State of California

This week came the surprising announcement that incumbent Assemblymember Mariko Yamada was not going to endorse one of her fellow Davis candidates, either Joe Krovoza or Dan Wolk, but instead would endorse the relatively inexperienced and certainly unknown candidate on this side of the district, Matt Pope.

However, as we evaluated the decisions before the assemblymember, the move is not nearly so surprising at all.  When we finally spoke to her late on Thursday afternoon, she said that the initial article, for the most part, got it right.

While some apparently saw the number of appearances outgoing Assemblymember Mariko Yamada was making with Napa County Planning Commissioner Matt Pope as a sign, the move by Assemblymember Mariko Yamada to endorse Mr. Pope as her successor still seemed to catch many in the Davis community off guard.

“After meeting with each of the candidates running for my seat, there is only one who I believe has what it takes to fairly represent the expansive 4th Assembly District, and that candidate is Napa County Planning Commissioner Matt Pope,” Mariko Yamada said.

You always tell yourself that you cannot read much into early returns – after all, we have nearly a year left until someone actually votes for one of these candidates.  However, there is a big winner in these early campaign finance statements and that is Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza.

Let me throw in a paragraph or two of caution here.  First, Dan Wolk remains a very formidable candidate.  He would probably hesitate at the label frontrunner, but when your mother is the state senator and has been in the state legislature for 12 years, and before that was a county supervisor and a mayor of Davis, you have to be considered the favorite.

The first test of the viability of anyone’s candidacy is the first reporting period, and while there is a long way to go and things will change, one thing is clear from the first filing: Joe Krovoza is a serious and viable challenger for the State Assembly District seat vacated by Mariko Yamada who is termed out after six years.

The Krovoza campaign amassed $118,161.62 in contributions from the January 1 to June 30 period.  Davis Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk was second with $49,856.62.  Napa County Planning Commission and District Representative to Noreen Evans, Matt Pope, amassed about $20,000 and neither Bill Dodd nor Anthony Farrington reported any contributions.

This weekend Joe Krovoza formally announced his run for the Assembly, citing his “20-plus years of volunteerism and public service in Yolo County through election to represent the 4th Assembly District in the state legislature. “

Mayor Krovoza  has led the City of Davis as its 34th mayor since 2011.  He was elected in June 2010 to a four-year term on the Davis City Council, which he will complete in full.

Jim Smith, editor of the Woodland Daily Democrat, makes an astute observation about the announcements from both Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and Davis Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk of Davis.

He writes in a column on Wednesday, “It would serve candidates contemplating a run for higher office to step back and look at the bigger picture, instead of being so ‘Davis-centric.’ “

In one of the worst-kept secrets in local politics, Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk, just under one year into his official term, and about 27 months into his overall tenure on the city council, announced his decision to run to succeed Assemblymember Mariko Yamada.

The announcement took place at Willet Elementary School, where Mr. Wolk attended as a student and where he was joined by his family and approximately 100 supporters at the end.

While Davis will clearly focus on the Mayor Joe Krovoza – Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk battle for the 4^th Assembly District, the broader battle sees an interesting breakdown of the five candidates – all Democrats, two of whom are from Napa, two from Davis, and one from Lake County.

Thanks to data provided from Meridian Pacific, Supervisor Matt Rexroad’s consulting firm, we have a few observations.  First, the seat is Democratic, but not overwhelmingly so.  The registration is 45.8 percent Democratic, 26.1 percent Republican and 25.7 percent Independent.

While Davis residents have stolen the show locally, Napa County has emerged as an important factor in the newly-formed Assembly District.  Together, Napa and Yolo Counties have about 60 percent of the registered voters and are on roughly equal footing, with Yolo having 32 percent to Napa’s 29 percent.

Five Democrats have entered the race in a district that is broken down 47-27 in terms of party registration, with another 20 percent uncommitted.  In addition to Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and Mayor Pro Tem Dan Wolk, we have Anthony Farrington (whom we interviewed back in March), Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd and District Representative to Senator Noreen Evans, Matt Pope.

“I’m here because across the street, in that beautiful building owned by the people of California we have folks who don’t want to fix early release, and we’re in a parking structure where a lot of people hesitate to walk in because of early release,” former Lt. Governor and Former State Senator Abel Maldonado told reporters in Sacramento on Wednesday as he launched both his campaign and the campaign to repeal AB 109.

He told reporters on Wednesday that he was planning to file a ballot initiation repealing realignment – an issue that some believe is a potential liability for Governor Jerry Brown.  However, most observers believe that neither Abel Maldonado nor any of the other announced Republican Candidates pose much of a threat to the governor, who has solid approval in a heavily Democratic state.

Announcement Comes As Officials in Florida Acknowledge Voter Suppression Methods – This fall, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a measure into law, supported by Secretary of State Debrah Bowen and authored by Senator Leland Yee, to allow citizens to register to vote online and also, in the next election, register to vote the day of the election.

The result was 1.4 million new voters signing up to vote and California’s number of registered voters surging to record levels, passing for the first time the 18 million mark.