Afford

The word "afford" comes to us from Middle English. The form "affordability" originated about 200 years ago.  The Democratic Party did exist before "affordability,"and Thomas Jefferson might have invented the word, but so far the claim that Democrats invented "affordability" rests only on an assertion by a moron. 

Divided

Independent voters (like me) now outnumber Democrats. Only 40% of Americans view the Democratic Party favorably. 

Of primary elections Mara Gay wrote, "The uprising against the Democratic establishment is coming from the voters, and it cannot be contained." 

The Democratic primary voters have shifted to the left of the Democratic leadership. The leadership has responded by gearing up for combat with new, younger members. 

To sweep in the next election, the two wings of the Democratic Party, the centrists and the progressives, must work together on divisive issues like those listed below. These are real differences where Democrats better find answers that honor both sides. 

How hard should the government work to reduce inequality?

Should we have a single payer healthcare system or improve ObamaCare? 

How much should we tax the oligarchy?

Should we re-arm Netanyahu?

Should we provide free college education or targeted student debt relief?

Should we insist on clean energy or put more focus on economic improvement?

Should we strongly regulate Big Business or regulate lightly for economic reasons?

Should we stop our military interventions or act forcefully in foreign policy?

In a sense Progressives and Centrists create one another. The party should try to work with both and act, get something done.    

Some elections are continuity elections. FDR, our most progressive president, was elected four times. But the election in 2026 is widely viewed as a change election. A majority of voters want the country to change, to move in a different direction. 

If the Democrats want to win, they should offer fresh ideas and new people. Their current leadership is as stale as old drapes in a smoking lounge. 

In Democratic primaries, the voters are making it clear they want a reversal of decades of downward economic slippage in the working and middle classes. 

One possibility is that the Democrats win control of the House in November and then dodder, managing to do little, held back by their big money old guard. This would surprise no one. The current Democratic leadership is already doing its best to squelch Mamdani, AOC and so on. 

Think back to other change elections. Trump vs. Clinton. Enough voters wanted change badly enough to vote for a mentally-ill criminal.

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• Party identification: Surveys in the U.S. typically find that about 25–30% of adults identify as Democrats, 25–30% identify as Republicans, and the largest group—roughly 40% or more—identify as independents. Many independents, however, consistently lean toward one party.
• Voter support: In recent presidential elections, the Democratic candidate has generally received around 47–52% of the popular vote, depending on the election. The party has won the national popular vote in most presidential elections since the 1990s, though that has not always translated into winning the presidency because of the Electoral College.
• Favorability: Public opinion of the Democratic Party rises and falls over time. Polls often find that around 35–45% of Americans have a favorable view of the party, with similar levels expressing an unfavorable view. These numbers can shift significantly based on current events and the political environment.

Overall, the Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in the United States. It has a large and durable base of support but is also viewed unfavorably by many Americans. The U.S. electorate is closely divided, so neither the Democratic nor Republican Party consistently enjoys overwhelming national popularity.

If you're asking about a specific measure—such as current polling, party registration, or popularity in a particular state—I can provide more targeted information.

How popular is the Democratic party in recent polls 

Recent polling suggests the Democratic Party's national standing is mixed: it remains electorally competitive, but its overall favorability is still underwater.

Some recent measures include:

• Party favorability: A recent RealClearPolling average puts the Democratic Party at about 38% favorable and 55% unfavorable, for a net favorability of roughly –17 points. 
• Pew Research (May 2026): About 59% of Americans viewed the Democratic Party unfavorably, while favorable views had improved somewhat from a low reached in 2025 but remained below unfavorable views. 
• AP-NORC (2026): The poll found that many Democratic voters themselves remained dissatisfied with the party despite some electoral successes in special elections, suggesting enthusiasm within the party has not fully rebounded. 
• Congressional ballot: Despite weak favorability, some polls show Democrats performing better when voters are asked which party they would support for Congress. For example, an April 2026 Emerson poll found Democrats leading Republicans 50% to 40% on the generic congressional ballot. 

These findings highlight an important distinction:

• Favorability measures how positively people view the party itself.
• Vote intention measures which party people would choose in an election. A party can have relatively low favorability but still perform well electorally if voters prefer it over the alternative.

Overall, current polling indicates the Democratic Party is competitive in elections but not broadly popular, with favorability generally below 40% nationally while remaining in contention for congressional majorities

Recent polling suggests the Democratic Party's national standing is mixed: it remains electorally competitive, but its overall favorability is still underwater.

