Again not taking advantage of the secret ballot, I discuss how I voted just now, before I stick my ballot in the envelope and send it in:
- Governor: Art Olivier, Libertarian. I thought this choice would be tough, but it became an easy call once I found out that Mayor Olivier deviates from the party line to be tough on illegal immigration. I love this chart from his website, summarizing state spending growth:
- Lieutenant Governor: Tom McClintock, conservative Republican. The man who would have and should have been at the top of the ticket this time, except that the recall messed everything up.
- Secretary of State: Bruce McPherson, Republican. He’s the incumbent, having been appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to fill the void left by the Democrat Kevin Shelley, who resigned in a cloud of corruption and scandal.
- Controller: Tony Strickland, Republican. It’s all Republican by default down ticket here.
- Treasurer: Claude Parrish, Republican.
- Attorney General: Chuck Poochigan, Republican under intense attacks from Mayor Moonbeam, whose return to statewide politics is unfortunate.
- Insurance Commissioner: Steve Poizner, Republican who might win if his attacks on corrupt Cruz Bustamante can stick, and the Governor can have any coattails, though I haven’t looked up any polls to know.
- US Senator: Dick Mountjoy, Republican. Easy call to vote for the only pro-War on Terror party. Not that Feinstein is going to lose…
- US Representative, CD 45: Mary Bono, incumbent Republican. Hey, I didn’t vote for her when she ran unopposed in the primary, but again, this is wartime, NAM gives her a great rating, and besides, my only other choice is a Democrat.
- State Assembly, District 64: John J. Benoit, incumbent Republican. Keep them putting taxes on the ballot, since they can’t get them through the legislature! Keep California’s Republicans strong!
- Skipping some really minor offices, that I’m voting straight Republican on, as well as a long list of judges, whom I’m voting No on all the way down, because my guess is there’s plenty of activists appointed by Gray Davis.
- Proposition 1A: Budget mandate for transportation, further limiting legislative flexibility to cut spending. NO. This kind of junk is part of why we have a huge deficit to begin with.
- Proposition 1B: $20 billion Schwarzenegger-backed transportation bond. NO. No more borrowing!
- Proposition 1C: $3 billion ‘Emergency shelter trust fund’ bond. NO. No more borrowing!
- Proposition 1D: $10 billion education bond. NO. No more borrowing to pay Democratic unions to fund more propositions!
- Proposition 1E: $4 billion ‘disaster preparedness’ bond. NO. No more borrowing!
Note that the legislature has stopped even pretending to put its ballot measures in with the rest put on by the people, number and order-wise.
- Proposition 83: Place a jillion restrictions on ‘sex offenders’ instead of just ending that useless distinction, and giving the death penality to honest-to-goodness child rapists. Net effect will be to drive the pedophiles off the urban coast and into the suburban and rural interior. NO.
- Proposition 84: $5.3 billion ‘water quality’ bond. NO. NO MORE BORROWING!.
- Proposition 85: Waiting period and parental notification for minors having abortions. YES. Keep parents informed before their children have major surgery? Isn’t that obvious?
- Proposition 86: Another new cigarette tax. NO. We have too much socialism already.
- Proposition 87: Big new tax on oil companies that pretends it won’t raise gas prices. NO.
- Proposition 88: Property tax hike for ‘education’. NO. Don’t the unions get enough money?
- Proposition 89: Public financing of political campaigns. NO. If I wanted money to go to Democrats I’d give it to them now.
- Proposition 90: Anti-Kelo Constitutional amendment. YES. Enough said.
Whew. Long ballot. Not as long as the recall ballot, if I recall, but at least there I only had two choices to make: Yes on Recall, No on Bustamante.