In 2014, when Dan Wolk faced, among others, his colleague on the Davis City Council, then-Mayor Joe Krovoza, Mr. Wolk received endorsements from all three of their colleagues. This time, Mayor Dan Wolk faces Supervisor Don Saylor for the same Assmebly seat, and, while it is too early to know whether they will have other competition, Mr. Wolk again scored a major coup.
Yolo County Supervisors Jim Provenza and Oscar Villegas, who are colleagues of Don Saylor, announced on Monday that they are endorsing Davis Mayor Dan Wolk for State Assembly.
“I have worked closely with Dan Wolk, and I know he has the experience and the skills to bring people together to represent us effectively in the State Assembly,” said Supervisor Jim Provenza who, along with Don Saylor, are the two supervisors who represent Davis. “Dan is dedicated to giving everyone the opportunity to succeed and will reinvest in our public schools, ensuring all California students have access to a quality education.”
Supervisor Provenza was first elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisors in 2008; he previously served as President of the Davis Joint Unified Board of Education.
Supervisor Oscar Villegas was first appointed to the Board of Supervisors in February 2014, but won the seat outright in an election in June. Prior to that, he was a member of the West Sacramento City Council for 14 years.
Since announcing his candidacy less than two weeks ago, Wolk has announced endorsements from more than two dozen local elected officials in the district. They include former Assemblymember Helen Thomson, Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig, Yolo County Sheriff Ed Prieto, Yolo County Public Guardian Cass Sylvia, Napa County Supervisors Diane Dillon and Mark Luce and Solano County Supervisors Jim Spering and John Vasquez. A current list of endorsements can be found at DanWolk.org
Currently serving as mayor, Mr. Wolk has been on the Davis City Council since 2011. In that time, he has led efforts to construct a regional surface water project, pushed for greater investment in streets, parks and other vital infrastructure, promoted renewable energy initiatives and has passed fiscally responsible city budgets, while restoring the city’s rainy day reserves.
Dan Wolk works as a Deputy County Counsel for Solano County, handling public finance, public contracting and water issues. He is also the founder of the Legal Clinic of Yolo County, a legal services provider for low-income families.
Mr. Wolk grew up in Davis and attended local public schools, before attending Stanford University and receiving his law degree from UC Berkeley’s Boalt Hall. He lives in Davis with his wife, Jamima, a former professional triathlete and small business owner, and their two daughters, Avery and Layla.
Assembly District 4 consists of Napa and Lake Counties, most of Yolo County, as well as portions of Sonoma, Solano and Colusa Counties.
Dan Wolk on Monday addressed questions about his assembly candidacy for the Vanguard.
Did he pay for this article? It sounds like a campaign piece. It looks like David drank the Kool Aid.
It’s from a campaign press release. It announces two endorsements. The Vanguard prints almost all of those.
Many of us probably knew this ‘article’ was a press release type of post from the campaign but I would suggest this type of article be identified as such as we enter the campaign season!
Good suggestion SODA.
zaqzaq, do you not find it news worthy that two of the Supervisors who serve on the Yolo County Board of Supervisors with Don Saylor have chosen to not endorse Don’s candidacy?
This was very predictable. Not too long ago, Villegas and Provenza engineered a coup to remove Saylor from the Yolo First Five and attempted to remove him from SACOG. “Nothing to see here, let’s move along”.
Speaking globally and making no association with the specifics of this item, I’ve always wondered if political endorsements really affected the outcome of an election. Many others have wondered as well. Google searches show the research with varied results, and nothing has been determined to be conclusive. The term, “ambiguous” is used often.
When I see one political figure endorse another, my first notion is to think they are “scratching each other’s back.” I can’t think of a single instance where one politician endorsed another, followed afterwards by the endorsed candidate stabbing his/her benefactor in the back. I’m sure it happens, but probably only because they were no longer bedfellows due to a fall-out incident between endorsements “given and received.”
We’ll soon see candidates for local offices run a huge ad in the local paper, that includes a long list (but always described as “partial”) of folks who really like the person paying for the political ad. Sinister thoughts within me wonder, what about somebody on that list a reader may thoroughly detest? If that idiot likes the guy, I’m voting for his opponent. Surely, this most happen, but how often? Could it be argued that political endorsements have a significant percentage of counter-productivity?
It seems that a cynical, but maybe accurate, assessment of published political endorsements is that it’s directed to the voting masses in two major categories: (1) Those who are too lazy to form their own opinion, and (2) those who are too stupid to form a judgment and rely on somebody else to do it for them.
Sorry Phil, pressed ‘report comment’ when I meant to press reply and say I agree with you about endorsements and to add that it seems strange to endorese before you know who the full slate will be! What if Mother Teresa decided to run from Napa; would that change anything? Probably not but you get my drift. After working on a campaign I understand more how endorsements are ‘won’ and at what cost.
I use endorsements sparingly because I know that there are political favors and jump on the bandwagon actions at play. Jim Provenza’s endorsement goes far with me, but I’d say that I could’ve predicted this. I look more at actions – community participation (real participation – not just making an appearance) and behavior, and, if holding a current office, votes on important (to me) issues. Campaign literature is glanced at and tossed if they don’t include these things.