Some recent measures include:

• Party favorability: A recent RealClearPolling average puts the Democratic Party at about 38% favorable and 55% unfavorable, for a net favorability of roughly –17 points. 
• Pew Research (May 2026): About 59% of Americans viewed the Democratic Party unfavorably, while favorable views had improved somewhat from a low reached in 2025 but remained below unfavorable views. 
• AP-NORC (2026): The poll found that many Democratic voters themselves remained dissatisfied with the party despite some electoral successes in special elections, suggesting enthusiasm within the party has not fully rebounded. 
• Congressional ballot: Despite weak favorability, some polls show Democrats performing better when voters are asked which party they would support for Congress. For example, an April 2026 Emerson poll found Democrats leading Republicans 50% to 40% on the generic congressional ballot. 

These findings highlight an important distinction:

• Favorability measures how positively people view the party itself.
• Vote intention measures which party people would choose in an election. A party can have relatively low favorability but still perform well electorally if voters prefer it over the alternative.

Overall, current polling indicates the Democratic Party is competitive in elections but not broadly popular, with favorability generally below 40% nationally while remaining in contention for congressional majorities. 

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Explain some examples of a change election.

A change election is an election in which a large share of voters want the country to move in a different direction than they believe it's currently headed. These elections often occur during periods of economic trouble, war, scandal, or widespread dissatisfaction with the incumbent party.

Here are some notable U.S. examples:

1. 1932 – Franklin D. Roosevelt (Democrat)
   • The U.S. was in the depths of the Great Depression.
   • Voters blamed the incumbent Republican administration for the economic crisis.
   • Roosevelt won by promising the New Deal, marking a major shift in federal policy.
2. 1980 – Ronald Reagan (Republican)
   • High inflation, unemployment, and the Iran hostage crisis hurt confidence in the incumbent Democratic administration.
   • Reagan campaigned on smaller government, lower taxes, and a stronger military.
   • His victory ushered in a significant conservative shift.
3. 1992 – Bill Clinton (Democrat)
   • A recession and concerns about the economy weakened President George H. W. Bush.
   • Clinton emphasized economic issues with the message, "It's the economy, stupid."
   • Voters opted for a younger candidate promising change.
4. 2008 – Barack Obama (Democrat)
   • The financial crisis and the Iraq War contributed to widespread dissatisfaction with the outgoing Republican administration.
   • Obama's "Hope and Change" campaign captured voters seeking a new direction.
5. 2016 – Donald Trump (Republican)
   • Many voters expressed frustration with political institutions, globalization, and the political establishment.
   • Trump ran as an outsider promising to "drain the swamp" and renegotiate trade and immigration policies.

Common characteristics of change elections

• The incumbent party is unpopular.
• Many voters believe the country is on the wrong track.
• Economic or social conditions create demand for new leadership.
• Candidates emphasize reform or a break from the status quo.

Not every election is a change election. Some are continuity elections, where voters are generally satisfied with the country's direction and choose to keep the incumbent party in power. For example, the 1984 election, in which Reagan won reelection by a landslide, is often viewed as a continuity election because many voters approved of the direction the country was taking.

Cal

My grandfather, known as Cal, was about 14 when his father died. Cal’s older brothers agreed to pool resources and support their mother, Charity Jane, but they told young Cal he had to leave home and fend for himself. 

Cal had a tough first winter alone in Sanger. He cleaned a pool hall and slept on one of the tables.  By December that was too cold, but a sex worker took pity on the boy and let him snuggle with her until spring. 

The next winter Cal joined a passing circus as a roustabout, helping erect the tent and so on, until he took up with the circus sharpshooter’s wife. He left that job in the middle of the night. 

I suppose he lived a typical American life. He worked as a driller in the oil fields of California and Venezuela, bought 100 acres of land near the headwaters of the Salinas River and lost his home when he refused to let some rich guys hunt deer on his property.  They took the place, using eminent domain. My grandparents moved to Atascadero and eventually to Clovis, their last stop. 

My mother would say now that I don’t know what Cal was like. That I spent about 30 days total in his presence. 

The Cal that I describe here, she would say, is not the real Cal—she would compare what I wrote to Rene Magritte’s oil on canvas, “The Treachery of Images.”

