Perez Fatal Mistake? No Candidate's Statement in Voter Guide

Amazing. John Perez, Speaker of the California Assembly, Emeritus, who has now dragged the Controller's election out beyond mid-July because of his ill-advised recount, failed to submit a candidate's statement for publication in the voter information guide sent to every voter in the State.

True that many voters don't read them, but equally true that some voters read only those statements before making up their mind who to vote for. Could this be the main reason State Board of Equalization member Betty T. Yee, eked out a scant 481 more votes than Perez, despite being outspent three times over? I've seen this simple mistake made by others and the results are clear. No statement shows a disdain for the voters and they may well show a disdain for the candidate on election day.

So speculated Jim Miller of the Sacramento Bee yesterday, also noting that only those candidates who agree to abide by a voluntary spending limit of no more than $5.44 million in a statewide race are eligible for the statements. Interestingly Perez did not appear to come near that mark in his Primary race spending, but his $1.7 million spent through the last reporting period of May 17th was close to treble the amount spent by Yee to that date.

So, instead of laying out $6,250 for a ballot statement, Perez is spending hundreds of thousands on a recount to try to scare up 482 votes and beat Yee long after election Day. This is hubris at its most unattractive. This is not what we expect from our Democratic Party.

And apparently not what the  Democratic Party itself expects either, as they have accepted Yee as the winner and endorsed Democrat in the race, and put $50,000 into her bank account to help pay for her expenses associated with the recount.

Stay tuned.

Recount Redux

More on the messy recount going on as we speak in the California Controller race. Think a Controller race is dull? Think the job is a big bore? Think again. The Controller controls the State budget. Whoever sits in that seat has an awesome responsibility. With Emeritus Speaker of the House John Perez unwilling to concede defeat to Betty Yee, who won when all the ballots were accounted for by a slim 481 votes our of more than 4 million cast, he plunged the Party into angst and the State into uncertainty.

Because of the arcane way California's recount laws are written, the loser, in this case Perez, has the right to a recount in what ever Counties and whichever precincts he chooses. He has to pay for it, but with what's left in his Primary campaign warchest, he can afford it.

As you might suspect, this has made the Republicans, whose candidate Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearingen finished in first place with 24% of the vote (Perez and Betty Yee finished with 21.7% each), rub their hands together with glee. Nothing like a divided Party to cast the voting public into confusion and frustration, not to mention deepen an already heavy cynicism.

The result of all this is to suppress the vote, giving Swearingin an edge in what should be a solid Democratic seat. And that edge is like the camel's nose under the tent. Republicans are snorting and pawing the ground with every passing day.

If the reaction to Betty Yee's presence at this weekend's State Executive Board meting is any indication, Perez' tactics are not going over well with his own base. Betty got standing O's wherever she went, including at the Labor Caucus meeting. Perez sits on the board and didn't bother to make the meeting.

Oh, yeah, pressing State business, or vote counting, whatever. As State Party Chair John Burton said in the SF Chronicle yesterday, "John [Perez] is a young guy with a political future ... and I don't think he's going to thwart that for the controller's job."  Make his words come true, Mr. Speaker. Be a gracious loser on this one, and there will be another chance for a solid political career.

Your author and Betty T. Yee ar this weekend's meeting.