus, and the same trend – more Democrats engaging so far – holds true in Merced County as well, according to the Political Data ballot tracker.
Could a blue surge benefit Democrats Michael Masuda and Matthew Adams in their respective congressional and state Assembly races? Both are trying to oust longtime Republican office holders – Rep. Tom McClintock and Assemblyman Heath Flora – in decidedly red districts where conservative voters have proved themselves fiercely loyal year after year.
Back to our initial talking point about voter turnout. While only 11% of Stanislaus voters had voted five days before the June primary, people came through and when the final count was tallied, turnout reached nearly 35%.
We should beat that mark next week. So don’t lose sleep, and also don’t forget to vote.
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But at this point, please don’t drop your ballot in the mail. A recent U.S. Postal Service change in postmark routine could disqualify your ballot if you do.
No entity should have the power to destroy 13,200 ballots in Stanislaus and five surrounding counties in the past year. But that’s exactly what has happened, simply because those ballots arrived in elections offices too late to lawfully count – even if actually mailed on or even a bit before Election Day.
So please, take no chances. If you haven’t yet voted, be sure to drop your ballot at one of the many drop boxes around the county or head to one of the in-person voting centers open every day through Nov. 3.
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River Walk critics have made good on their promise to sue Riverbank, saying environmental studies for the 1,000-plus-acre expansion don’t conform to state law.
"With Measure M pending on the November ballot," the new lawsuit notes, the City Council went ahead and approved the project in a 3-2 vote anyway, on Sept. 22.
Measure M would empower voters to weigh in on city expansion to the west, a veiled reference to River Walk. Supporters say it will bring needed housing and other amenities, while opponents fear traffic and farmland loss.
Officially bringing the lawsuit are Central Valley Concerned Citizens, Friends of the Swainson’s Hawk, and Riverbank residents J. and Annabel Gammon.
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I wish I had the time and energy to fully explore the sudden rash of negative ads and mailers assaulting local voters. Including:
I did, in an Oct. 8 column, question state Senate candidate Duarte’s political wisdom for splashing on campaign literature rival Brandon’s arrest mug shot – from 11 years ago, with no reference to the fact that charges were dropped. That came just a few months after a Duarte flyer showed her firing a handgun in a photo positioned next to another of Alvarado-Gil.
Do voters hold old childhood records against candidates? I mean, Adam Christianson decades later publicly owned his conviction for petty theft in 1981 – when he was a teen. Stanislaus voters never held it against him, and Christianson served as county sheriff from 2006 to 2018.
If slimy campaigning seems to work – especially with fewer reporters fact-checking than in years past – expect to see more. We’ll see, soon enough.
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