What we say

Yesterday I drove downtown to a book store and bought a copy of the Dao De Jing for my grand-daughter. (She might be interested.) 

I had to look at several versions of the Dao De Jing; every translation is different. The text was written in ancient Chinese symbols. What the symbols had meant 2,400 years ago is somewhat unclear. 

Uncertainty seems appropriate given the first sentence, which I suspect is the single sentence read by the most people on our planet, read by nearly all the Chinese, most other Asians and some of the rest of us. 

Very roughly, the first sentence goes, "The Dao we call the Dao is not the eternal Dao."

That resembles Rene Magritte's "The Treachery of Images,"  also known as "This Is Not a Pipe."  A portrait of a pipe is not a pipe, and a recipe for an omelet is not an omelet. 

The author starts by telling us that seeking wisdom begins with learning the following. What we say about the world and the world itself are not the same and not constant. 

The author's goal, I think, is to help readers become less aggressive. If language is uncertain, we should be uncertain.  He begins with linguistic philosophy. Or maybe not.

Out At Last

Last night reports said that Sen. Lindsay Graham had died, and I believe he is dead. But what about Mitch McConnell? Last week he died in a hospital, and his wife flew off for an important meeting in China. Now she has returned. Is Sen. McConnell still dead? I don't think so. 

Balogun

Later this afternoon Belgium and the United States meet in a knockout soccer game in the big tournament. 

America's best scorer, Balogun, had been given a red card in the prior game, which made him ineligible for this game. But FIFA, the soccer organization, changed its mind at the last minute and allowed Balogun to participate. How this came about is unclear, but maybe it was because Donald Trump and FIFA, two utterly corrupt actors, made an agreement. 

First, and I am speaking as a one-time useless soccer coach, Balogun did not commit a foul and should not have been given a red card. Nearly everyone agrees. 

Second, FIFA and Trump should not be corrupt.

Third, the Belgium team leaders should not have tried to keep their opponent's best scorer off the field. You need a skilled opponent to play soccer. You should want the opponent to be at its best. There is no glory in knocking off weakened teams. 

Balogun, by the way, is actually British but also a birthright citizen of the USA.

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Soloists

The problem with concertos is how they start. You buy your ticket and you find a seat, and then you wait. You wait some more. You came to hear the soloist, right? But instead of starting with the world-famous soloist, the concerto begins with long minutes of the whole orchestra banging away, making you wait. 

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Horsemanship

Susan and I frequently watch Heather Cox Richardson's daily podcast, in which she explains, as historians will do, the news and its contexts. She's great, but she said something that annoyed me a few weeks back.

Cox claimed that among American presidents, the best horseman was probably Ronald Reagan.

I don't know how long Reagan stayed in a saddle, but I doubt if he was comparable to the Founding Fathers. Many of them rode horses every day. That's how they got around. 

For absolute best presidential horseman, most historians choose U.S. Grant. He set a high jump record at West Point. Grant had great technical skills. Washington and Teddy Roosevelt were also adept.

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Going With The Flow

Long ago I read an article about which sentence has been read by the most people over the centuries. I don't recall the winning sentence, but I didn't agree with the outcome. 

Probably no one knows the right answer, but I have a candidate for the most-read sentence. I started by assuming the sentence would be in Chinese and be known to every Chinese person and most Asians and some of the rest of us.  

My choice had first been written in ancient Chinese symbols, which lend themselves to multiple meanings and translations. Here is an example:  "The Dao that can be spoken of is not the ever- constant Dao." 

That's the first line of the Dao De Jing.  A variation might be, "The Dao we call the Dao is not the constant Dao." 

What "the Dao" meant 2400 years ago remains uncertain, but in part the sentence is apparently commenting on the nature of language. There is a difference between a process and the name we give the process. 

Consider Rene Magritte's painting of a pipe, called "The Treachery of Images" and also known as "This Is Not A Pipe."

So what does "Dao" mean? It means something that cannot be exactly defined in words, maybe something like "constantly changing natural processes." A central Daoist message might be, "Be spontaneous and don't fight Mother Nature."

Wittgenstein pointed out that words with cloudy meanings have an important role in language. Take the word "love." As a songwriter wrote, "You don't know what love is." 

You can experience love but not define it exactly.

 

Mahler

Do you know what's embarrassing? To discover Mahler when you're 91.

Killing People

As he ages, Donald Trump has been on a killing spree, ranging from schoolgirls in Iran to anyone in a small boat near Venezuela. But recently he signed a tentative peace discussion agreement with the leaders of Iran.

