For weeks, I have gone back and forth about who I was voting for in the California Governor’s race. Usually, before an election, my mind is made up pretty early on, but this time, I kept going back and forth because I wasn’t hot on any of the candidates. Most people I talked to were in the same predicament. We would ask one another, “Any thoughts on the governor’s race?  Who are we voting for?”  One week we were all for one candidate, and then the next week we changed our minds for various reasons.

As the possibility grew that two Republican candidates could advance from California’s jungle primary, leaving Democrats shut out of the general election, the discussion shifted to strategic voting for the leading Democrat to prevent that outcome.

Some political experts advised us to hold off on voting until the last minute and to vote for whoever was in the lead. Now that it looks like that won’t happen, most of us have gone back to voting for the candidate we think is best to lead the state.

Isn’t that what we should have been doing all along?

I completely agree with San Francisco Chronicle columnist and editorial board member Emily Hoeven. Her opinion piece Who cares who’s leading the California governor race? Vote for the best candidate,” hit the nail on the head (Link at end of blog post)

“I plan to vote my conscience — for who I actually think is best qualified to get the state on the right track. “

I completely agree.

I voted for Katie Porter, and some may think that is a wasted vote, but I voted for the person I believe has the qualifications to lead California through what looks to be a very challenging season.

The California governor’s race symbolizes everything that is wrong with our current political landscape.

  • Unserious people running for office – The first page of the ballot was filled with so many gubernatorial candidates that it was hard to find the actual serious contenders

 

  • Candidates with zero experience in government, and whose sole qualifications seem to be schmoozing or having enough money to buy their positions

 

  • Lifelong bureaucrats with no vision or record of solving problems

 

  • Inundating the public with political ads full of empty promises

 

  • Voters have to choose the most lackluster and mediocre candidate because of electability issues

The electorate continues to wonder why they are being saddled with mediocre candidates, and the answer is clear: We are rewarding mediocre and unqualified candidates because we don’t want the other side to win. Voting for mediocre or unqualified candidates is not the way to elect forward-thinking public servants with vision who can solve problems.

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