Sonoma County Voter Guide

June 8, 2010 Primary

Local Races
Board of Supervisors
District 2 – Pamela Torliatt
District 4 – Mike McGuire

County Offices
District Attorney – Jill Ravitch

Superior Court
Judicial Office #2 – James Casey
Judicial Office #3 – Jamie Thistlethwaite

Statewide Office
Governor
Jerry Brown

LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR
Janice Hahn

ATTORNEY GENERAL
Kamala Harris
Ted Lieu
Alberto Torrico

SUPERINTENDENT OF PUBLIC INSTRUCTION
Tom Torlakson

INSURANCE COMMISSIONER
Hector De La Torre

Ballot Measures
Prop 13: No Position
Property Tax - New Construction Exclusion for Seismic Retrofitting
Prop. 13 merely writes current tax practice into the State Constitution and has no effect on SEIU members.

Prop 14: Vote NO
Top Two "Open" Primary Election
The "Open Primary" measure will make it more expensive for candidates who support working families to get elected.

Prop 15: No Position
Public Financing for Secretary of State
Prop. 15 creates public financing for Secretary of State candidates who choose to limit their spending and who show a broad base of small donor support. While it might reduce corporate influence, it would also restrict SEIU members' role in supporting candidates who choose the public financing option.

Prop 16: Vote NO
2/3 Vote Requirement for Local Public Electricity
By increasing the vote requirement to 2/3 for the expansion of public utilities, Prop. 16 would increase the monopoly power of PG&E and other private utilities, which are backing it with a multi-million dollar campaign; PG&E alone plans to spend $35 million. Opposed by consumer watchdog groups, public utilities, and green energy advocates, Prop. 16 would only make it harder for public watchdogs and regulators to rein in private utility companies -- the same companies who brought California the unmitigated disaster called energy deregulation in the mid-1990s.

Prop 17: Vote NO
Auto Insurance Prices Based Partly on Drivers' History of Coverage
Prop. 17 is backed by the auto insurance industry and funded by one company in particular: Mercury Insurance. It would allow companies to reward long-standing, continuous clients with discounts. That sounds nice on the surface, but low-income people, who are less likely to have continuous coverage, stand to lose big-time through higher premiums. In other words, auto insurance companies are asking voters for a license to gouge the poor.