California’s delayed vote counting procedure is tantamount to mental torture –for caring citizens and for candidates who are locked in tight races.
Imagine that you’re Congressman John Duarte and from Election night Nov. 5 until Nov. 27 you are always ahead in the vote count. Then opponent Adam Gray is able to barely eek out a lead of 182 votes. Then it changes over the course of several more days until Dec. 3 when the final result is that Gray wins by a margin of 187 votes. That’s a sliver when you see that Gray had 105,554 votes and Duarte had 105,367 votes. Clearly, Gray has no mandate.
Imagine you’re Gary M. Condit (grandson of the congressman) and you’re ahead of Javier Lopez on Election Night by 60 votes only to see the Lopez lead fluctuate … 237 votes and then ultimately win by 687 votes.
This kind of dragged-out vote counting is a byproduct of forcing voters into the age of all mail ballots, which I still believe is rife for potential fraud.
Republicans have long stood for voter ID laws because it would end voter fraud, and yes, I’m sure it is happening.
With an election result as close as it was in the 13th Congressional District, I suppose we can see Round 3 of the Duarte-Gray match up in two years.
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If you’re left scratching your head over this one, you’re not alone. Stanislaus County voters overwhelmingly chose Donald Trump over Kamala Harris and yet wanted to send the new president a new adversary to Congress, a Democrat, in the form of Adam Gray.
So here’s the deal: 106,986 Stanislaus County voters (54.16 percent) picked Trump over the 85,347 voters who picked VP Harris (43.21 percent). Yet, 31,424 (53.34 percent) of county voters picked Democrat Gray to replace Republican Duarte who had 27,492 votes (46.66 percent).
Seems like a screwy electorate to me.
Yet, when you look at the numbers coming out of Gray’s home county of Merced, you see his support wasn’t as strong as in Stanislaus County. Gray had 51.45 percent of Merced County in his pocket while he took 53.34 percent of Stanislaus County.
I hope someone is able to explain to me why voters in Stanislaus County failed to stand behind Duarte and prefer Gray. Was it the blast of campaign commercials and mailers?
Duarte has been a part of the local agriculture community for decades being involved with Duarte Nursery outside of Hughson while Gray has been a career politician from Merced County. In fact, I recently came across a news article and photo I snapped in September 1996 of a young 29-year-old Duarte who had just been named to the California Farm Bureau Federation’s Young Farmer and Rancher State Committee. At that same time Gray was preparing to study political science in college with dreams of running for office.
One was motivated by agriculture, the other motivated by being a political officeholder. He’s from the mold of Gary A. Condit who used to be his father-in-law.
I’m not saying Gray isn’t a friend of agriculture because he has championed water rights for the farmers (Valley politicians have to if they want to get elected). But it’s amazing what can happen when a political party dumps millions of dollars into TV commercials to present a politician driving his pickup past fields and convince folks that he needs to be in Congress. Add to that ballot harvesting and you have him edging past the incumbent – ever so slightly.
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Stanislaus County is probably more purple than red these days because of the close proximity to the Bay Area. Folks priced out of the housing market there come over here to buy homes and bring the liberal ideology with them. How else do you explain how 44.63 percent of the voters in our county could support a progressive Democrat named Jessica Self for the 22nd Assembly District?
Thankfully, Juan Alanis, with his law enforcement history and record of cracking down on retail crime, was the victor and returns to the Assembly with 56.2 percent of the overall vote. But he should have been on par with the 70.1 percent that Heath Flora claimed in the 9th Assembly district.
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Last week I received an interesting call from a woman involved in Ceres social circles and she gave me a largely negative view of city leadership. She reflected on the mayor (whom she doesn’t like) and mentioned how a friend of hers attended Condit Country campaign event in Turlock. Her friend noted how Channce Condit was smooth with the folksy charm, smiles and handshakes but contrasted that with mayoral candidate Gary M. Condit. “My friend said she’d never vote for him,” the woman told me. When I asked why that was the case she claimed Gary was “rude” toward her. Real or imagined, that’s maybe something he might work on if he plans to pursue office in the future.
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As one who has closely followed city government in Ceres for decades and one who reads social media, I can tell you that there are a lot of folks out there who are ready to publicly share their opinions about things even though they have no clue what they are saying.
Take for example the Courier’s Facebook post trying to get folks to click on our story, “Residents may call for extra leaf & limb pick-up during off-season.”
It used to be the city’s practice to pick up piles of tree trimmings year round but that ended when the city was mandated by the state to add the green organics can which drove up costs. To offset the costs of the green can the city scaling back the leaf & limb collection program to the months of October, November and December. After all, residents now have a green can to dispose of leaves and chopped up branches.
Fast forward to this year. Councilman Daniel Martinez suggested that the city extend the collection program into spring. Instead of increasing everybody’s garbage rates to accomplish that, the council wisely devised a plan to let residents – who end up having too much tree trimmings for their green container – to dial up Bertolotti and pay extra to have a dumpster delivered. The fee is $100 but since the city is subsidizing with $55, the resident pays $45.