Ronny Cheing has asked us to praise Trump for this act of leadership. Trump lost the war, of course--I can see that--but what he seeks is validation that he is a towering military genius. He would be comparing himself to Robert E. Lee, if Lee had not been such a loser.

If we praise Trump's amazing and total victory in Iran, he may not start bombing again. This would leave quite a few Iranian families intact. 

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Courage

Looking back on nearly 92 years, what am I proud of? Well, one thing is that I had the courage not use chapstick. I toughed it out.

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Tale from Long Ago

A TALE FROM LONG AGO

After two weeks Adam said he felt lonely in the Garden of Eden. It was like being lost in the woods, he said. Everyone used to fear getting lost in the woods. But you aren't lost if someone is with you. So Adam asked El (that was the Creator's original name) if he could have a companion. 

El enjoyed a negotiation. He liked to argue. "So now you are afraid of trees?"

"Not exactly."

"Of  course I can make you a companion," El said, "but it's expensive. If you want something nimble, amiable and female, that will cost you a leg."

"A leg? You want to take off one of my legs? I have to hunt and gather. You made me that way.  I spend my life walking around looking for food."

"Of course. You need the leg. So what can you afford to give up?"

Adam thought for a few minutes and then said. "What can I get for a toe nail?"

"Pete Hegseth."

"That's not right!"

"If you're asking for certain unalienable rights," the Creator said, "you'll have to throw in rapid tooth decay."

"Fine," Adam said. "Fine. What can I get for a rib?" 

                  

 

Graham Platner

In two days, in a primary, the Democrats in Maine will make Graham Platner their candidate for the Senate. They like him.

If Platner wins in November, the Democrats might take control of the Senate and Supreme Court nominees . But some principled out-of-state Democrats are on TV campaigning against Platner. 

Graham Platner is a high-school graduate and combat veteran. He's currently an oyster farmer, a working-class white man, the sort of voter the Democrats lost touch with under the Clintons. 

So far Republicans and some Democrats have accused Platner of being a Communist, a Fascist and a toxic date. He has admitted that he once made failed attempts to cheat on his wife.  

Maine voters are going to choose in November between Platner and Republican Susan Collins, a Phi Beta Kappa supporter of Donald Trump. 

Like many I find some transgressions unforgivable.  If Platner were guilty of hitting a woman, raping someone or persecuting a Jew, I would not vote for him (if I lived in Maine). But he has not been accused of those crimes. He has been accused of troubling unorthodoxy, dating toxicity, a really bad grasp of symbolism and not being upper middle-class. 

Obama (and FDR) drew support from voters like Platner, men who had not attended Yale, men who ate spaghetti without twirling it on a spoon. 

Often voters who work with their hands decide nominations and elections. If I were a Democrat, I would, like FDR, seek their support. But I belong to no party.

Just saying.

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Ozymandias

 

Shelley had Trump's number

"And on the pedestal, these words appear:

"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

The Good Country

There are about 195 countries in the world. Each nation is mostly ruled by a small group that controls a large share of the wealth and power. This description fits dictatorships, Marxist or Fascist regimes, kingdoms, Denmark and capitalist democracies in general. 

In the better nations ordinary people have some power, but there is no country where classes of people share wealth or power evenly. 

All countries protect their ruling class, but some counties are easier than others to live in.

Systematic control is baked-in to 195  nations. In America if a late night comic annoys the 1%, a rich man will buy the corporation that owns the corporation that owns the TV network, then fire the comic. If a news show runs the wrong expose, a billionaire will buy the network and hire a woman to fire any woman who disagrees with plutocrats.  

It's all legal in the system we created. So far it's not up for discussion. 

  

Psychotic

 

Donald Trump, now comparing himself to Jesus, Napoleon and Alexander the Great, has lost more of his connection to reality.

If, as expected, the Democrats win the House in the next election, our president will become more frustrated than he is now.  Trump is delusional. His thinking is disorganized. He does not grasp that some of his experiences aren't real. He listens to no advisor. 

Our flimsy media continue to talk politics as usual, speculating about who can flip what seat, when faced with madness and a possible disaster.

Walter

 My father's uncle and aunt, Frank and Peg Dezarn, raised an adopted son, Walter Bligh  (or Bly). In World War II he was shot down by the  Japanese over Borneo. 

