2022 Statewide Primary Election Guide | California & Los Angeles County
Rants, recommendations, and irreverence to prepare you for the 2022 primary election
Yes, this is just a primary. But… I am feeling feelings.
Twenty years ago at age 18, I wrote my first election guide. Early on, my message was simple: just vote, it’s important! Over the years, that began to feel inadequate—so I grew into contextualizing each guide with a preamble of hope, urgency, disdain, excitement, fear… variously dosed depending on what the moment called for. As the American political divide widened between tribes, my message became more agitated: I went from hot takes about the injudiciousness of the proposition system to ranting about the risks of low voter turnout, and eventually prognosticating the precipitous decline of the American project.
And now, here we are.
The political and social challenges our nation faces have become so innumerable that even a scan of headlines is a trauma event. The Democratic and Republican parties are more divergent than ever. And as different as the parties are now is precisely as different as our future can be, depending on who holds power. Two Americas indeed.
The causal relationship between elections and political outcomes is important to understand, especially over time. Exasperated voters typically expect immediate results, and look to current leadership when laying blame for the day’s horrors—and, often, point to the wrong current leadership (such as blaming the executive branch for legislative issues, or blaming the federal government for a state problem). Sometimes the blame is well-deserved. Other times, it is not the leaders of today but a pattern of leadership from years prior that has laid the groundwork for our current political reality. That is precisely what is happening in 2022, both in that we are suffering the consequences of previous elections, and that we will suffer more consequences in the future. This affects all areas of government, but the Supreme Court is especially totemic of this: consider Bush v. Gore (2000), Citizens United v. FEC (2010), and the forthcoming overturning of Roe v. Wade. Also consider how low voter turnout in midterm elections has enabled the ascendancy of Mitch McConnell, who has become one of the most powerful political figures in US history. It’s all very bad, and the trend continues downward.
Complex GOP-led voter suppression strategy is proof positive that democratic elections work and are efficacious at rebalancing power away from Republicans. If democracy were ineffective at granting power to winners, Republicans wouldn’t be trying to reshape it by bending institutions, secretaries of state, governors, districting, and ID policies to their will. We’ve seen this movie before. The ending is not heartwarming!
So, in the dim light of our current moment, when I hear that someone doesn’t vote, or perhaps even more arrogantly, is “voting my conscience,” I have a simple reply: It’s not about you. You may be insulated from the consequences of an election. But younger and more vulnerable people won’t be. And there will come a time when it will be too late.
—Æ
Local ballots will vary 🏛
The lists below does not encompass every district. If your local candidates / offices are not listed, enter your address into the CADEM endorsements form here, which provides endorsements for every office across the state, including the numerous state senate, state assembly, and US House of Representatives offices.
• Statewide
Governor: Gavin Newsom
Lieutenant Governor: Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of State: Dr. Shirley Weber
Treasurer: Fiona Ma
Attorney General: Rob Bonta
Senator: Alex Padilla (vote for Alex in two places: regular + special election)
Controller: Malia Cohen
Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony K. Thurmond
Commissioner of Insurance: Ricardo Lara
Board of Equalization District 3: Tony Vasquez
State Assembly District 51: Rick Chavez Zbur
• Los Angeles
📝 Click here for a full guide to every candidate in Los Angeles
🌉 San Francisco residents: Click here for a helpful guide
Mayor: Karen Bass (Rick Caruso fan? If I had a hefty bank account and no brain cells, I would be too. Kardashians love him!)
City Attorney: Teddy Kapur
City Controller: Paul Koretz
County Assessor: Jeffrey Prang
Board of Supervisors District 1: Hilda Solis
Board of Supervisors District 3: Lindsey Horvath
Sheriff: Eric Strong
United States Representative
30th District: Adam Schiff
36th District: Ted Lieu
Los Angeles City Council
City Council District 1: Eunisses Hernandez
City Council District 3: Bob Blumenfeld
City Council District 5: Katy Young Yaroslavsky
City Council District 7: Monica Rodriguez
City Council District 9: Dulce Vasquez
City Council District 11: Erin Darling
City Council District 13: Mitch O’Farrell
City Council District 15: Danielle Sandoval
Los Angeles Superior Court Justices
Office № 3: Sherilyn Peace Garnett
Office № 60: Sharon Ransom
Office № 67: Fernanda Maria Barreto
Office № 70: Holly Hancock
Office № 90: Melissa Lyons
Office № 116: David Gelfound
Office № 118: Georgia Huerta
Office № 151: Patrick Hare
Office № 156: Carol Elswick
Los Angeles Board of Education
District 2: Maria Brenes
District 4: Nick Melvoin
District 6: Kelly Gonez
✅ City Measure BB: Yes — Prefers bids received from contract bidders located within the City of Los Angeles.
