A ballot for state Senate District 15? This must be Groundhog
Day. Just six weeks ago voters cast their ballots in a special
primary for either Sam Blakeslee, John Laird, Mark Hinkle or Jim
Fitzgerald, but because no candidate received more than 50 percent
of the vote and since all four represent different political
parties
– voters will essentially re-do the election Aug. 17.
A ballot for state Senate District 15? This must be Groundhog Day.
Just six weeks ago voters cast their ballots in a special primary for either Sam Blakeslee, John Laird, Mark Hinkle or Jim Fitzgerald, but because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote and since all four represent different political parties – voters will essentially re-do the election Aug. 17.
In the June 22 primary election, current District 33 Assemblyman Blakeslee lost the majority vote by less than one percentage point to capture the race outright and avoid the runoff election. He secured 49.4 percent of the vote, while former 27th Assemblyman Laird took 41.8 percent. Retired UPS transportation manager Jim Fitzgerald, running on the independent ticket, acquired 5.9 percent and small business owner and Morgan Hill resident Mark Hinkle took 2.9 percent.
Voter turnout is usually sparse for special elections – of the 113,223 registered voters in Santa Clara County about 28,000 voted in the primary – and costly, since the fewer number of items on a ballot increases the cost to put on an election. Only the state Senate race will be on the ballot and according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters, it will cost about $1.2 million.
Left vacant by Abel Maldonado, who was appointed Lt. Governor earlier this year, is the District 15 seat that stretches from the central coast to the Silicon Valley, swooping up historically conservative-leaning cities such as Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo. It wraps around central Gilroy to pick up the west section of Gilroy, San Martin and Morgan Hill into south San Jose, Los Gatos and Saratoga.
The Blakeslee and Laird signs seen at most busy intersections also signify the front-runners and poses the possibility: If captured by left-of-the center Laird, Senate Democrats will be just one vote shy of the two-thirds majority needed to approve budgets and pass tax proposals.
Blakeslee’s resume inked by his experience at Exxon as a research scientist and the monetary support from oil companies has been the focus of Laird’s TV and radio campaigns that claim Blakeslee will support off-shore drilling in California because of his ties. Laird has called his GOP opponent an “Oil Man.”
Blakesee, in fact, has voted against drilling off the California coast a few times while an assemblyman and backed legislation for alternative energy. Though, once, he did support a proposal to drill offshore near Santa Barbara.
Blakeslee supporters say Laird’s record of supporting tax hikes while he was an assemblyman will dictate how he will serve in the state Senate, producing the same results out of Sacramento.
The secondary players, Fitzgerald and Hinkle, linger just below the mudslinging of the Laird, Blakeslee campaign. Independent Fitzgerald stands firmly on a platform of open-mindedness and reducing the presence of big government in California. He is against offshore drilling, wants to reduce “job killing regulations” on small businesses and stay abreast of local water issues.
Hinkle, who is fiscally conservative and socially liberal, is a retired engineer and member of the Libertarian party since 1974. He has advocated that it’s time for a change from the do-nothing two-party system in Sacramento. Hinkle was an adamant opponent of the open primary Proposition 14, referred to as “Top-Two Go,” that mandated the top two vote-getters in a primary – typically a Republican and a Democrat – would move onto the general election. The proposition makes it almost impossible for a third party candidate to get elected, Hinkle has said.
Laird, who lives in Santa Cruz, was elected to represent the 27th Assembly district in 2002, 2004 and 2006 and served as the budget committee chair for four years. San Luis Obispo resident Blakeslee was elected to the 33rd Assembly district in 2004 and was re-elected in 2006 and 2008.
Laird lists protecting vital local services, supporting the public university and college systems and promoting bi-partisanship as his priorities. Blakeslee has voted through legislation to promote energy efficiency, job creation and no early release for prisoners.
In the June 22 election, Blakeslee won in Santa Clara County with 47 percent of the vote; San Luis Obispo County with 58 percent; and Santa Barbara County, 62 percent. Laird won Santa Cruz County with 56 percent of the vote, and in Monterey County, 55 percent.
Twelve polling places will be open on Aug. 17 in Gilroy, San Martin and Morgan Hill, though some will host two precincts in one location. The Registrar of Voters is encouraging voters to drop their vote-by-mail ballots in the mailbox as soon as possible to ensure the results are made public as soon as possible. The last day to request a vote-by-mail ballot is by 5 p.m. Tuesday. About 75 percent of ballots for this election are vote-by-mail.
