Come June 6, local voters will be selecting candidates for more than 40 national, state and county offices, plus passing on local and state bond measures, among them a $91 million school construction bond measure in the Menlo Park City School District.
At the top of the national ticket are Sen. Dianne Feinstein and local Representative Anna Eshoo, D-Atherton.
Rep. Eshoo of the 14th District has no Democratic opponent in June. In November, she will face Republican account executive Rob Smith of Redwood City and Libertarian engineer Brian Holtz of San Carlos.
State contests
The highest-aiming local candidate is Steve Westly of Atherton, who wants to be governor. Now state controller, he is running against state Treasurer Phil Angelides for the Democratic nomination and the privilege of taking on Gov. Arnold Scwarzenegger in November.Also aiming high is state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-San Mateo, who is running for lieutenant governor. She is leaving her 8th District Senate seat because of term limits.
In much the hottest local race, three Democratic powerhouses are vying to replace Sen. Speier in the 8th District, which extends south from San Francisco to include Portola Valley and Woodside.
Former San Mateo County Supervisor Mike Nevin, San Francisco Assemblyman Leland Yee, and former longtime Assemblyman Lou Papan of Daly City are waging an energetic and very public campaign for the nomination.
Two Republicans are vying for the chance to run in the heavily Democratic district. Coastside activist Oscar Alejandro Braun, who is best known for suing to block the tunnel at Devil’s Slide, is facing marketing manager Michael Skipakevich of South San Francisco. Other candidates may appear; the filing period will not close until March 15 because the seat is vacant.
Freshman Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City, is being challenged by fellow-Democrat Kaushik Roy. In November, the winner will face Republican venture capitalist Virginia Chang Kiraly of Menlo Park.
Gordon’s challengers
Unopposed candidates, mostly incumbents, are sure of being elected to 18 out of 20 non-partisan San Mateo County offices.Only Supervisor Rich Gordon and the vacant judge’s seat for Superior Court Office No. 11 have competition.
Two county activists are challenging two-term Supervisor Gordon for the seat representing the Third District, which includes the San Mateo County Coast. They are:
• Perennial Libertarian candidate Jack Hickey of Redwood City, who currently serves on the board of the Sequoia Healthcare District.
• Jo Chamberlain, a retired businesswoman from Half Moon Bay, who is also running for membership in the Green Party Council for San Mateo County.
Running unopposed are incumbents: Second District Supervisor Jerry Hill; Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Warren Slocum; Controller Tom Huening; Coroner Robert Foucrault; Superintendent of Schools Jean Holbrook; Treasurer-Tax Collector Lee Buffington; District Attorney James P. Fox; and 10 Superior Court judges.
Undersheriff Greg Munks of Portola Valley is running unopposed to replace retiring Sheriff Don Horsley.
INFORMATION
For more information, call 312-5222, or go to shapethefuture.org; or the League of Women Voters Web site at smartvoter.org
