POLITICAL UPDATE A Closer Look at the June 7th Primary Races for Marin and Statewide Offices GREG BROCKBANK Note: The views expressed in this article are opinions of the author and are not intended to reflect those of MCBA nor is this column an endorsement of any candidate.
Primary elections are coming as I write this
article the week before election day. By the time you read this, they will likely have come and gone and you may be discovering just how wrong I was…or perhaps admiring my prescience?
yone else, he was not the second or third or even fourth choice for the majority of prima-
STATE ASSEMBLY
ry voters.
Before term limits, assembly members often
This is a rare year where we have an
served for decades, and they often started young in order to acquire clout and seniority
(unexpectedly) open seat. California’s legislative term limits are now 12 years, so the
and major committee chairmanships a dec-
scramble for Marc Levine’s seat was expected to begin next year after he won his
ade or two later. Experience, albeit shorter, candidates with the most endorsements, the
sixth and final term. He changed that timetable by announcing last fall that he would not
most mailers, the best platform, best record, best reputation, and it helps to be likeable
run for a final term this year, and instead would run for state insurance commissioner.
too.
Marin County Supervisor Damon Connolly
But voters sometimes do funny things, espe-
(also a former San Rafael City Councilman and Dixie School District Trustee) has always
still draws voters, who also tend to go for the
cially, perhaps, in Marin’s Assembly races. Voters threw out a one-term Marin assembly
been ambitious and had his eye on the State
member in 1994 in favor of a challenger who then went on to serve the then-limit of three
Assembly. In fact, he ran for this seat once before, 22 years ago (before he was even a
two-year terms. We’ve also had an assembly member I'm convinced would not have been
school trustee), but now he’s the apparent front-runner, having been an elected official
elected had we had ranked-choice voting, because although he got more votes than an-
the longest, as well as the highest-ranking one, and has raised the most money,
THE MARIN LAWYER An Official Publication of the Marin County Bar Association
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