I’ve been watching this year’s elections and quite frankly, I think things look pretty messed up locally with so much political intraparty bickering. Local political clubs have been weighing in so you may see a lot about candidates that only meet the litmus test of loyalty to a particular political party.
Let me provide a lay of the land in local politics.
The Republicans and Democrats have their local political clubs usually representing a city, a region or a group with a special interest. These clubs are then “vetted” and chartered by their major political parties by county through their “Central Committees” to “represent” local political party interests by passing the litmus tests of loyalty to their parties, not us.
The local clubs and the Central Committee will then usually aid their chosen candidates with campaign funds, walking door to door, and those mailers with groups of “official party candidates” you likely just throw away.
But remember there could be more candidates of that political party not endorsed that could be the best candidate. Remember we are tribal humans and we can have agendas. Right?
The local political clubs are usually predominantly run by people you’ve likely never met or heard of and likely don’t ever remember vetting but they wield great influence over who you see on the election ballots.
This should worry you. I’ve met many and their litmus test is party loyalty that often has nothing to do with suitability to run our various forms of government.
In South County we have one officially chartered Democrat club, I have not been able to identify a chartered local Republican club. We do have one Democrat and one Republican club that are not chartered that I know of.
The two “unchartered” local political clubs apparently don’t meet some of the litmus tests of party loyalty and therefore are open to support candidates across party lines in the supposedly non-partisan local elections.
But within chartered clubs there actually has been some cross-party type of support in the past. Former Councilmember Gino Borgioli told me that in 2022 Armando Benavides supported him and introduced him to former resident Baranowski. Both supported Gino, a Republican, in a Morgan Hill city council election against Larry Carr, a Democrat.
Benavides, now an executive officer of the local Democrat club, apparently helped Gino win that election. I was also told that in 2024 the same Baranowski also helped Marilyn Librers beat me, a lifelong Democrat, for a city council seat in Morgan Hill. Baranowski is also a well known ally of Councilmember Yvonne Martinez-Beltran.
Honestly I think we can use more across the aisle efforts like those mentioned above to elect who we believe is the right candidate to help lead our community. The chartered local Democrat club now has such a strong anti-Maga sentiment that even lifelong Democrats are being called “MAGA” for not supporting “The Democrat” of the club’s choice.
But I celebrate those who, like Benavides, cross party lines to support who they believe in.
The more I watch our local chartered political clubs move further from the center the more I realize that is where I, and frankly most people I know, are headed—a place where the best candidate for our community can be elected and not the most loyal to a political party.
Please remember that even if your political party appears to endorse a person, look beyond that endorsement and see who the other options are. Local elections are non-partisan for a reason. (Note: I do vote my party at state and federal level elections)
Please vote.
John McKay
Morgan Hill