I was probably about seven the last time I saw Walter. I don't remember what he was like, but I must be the last person who does remember him. 

Vet

Vet, my great-grandfather, an iron monger I barely remember, believed that a hospital was a place you went to die. 

When he was very old, he began to have trouble breathing. His two daughters and ancient wife from Westmeath decided to drive him over to Las Campanas, a private hospital on Compton Boulevard. Margaret, my mother, had worked there as a receptionist, and I had been born there. 

Vet refused to go, but the three women pushed the old fellow into their car. Vet began pleading through the window, asking my mother to save him. 

My young mother had no say in the matter. Vet ended up in the hospital, where he died. She never forgave herself. As Voltaire put it, each of us is guilty of all the good he did not do. 

I recently tried to learn what had happened to Las Companas hospital, which had included a locally famous drug treatment sanitarium. I used the tools available, including a form of artificial intelligence, but ended up with nothing but a photograph of the place taken in 1940 and a sentence saying the property had been turned into a subdivision.

sizes

  

America's tallest president was Lincoln. At 6'4" He loomed above Lyndon Johnson, our number two. Third tallest is Donald Trump, listed at 6'3".  Compare that to Xi Jinping, leader of China, listed at 5'9" to 5'11".

Last week we saw Trump and Xi side by side on television. They looked about the same.  Xi seemed a hair or two taller than Trump.  Xi must actually be 6'3" or 6'4", not 5'9".  The Chinese have misled us. There's no other explanation.

By the way, Winston Churchill was  5'6" around the waist. 

Xi Jinping

China

175–180 cm (5′9″–5′11″)

Kim Jong Un

North Korea

163–170 cm (5′4″–5′7″)

List the American presidents by height

Here are the U.S. presidents generally ranked by height (tallest to shortest). Heights are based on historical records and may vary slightly by source.

1. Abraham Lincoln — 6'4" (193 cm)
2. Lyndon B. Johnson — 6'3½" (192 cm)
3. Donald Trump — 6'3" (191 cm)
4. Thomas Jefferson — 6'2½" (189 cm)
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt — 6'2" (188 cm)
6. George H. W. Bush — 6'2" (188 cm)
7. Bill Clinton — 6'2" (188 cm)
8. Chester A. Arthur — 6'2" (188 cm)
9. Andrew Jackson — 6'1" (185 cm)
10. George Washington — 6'1" (185 cm)
11. Ronald Reagan — 6'1" (185 cm)
12. Barack Obama — 6'1" (185 cm)
13. George W. Bush — 5'11½" (182 cm)
14. Gerald Ford — 6'0" (183 cm)
15. Joe Biden — 6'0" (183 cm)
16. John F. Kennedy — 6'0" (183 cm)
17. Calvin Coolidge — 5'10" (178 cm)
18. Woodrow Wilson — 5'11" (180 cm)
19. Richard Nixon — 5'11" (180 cm)
20. Jimmy Carter — 5'10½" (179 cm)
21. Harry S. Truman — 5'9" (175 cm)
22. Dwight D. Eisenhower — 5'10½" (179 cm)
23. Theodore Roosevelt — 5'10" (178 cm)
24. Grover Cleveland — 5'11" (180 cm)
25. James Madison — 5'4" (163 cm)

Shortest president:

• James Madison — 5'4" (163 cm)

Tallest president:

• Abraham Lincoln — 6'4" (193 cm)

A commonly noted trend is that modern presidents tend to be taller than average for their era, and taller candidates have often had an advantage in televised elections.

Here’s a list of well-known current and recent world political leaders sorted roughly by height (tallest to shortest). Heights are approximate because official figures sometimes vary by source.

Leader	Country	Height
Aleksandar Vučić	Serbia	198–199 cm (6′6″)
Donald Trump	United States	190 cm (6′3″)
Justin Trudeau	Canada	188 cm (6′2″)
Recep Tayyip Erdoğan	Turkey	185 cm (6′1″)
Barack Obama	United States	185 cm (6′1″)
Joe Biden	United States	182 cm (5′11½″)
Xi Jinping	China	175–180 cm (5′9″–5′11″)
Boris Johnson	United Kingdom	175 cm (5′9″)
Emmanuel Macron	France	173–177 cm (5′8″–5′9½″)
Fumio Kishida	Japan	173 cm (5′8″)
Vladimir Putin	Russia	170 cm (5′7″)
Volodymyr Zelenskyy	Ukraine	170 cm (5′7″)
Narendra Modi	India	170 cm (5′7″)
Rishi Sunak	United Kingdom	170 cm (5′7″)
Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva	Brazil	168 cm (5′6″)
Kim Jong Un	North Korea	163–170 cm (5′4″–5′7″)
Michael D. Higgins	Ireland	160 cm (5′3″)

