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The biggest election surprises

Here are the three biggest surprises of Tuesday's local elections: 1. David Rabbitt's significant victory in the 2nd Supervisorial District race. Many felt Pam Torliatt might win this election outright in the June primary. She earned 40 percent of the vote, meaning she only needed to pick up 10 percent from the votes from [...]

By | November 3rd, 2010|0 Comments

Deliberately confusing election ‘newspaper’?

OK. I admit it. I was fooled. When I picked up that 12-page “newspaper” that came in the mail on Saturday my first thought was that it was from the city of Santa Rosa. I’m talking about the one titled "Santa Rosa Update" that looked very much like the city of [...]

By | October 4th, 2010|0 Comments

Only real hope of change: Proposition 14

Having just traversed the state on a quick four-day family trip to Yosemite - passing dozens of polarizing election signs, scanning various newspapers and listening to too much talk radio along the way - I've come to one conclusion: Despite all the talk, the only hope for any real change [...]

By | June 7th, 2010|1 Comment

The death penalty vote

A couple quick thoughts on the contretemps about just what Jamie Thistlethwaite told the Sonoma County Democratic Central Committee about her opposition to the death penalty and how (whether?) it would affect her as a judge. Is it any wonder that U.S. Supreme Court nominees seemingly have no opinions about [...]

By | April 15th, 2010|5 Comments

A substantive debate

Jill Ravitch and Stephan Passalacqua, the candidates for Sonoma County district attorney, started adding some details to their claims in their debate Monday in Santa Rosa. Ravitch said the “loss of confidence” in local enforcement stems from Passalacqua’s handling of officer-involved fatality investigations. She said the reports are taking up [...]

By | March 23rd, 2010|2 Comments

Spineless campaigns

Here’s some free advice for Stephan Passalacqua and Jill Ravitch: “Trust me” isn’t a winning campaign slogan in 2010. It probably never was. Politicians, used car salesmen, alas, journalists. None of us are on top of the polls when the question involves credibility. Yet the two candidates for Sonoma County [...]

By | March 22nd, 2010|3 Comments

Meg Whitman surges ahead

Meg Whitman may have bought a horse race with her early ad blitz. The former eBay chief executive has left Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner in the dust, according to a Field Poll released today that gives her a 63 percent to 14 percent lead among likely voters in the Republican [...]

By | March 17th, 2010|0 Comments