Voters on the Central Coast head to the polls today to vote for their candidate for the 15th senatorial district that covers much of the central coast including parts of Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley.
To find your voting precinct, visit www.votescount.com.
The special election for senate followed a lively debate in Santa Cruz between the four candidates for the office last week:
Debate covers major issues
The four candidates set to face off for the 15th Senate District seat met at Cabrillo College last week for a final debate before tomorrow’s special election.
The election is a high-stakes battle—a democratic victory would put the party within one vote of the two-thirds majority and has sparked public interest in the race, which covers mostly the rural district between Santa Clara and Santa Barbara counties.
The hour-long debate included issues like education funding, the state’s fiscal crisis, and global warming law.
Taking a jab at Republican opponent Sam Blakeslee, an Assemblyman from San Luis Obispo, Democrat and termed-out Assemblymember John Laird said that Republican-supported tax cuts and spending caps would not save California’s education system.
Laird said a spending cap on the state budget would lock California’s students in the basement by leaving education already shorted by billions from cuts in the last two years.
Laird called for new revenue, like a tax on oil companies, to support public schools and the state budget, which contrasts with Blakeslee’s views on reviving the system.
Blakeslee said funding for education will naturally fall into place when the economy recovers.
“Bringing jobs back is the long-term solution,” Blakeslee said.
Laird came in 7 percentage points behind Blakeslee in the June primary, which was not enough to avoid a runoff.
Mark Hinkle, a Libertarian from Morgan Hill said that there should be a free-market approach to education. He said parents should have more control about how education money is spent.
“The solution is not to put in more money but to increase competition” Hinkle said.
Both Jim Fitzgerald, an Independent from Nipomo and Laird showed support for November’s Proposition 25, which would lower the threshold necessary for state lawmakers to pass a budget to 50 percent plus one vote. Blakeslee and Hinkle opposed the measure.
Hinkle said he would raise the vote needed to pass a budget to three quarters.
“The power to tax is the power to destroy,” Hinkel said.
Hinkle said that voting for either of the two major parties would be a grave mistake.
Fitzgerald said the same.
“The last six years, nothing has been done right,” Fitzgerald said. “I blame the career politicians with being more concerned about re-election than doing their job.”
On climate change, Laird was the only candidate who opposed November’s Proposition 23, which would suspend the 2006 implementation of California’s greenhouse gas rules.
“It was funded by oil companies,” Laird said.
Blakeslee said he was not taking a position.
Laird, to the applause of the forum audience, stated his opposition to offshore drilling. The Senate-hopeful also said he supports Proposition 24, the November ballot initiative that would repeal corporate tax cuts, which he said would put $2.4 billion into the state.
While Blakeslee said that Proposition 24 could harm the state’s businesses.
“Don’t pull more money out of the private sector,” Blakeslee said.
In the closing statements, all candidates urged the public to vote tomorrow, Aug. 17, which is an election that could have a historically low turnout.
Fitzgerald said citizens should vote for the best candidate and not against the other party.
Blakeslee, he called himself a moderate, said that California is a polarized state.
“In order to reform California, we need to bring jobs back and strengthen the economy,” Blakeslee said.
Hinkle said that California is going to have the same problems if Democrats and Republicans keep getting elected.
Laird, who was formally endorsed by President Obama last week, spoke of the park measure he proposed, citing it as a bipartisan solution.
Sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Santa Cruz Weekly, the Aug. 12 forum was televised on local stations and radio broadcasted.