Some famous historical leaders by height:

Historical Leader	Height
Abraham Lincoln	193 cm (6′4″)
Charles de Gaulle	196 cm (6′5″)
Fidel Castro	190 cm (6′3″)
Winston Churchill	168 cm (5′6″)
Napoleon Bonaparte	168–170 cm (5′6″–5′7″)
Benito Juárez	~137–150 cm (4′6″–4′11″, disputed)

Sources compiled from public comparisons and political height databases.

Candidates

 The DSA of Sonoma County, a chapter of the political organization supported by Bernie Sanders, AOC and New York City Mayor Mamdani, has sorted out some of the candidates in the June election. Their recommendations and reasoning are quoted below.

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This voter guide is intended to help Sonoma County DSA members and allies make informed decisions when they go to the ballot box for the June 2nd primary election. Our recommendations are voted on by the electoral committee, which is open to all members. If you want to get involved in future elections work, please join a meeting or chime in on Discord!

In this guide, we are focused primarily on local offices and measures where we believe our recommendations can have the biggest impact. We know it can be hard to find meaningful background and context for small local races, and have attempted to provide it here. We have a special excitement for the District 2 County Supervisor race where our endorsed candidate Joanna Paun is running!

Where relevant, we’ve covered several races for state office, though State Offices are covered by California DSA as well. We urge you to check out the California DSA voter guide to learn more.

County Offices

SoCo DSA Endorses: Joanna Paun for County Supervisor, 2nd District

We are proud to share that Joanna Paun, the grassroots pick for 2nd District County Supervisor, is a SoCo DSA member and our first endorsed candidate! A democratic socialist running on progressive policies and a people-first approach to politics, she has an impressive background and is backed by the people, not regional corporate interests. She has earned endorsements from many other local progressive organizations and people, including: SEIU 1021, California Working Families Party, Teamsters Local 665, and CA Assembly Members Damon Connolly and Chris Rogers.

Paun currently serves as a Petaluma School Board Trustee and works as Sonoma County’s foster and homeless youth education coordinator. A mother of four, she has been a Petaluma resident for 20 years, and has a professional background in counseling.

In brief, some of Paun’s progressive priorities include:

Ending Sonoma County's cooperation with ICE
Lowering the cost of living and delivering affordable housing
Fixing our roads, waterlines, and aging infrastructure
Safeguarding health care and hospitals from the Trump administration’s funding cuts Improving mental health care services in schools

Context and Policies

Sonoma County needs a County Supervisor that prioritizes the safety of all residents. Joanna Paun is the only District 2 candidate committed to ending Sonoma County’s cooperation with ICE, which the current Board of Supervisors has refused to do. At present, Chris Coursey (District 3) is the only supervisor in support of publicly asking for non-cooperation. If we elect Joanna Paun and Melanie Bagby to office, three out of five supervisors in 2027, a majority, will be in agreement on this.

Paun’s campaign intends to address a catalog of other important issues impacting our county. She has committed to address the housing crisis by building affordable housing in the district. She intends to link county funds and services to public schools in the community, easing the burden on schools struggling to provide these services to at-risk youth. In a breath of fresh air compared to current District 2 Supervisor Rabbit’s accountability issues, Paun is committed to open and accessible meetings with the community in order to bring transparency to local decision-making.

Opponents

There are three other competitors in the race: John King and Shelina Moreda, whose campaigns lean conservative, and Sylvia Lemus, who is also running a left-leaning campaign (with several important caveats).

Although Lemus has a somewhat progressive background as Cotati’s mayor, she entered the race only after being recruited by Rob Muelrath, a political consultant and corporate lobbyist finagling tax breaks and labor loopholes for corporations such as Walmart, Dutra, and PG&E. Some local discussions have characterized Lemus as the more experienced candidate due to her time as mayor of Cotati. As regards this claim, we would like to note that Joanna Paun’s seven years of experience on the Petaluma School Board (versus Lemus’s four years as mayor) means she has spent nearly twice as much time in local government making decisions about a school system with a budget several times that of the town of Cotati.

