District 3The race to replace terming out San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon has become surprisingly competitive in the waning weeks of the June 8, 2010 Primary Election cycle.
Of the five candidates running for the coveted seat, former Sheriff Don Horsley has been the assumed front runner since he started campaigning for the seat when he left the Sheriff’s post almost four years ago.
Horsley has the biggest campaign war chest and commands the vast majority of endorsements form elected officials and organized labor.
But despite the near-incumbent advantages Horsley enjoys, at least two of opponents have taken ground away from Horsley and may yet force a runoff election in November.
Coastside activist and small business owner April Vargas has run easily the most active grassroots campaign and is actually walking precincts and directly contacting voters in a countywide race with more eligible voters than even a congressional district. Without the same financial resources and labor support enjoyed by Horsley, this is certainly an uphill proposition for Vargas but her long relationships with the grassroots have paid off.
Firstly, Vargas successfully grabbed the endorsement of the San Mateo County’s Democratic Party Committee of which she is a member. The Party endorsement in a county that is overwhelmingly Democratic in its orientation is a major coup – so much so that Horsley and some of his supporters loudly complained about the endorsement and attempted to call the validity of the endorsement into question in at least one news article.
Horsley himself suggested that the endorsement was rigged and described it as “partisan” – an odd choice of words for an organization that is explicitly partisan.
At the same time that Horsley was crying foul over the Democratic Committee endorsement, Vargas landed the endorsement of the local chapter of the Sierra Club. The Sierra Club likely has several thousand members in the County and Vargas should enjoy an incremental boost with the Club’s stamp of approval.
San Carlos Councilmember Matt Grocott who is also running for Supervisor has surprisingly edged out Horsley and company in the media endorsements hunt.
Grocott landed the endorsement of the Daily Journal – the County’s remaining functional daily newspaper with the largest coverage area. The Daily Journal cited Horsley’s ideas to address the county’s budget deficit as falling “…short of fiscal responsibility” and described Grocott as a no-nonsense fiscal conservative who “…has proven experience in both collaboration and difficult decisions on a variety of topics.”
Grocott also won a split decision in the endorsement issued by the Daily Post newspaper which endorsed both he and Horsley as the two candidates that paper would like to see in a runoff election. But the newspaper, which has championed the issues of fiscal responsibility and for reducing public employee compensation and benefits, hinted that Grocott may be the preferred candidate in such a runoff.
All candidates are likely waiting with baited breath for the endorsement of the venerable San Mateo County Times which, as a piece of a regional newspaper chain, has declined in value for San Mateo County readers.
Perennial candidate and Libertarian Party activist Jack Hickey is also seeking the Supervisor prize. Hickey, who oddly enough serves as an elected member of the Sequoia Healthcare District Board with Horsley, is running on a platform of fiscal reform. Hickey runs for just about every office for which he is eligible and then some. While Hickey has not garnered much traction, he has successfully built a profile in San Mateo County as an anti-tax advocate as the frequent and sometimes exclusive ballot signatory opposing any and all taxes on the ballot for cities and school districts for many years.
Hickey is guaranteed to get some votes but without any institutional support or much of campaign he is not likely a contender.
Lastly, local gadfly Michael Stogner has also thrown his hat into the ring. Stogner is best known for his failed effort to launch a recall of San Mateo County Sheriff Greg Munks in the wake of the Sheriff’s detention at a Las Vegas brothel in 2007.
Stogner has done very little in terms of a campaign but by virtue of being on the ballot, he may get some votes.
With all of the activity and spread of endorsements the election to fill the third district supervisor seat will very likely go to a runoff in November. Time will tell who survives round one.
District 2
Incumbent Supervisor Carole Groom is running again for San Mateo County District 2 Supervisor with virtually no opposition. Her former opponent, Belmont resident Daniel Kaul, has decided to no longer participate in the race, although his name will still officially appear on the ballot.
Groom was appointed to the Board of Supervisors to fill a seat vacated by Jerry Hill, who had been elected to State Assembly in Novemer 2008. At the time Groom was appointed, there was a great deal of opposition as to whether the vacancy should be filled through a special county-wide election or through appointment by the Board of Supervisors. The Board chose to fill the vacancy with the appointment of Groom, who, at the time, was a councilwoman for the City of San Mateo.
The June 8, 2010 Election will be the first time Groom will have to face confirmation by voters for her office. The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury issued an advisory letter to the Board of Supervisors directing the 5-member board to change the system, in which under supervisors are elected at-large to a district-based system instead. Currently, the San Mateo County Charter Review Committee is investigating this matter. One can only speculate if Supervisors were elected by district, rather than at-large, whether Ms. Groom would face any opposition. Time will tell.
Author's Note
Since the posting of this column, the media endorsements for the San Mateo County Supervisors' District 3 race have been determined. Matt Grocott has gained the largest number of media endorsements over the other candidates in the race. He has picked up the endorsements of the San Jose Mercury, the Palo Alto Daily News, and the San Mateo County Times. It should be noted, to the three editorial boards of these newspapers, that Grocott is running for the District 3 seat being vacated by Rich Gordon, who is running for the 21st Assembly district, rather than District 1 Mark Church, who is running for County Assessor. Grocott also shares a joint-endorsement from the Palo Alto Daily Post with Don Horsley. He has previously received the newspaper endorsement from the San Mateo Daily Journal.
Don Horsley, in addition to sharing the joint-endorsement with Matt Grocott, has picked up the endorsement of the Almanac and the Half Moon Bay Review.
April Vargas picked up the local blog endorsements from the Coastsider and the Pacifica Riptide.
Now that the media endorsements have been finalized, Matt Grocott is the leading candidate with the most media endorsements of 4.5 out of a possible 7 (including the blogs). Don Horsley has a total of 2.5 endorsements, while April Vargas has a total of 2 endorsements. The other two candidates, Jack Hickey and Michael Stogner, both have received no media endorsements.
Whether media endorsements will affect this upcoming race, only time will tell.
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