By the end of the day June 6, south San Mateo County voters will have marked their ballots for as many as 30 offices — from U.S. senator to county controller — and voted yes or no on two, important state ballot measures. If they live in the Menlo Park School District, voters will also decide whether to issue $91.1 million in bonds for school construction.
The results from this June 6 primary will, of course, determine the lineup of candidates that will face voters in November.
With more than 50 choices on a typical ballot, voters can have a hard time deciding who will best represent them.
In addition to the sample ballot with the official voter information pamphlet that you get in the mail from the county elections office, a great online resource is smartvoter.org, the League of Women Voters Web site, where you can plug in your local address and get specific information about races and propositions on your ballot.
This Almanac’s guide focuses on local matters and the leading candidates in contested races.
In the governor’s race, for example, we report on the two leading Democratic candidates — Steve Westly and Phil Angelides — only because Mr. Westly is an Atherton resident. On the Republican side, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does not face serious opposition.
State Sen. Jackie Speier, who served as a San Mateo County supervisor after being wounded in Guyana at the Jonestown massacre, is running in a tight race for lieutenant governor with fellow-Democrats John Garamendi, the state insurance commissioner, and state Sen. Liz Figueroa of Fremont. None is a resident of the Almanac circulation area, and therefore this race is not included in this guide.
One of the hottest and nastiest races in the state is to replace Sen. Speier in the 8th state Senate district, which runs from San Francisco into north San Mateo County, and includes Woodside and Portola Valley. Duking it out for the Democratic nomination in the safe Democratic district are three political heavyweights: former San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin of Daly City; Assemblyman Leland Yee of San Francisco; and former Assemblyman Lou Papan of Millbrae.
The winner will take on the winner in the Republican race between marketing manager Michael Skipakevich of South San Francisco, and Coastside activist and litigator Oscar Alejandro Braun.
Other top positions on the ballot are the U.S. Senate seat held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who is being challenged by two Democrats; and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton, who is unopposed in the primary. In November, she will face Republican account executive Rob Smith of Redwood City, Green Party activist Carol Brouillet of Palo Alto, and Libertarian engineer Brian Holtz of San Carlos.
In the 21st Assembly district, Democratic Assemblyman Ira Ruskin of Redwood City and Republican community volunteer Virginia Chang Kiraly of Menlo Park are running unopposed in the primary. They will face off in November.
County: Mostly unopposed
Out of 20 nonpartisan offices to be filled in San Mateo County, only two have competition.County Supervisor Rich Gordon has two challengers to his bid for a third and last term (due to term limits): Libertarian Jack Hickey of Redwood City, and Green activist Jo Chamberlain of Half Moon Bay.
Ten of 11 Superior Court judges are running unopposed, and do not appear on the ballot. Attorneys Lisa Maguire and Susan Irene Etezadi are vying for six-year term as a Superior Court judge in Office 11.
Running unopposed for election to county sheriff is Greg Munks of Portola Valley, who will succeed Don Horsley. Mr. Munks has been undersheriff, the No. 2 post in the Sheriff’s Office, during all of Mr. Horsley’s 13 years as sheriff.
Ballot measures
For the first time in years, California voters are not facing a plethora of propositions to make laws about almost everything.Just two propositions have made it onto the state ballot for June:
• Proposition 81would provide for a bond issue of $600 million to build and renovate public libraries in California
• Proposition 82 would tax incomes over $400,000 for single people and $800,000 for couples to provide free preschool education for all 4-year olds whose parents want it. An in-depth look at what Prop. 82 would mean for local parents, schools and private preschools is running in next week’s issue of the Almanac.
In addition, the Menlo Park School District has put Measure U on the ballot: a $91.1 million bond measure to build and modernize facilities at each of the district’s four schools.
INFORMATION
• Election day. San Mateo County’s 349,194 registered voters can cast their ballots Tuesday, June 6, from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m., at the polling place shown on the sample ballot.• Mail-in vote. The last day to mail in requests for absentee ballots is Tuesday, May 30.
• People with disabilities and other registered voters may vote prior to election day on eSlate machines at nine Universal Voting Centers throughout the county. South County locations are: Elections Office, 40 Tower Road in San Mateo; Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Office, 555 County Center (corner of Bradford and Hamilton streets) in Redwood City; and Civic Center, 2415 University Ave. in East Palo Alto.
• First-time voters must present some kind of identification at the polling place. This can be a driver’s license, passport, and/or student ID.
• For more information, call 312-5222, or go to the county’s election Web site at shapethefuture.org.
• Other Web sites carry information on the election, issues, and candidates: the California Secretary of State, at ss.ca.gov/elections; the League of Women Voters, at smartvoter.org; easyvoter.org; and calvoter.org.