The folks who question why things changed at the city level need to look to those in Sacramento are dictating policies to cities to follow. Cities had no local choice about green waste cans because of state lawmakers.
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Who you elect to state office determines the cost of living in this state. Their policies can drive up costs. Ask yourself why a Democrat like state Senator Marie Alvarado-Gil decided to become a Republican. She defected because she sees the damage being inflicted on everyday Californians by her former party.
Last week she coauthored legislation to repeal a recent California Air Resources Board (CARB) decision that is projected to raise gas prices by 65 cents to 85 cents per gallon. In her press release, Alvarado-Gil stated: “My rural and Central Valley constituents can’t afford any increase in gas prices. The impact will be felt in every household, making it harder for families to take their kids to school, go to work, and put food on the table. This hike was approved just a few weeks ago by an unelected board of millionaire bureaucrats, whose agenda is completely out of touch with the realities of normal Californians. If the progressive Legislature is serious about making life more affordable, then passing this bill should be a no-brainer.”
On Nov. 8, just days conveniently after the election, the Democrat appointed members of CARB adopted amendments to its Low-Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS), which is set to impose more costs on oil companies in California and lead to higher prices for consumers. While CARB initially projected a 47-cent per gallon increase, it later retracted that estimate and refused to provide an updated figure.
A report from the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy at the University of Pennsylvania now estimates the price increase could range from 65 to 85 cents per gallon!
You vote for this, California!
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The numbers are final: 6,195 voted for Javier Lopez to continue being mayor of Ceres while 7,838 obviously did not want him being mayor. Having a third candidate in the race enabled a Lopez win. Factor into that the gullibility of folks who fell for the swill of Lopez’s dirty and dishonest campaign flyer smearing Gary Condit and Rosalinda Vierra.
Condit collected 5,508 votes and Vierra, 2,330 votes. Add those number up and let that sink in.
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Speaking of the mayor, I’ll bet he’s pleased as punch that Pollo Campero won’t be building a new restaurant in Ceres.
He was the one who fired the opening salvo when the Planning Commission was in the act of approving a 2,619-square-foot Pollo Campero restaurant at 1355 E. Hatch Road. Mayor Lopez didn’t want another chicken restaurant on Hatch Road and threatened an appeal and the “strong possibility that this establishment will not be able to open at this location.”
The chain didn’t say why they are withdrawing their Ceres plans but maybe it was their way of giving Mayor Lopez the bird, pun intended.
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Looks like a battle brewing between the lawless California state leaders and the Trump Administration over deportations.
State leaders like Newsom don’t mind putting sworn officers in the middle because frankly they don’t respect law enforcement.
Trump doesn’t believe it’s right for the state of California to shield illegal immigrants from federal authorities who wish to deport them from the country from where they snuck into the USA.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells, a Republican, supports Trump’s deportation plans and claims the state, through SB 54, could not only prosecute sworn peace officers for assisting federal agents in deportations but also withhold their pensions.
Our despicable state Attorney General Rob Bonta, says that’s not true. So why is he asking the public to report to his office anyone believed to be assisting immigration authorities? Can you believe this level of incredulity?
Tom Homan, Trump’s incoming “border czar,” has threatened to cut federal funding to states like California with sanctuary policies if they don’t cooperate.
Newsom’s defiance flies in the face of the will of the people who support deportation of law breakers. He’s long been out of step with most of us.
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You know things are bad with homelessness in the Bay Area and Stockton when government begins offering free rides to get them out of their counties.
Even though Stockton is overpopulated with homeless drug addicts, the San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors say their “return to home” program has nothing to do with homeless dumping. Yeah, right. It’s just out of their good old benevolent hearts that they’re giving them a free ride out. Who believes that? Maybe they should call it the “Get the Hell Out of Our County” program.
San Joaquin County’s homelessness count has increased 100 percent over a two-year span. But guess what? That same count shows that 90 percent of San Joaquin County’s homeless were living there when they became homeless. So really, they’re already home!
As for the other 10 percent, San Joaquin County is a neighbor to us so guess where some of those buses might be dropping off these fine upstanding citizens?
I’ve a better idea. Find the address of Gov. Newsom’s new lavish $9.1 million mansion in Marin County and bus them there. Maybe then he’ll get serious about dealing with homeless.
It was with his support that Prop. 47 was passed that caused so much of the problems that plaque our communities with drug-related crimes like theft.
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When you read social media you realize just how broken and dysfunctional a vast many people are.
On the Ceres Community/Incident Feed page on Facebook, an Alexus Hernandez shared how “One of the neighbors threw a party and one of the guests couldn’t handle their drink, came to our front yard and threw up all over the side of our truck. We handled it very nicely and asked her to please not do that on our car, and 24 hours later she came back and ripped the side mirror off our truck. If you know who she is, please let us know. TIA”
This column is the opinion of Jeff Benziger, and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Ceres Courier or 209 Multimedia Corporation. How do you feel about this? Let Jeff know at jeffb@cerescourier.com