Of note regarding the conservative candidates in the race: King unequivocally supports Sonoma County’s cooperation with ICE. Moreda’s constant punting on issues and odd decision to lie about her age to the Press Democrat reveal her to be obfuscatory about her background and policy goals.

SoCo DSA Recommends: Melanie Bagby for County Supervisor, 4th District

The only candidate taking a firm stance against the Trump administration, endorsed by the North Bay Labor Council, SEIU, Working Families Party, Latino PAC of Sonoma County, and Sonoma County Conservation Action. She has progressive goals aiming for a sustainable environment and economy.

Bagby’s priorities include:

Protect our community and immigrant neighbors from Trump administration policies Defend voter-approved civilian oversight of law enforcement.
Build mutual-aid capacity for climate resilience and disaster response
Lead on the housing crisis and homelessness, water security, clean energy, and transportation

Champion family agriculture, local food systems, small business, and job training

Competitors

Bagby’s opponents are Todd Lands and Tom Schwedhelm. Both are retired Law Enforcement officers (Sonoma Sheriff & Santa Rosa Police) endorsed by big ag, big business, and policing- related organizations, such as the Cloverdale and Santa Rosa Police Officers’ Associations respectively. These candidates’ backgrounds in policing suggest that they would be unlikely to implement oversight of the Sheriff’s office.

State Office

SoCo DSA Recommends: Jackie Elward for Member of the State Assembly, 12th District

Jackie Elward is running a progressive campaign with addressing the climate crisis and defending our communities from the Trump administration top of the list. She has served as mayor and vice-mayor of Rohnert Park, and is a proud labor organizer, educator, and immigrant. Her impressive achievements in Rohnert Park local government include establishing housing-first solutions to homelessness and increasing building of affordable homes.

Among other progressive policies, Elward supports:

Universal healthcare
Expansion of Medicare within California Affordable housing
Anti-ICE

In a field filled with candidates clamoring for the title of “progressive,” Jackie stands head and shoulders above her opponents on the issues true progressives care about. She has gained endorsements from the Working Families Party, the North Bay Labor Council, the California Federation of Labor Unions, along with many other progressive organizations.

Competitors

Elward has four competitors running as Democrats. Several of these competitors support Israel despite the genocide in Gaza and current invasion of Lebanon, which runs counter to our values in the DSA. As the world’s fourth largest economy, California has the ability to help end these actions by divesting and sanctioning Israel for its actions. Electing politicians who oppose Israel’s actions takes us a step further towards ending the atrocities and achieving justice for its victims.

Eric Lucan, the most viable candidate running against Elward, is supported by corporate democrats such as Adam Schiff and Jared Huffman. He has been unwilling to criticize Israel’s numerous and recent war-crimes, and has been skittish about calling the genocide in the Gaza Strip what it is: a genocide. Though he pays lip service to progressive ideals, especially in regards to LGBTQ rights, he does not support universal healthcare and leans more toward austerity measures than taxing the wealthy.

Ballot Measures

Depending on where you live, several ballot measures related to school district funding and SMART train funding may be on your ballot. We recommend the following:

Measure A - Vote YES

Renews the previously approved educational parcel tax of $89 per year per parcel to provide funding for the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District. Maintains locally-controlled funding without increasing tax rates to keep the schools running smoothly. Voting yes maintains this important source of funding for our schools, which brings in $1,300,000 annually. Funding for local public education is important!

Measure B - Vote YES

Renews the previously approved 1⁄4 cent sales tax for 30 years to fund the SMART train and bicycle/pedestrian pathway services. This measure extends an important, existing tax that allows SMART—essential infrastructure for seniors, youth, essential workers, and low-income households—to maintain service for Sonoma county residents.

Measure C - Vote YES

Adopts an educational parcel tax of $49 per year per parcel to provide funding for the Bellevue Union School District. Provides funding for STEM programs, library programs, and maintains arts and phys ed programs. Voting yes creates a vital source of locally-controlled funding and will raise $350,000 annually.

Other Recommendations

California DSA recommends several state assembly and state senate candidates with strong progressive values and backgrounds. While not locally relevant, we do recommend you read the CA DSA voter guide for the following candidates:

Chris Rogers - Member of the State Assembly, 2nd district Audrey Denney - United States Representative, CA-1 Damon Connolly - State Senate, District 2