June 2026: Alameda County, State, & Federal Candidates

Off-year primaries are tough. Super important for California's statewide offices, but otherwise not too much going on. Here's how I'm voting and links to two writeups by folks I respect. An * in the list below means I wrote something substantive

Federal & State Offices:

• *Governor: Tom Steyers
• *Lieutenant Governor: Michael Tubbs
• Secretary of State: Shirley Weber
• Controller: Malia Cohen
• *Treasurer: Anna Caballero
• Attorney General: Rob Bonta
• *Insurance Commissioner: Jane Kim or Ben Allen
• *Board of Equalization, District 2: John Pimentel
• State Superintendent of Schools: Barrera, Rendon, Muratsuchi, or Newman
• U.S. Congress, 12th District: Lateefah Simon
• CA Assembly, 14th District: Buffy Wicks

Alameda County offices + proposition:

• *District Attorney: Pamela Price
• *Superior Court, Office 13: Cabral Bonner
• *Superior Court, Office 19: Selia Warren
• *Measure A: Yes for Peralta Colleges

Here are recommendations from other people I respect:

• Edie & Janet's June 2026 Primary East Bay Voter Guide: I've known Edie for years, respect her, plus she makes this guide with her mom, and this spring Edie just had a baby herself! Their guide also covers some Oakland races I don't. They're progressives with work experience on housing and environmental concerns. 
• Landau's Guide, June 2026 Primary: I've known Nathan Landau even longer. He only distributes his guide via email, so I've posted this PDF of it (with his permission) on my Google Drive. His guide covers more of Alameda + Contra Costa Counties than I do. He's a progressive with work experience on public transit. As a longtime public agency employee, he places a high value on competent administration. 

For details, read on ....

November 2024 Summary

I finally finished all my election recommendation writeups. Here are links to the posts where I list how I'm voting in the November 2024 election (from least to most local):

State Propositions

Federal-State-Alameda County-District Elected Officials

Berkeley Measures

Berkeley Elected Officials

If you want the whole thing as a single document, here's a PDF -- all 25 pages of it. 

For the TLDR recommendations-only list, print pages 1-2, or read on...

State Propositions - Nov 2024

Here are my recommendations on California's 10 State Propositions:

State Propositions

2: YES for Bonds for Public Schools + Community Colleges

3: YES to Preserve Marriage Equality

4:YES for Natural Resources and Climate Change Bonds

5: YES YES YES to Allow Local Bonds for Affordable Housing and Public Infrastructure with 55% Voter Approval

6: YES to Prohibit Involuntary Servitude

32: YES to Raise Minimum Wage to $18 by 2026

33: YES to Expand Cities’ Control of Rent Increases for Vacant Units

34: NO to Protect Non-Profit’s Abilities to Engage in Politics

35: NO NO NO to Too-Complicated Ballot-Box Budgeting that will Worsen CA’s Deficit

36: NO NO NO, don’t Reinstate Three Strikes and the War on Drugs

See separate posts for recommendations on Berkeley ballot measures, Berkeley elected officials (city council, school board, rent board), and other elected officials (from President to local districts + Alameda County).

For details on state propositions, read on ..

Federal, State, Alameda County, & District Elected Officials - Nov. 2024

Here are my recommendations on the elected officials I vote on above the city level -- Alameda County, Special Districts, and State + Federal elected officials. Plus this is where I link to others who cover wider parts of the East Bay than I do. First the TLDR summary ...

Federal & State Elected Officials:

President/Vice-President: Kamala Harris & Tim Walz

US Senator (both races): Adam Schiff

US Congress, 12th District: Lateefah Simon

CA Senate, 7th District: Jesse Arreguin

CA Assembly, 14th District: Buffy Wicks

Alameda County Elected Officials:

Supervisor, 5th District: John Bauters

NO NO NO on the Recall of Pamela Price, Alameda County District Attorney

Special Districts:

*BART District 3: Barnali Ghosh

BART District 7: Victor Flores

*AC Transit, Ward 1: Christian Peeples

*AC Transit, Ward 2: Jean Walsh 

*Note: uncontested races, so they won't show up on your ballot, but you should know who's representing you!

Plus (for all of you who ask me about Oakland and other East Bay races), see below for recommendations from knowledgeable and like-minded friends. 

See other posts for Berkeley ballot measures, Berkeley elected officials, and the state propositions (coming soon!).

For details, read on!

Berkeley Elected Officials - Nov 2024

Here are my recommendations for Berkeley elected officials (city council, school board, rent board)

Berkeley Elected Officials:

Mayor: Adena Ishii

City Council District 2: Terry Taplin

City Council, District 3: Matthews #1, Bartlett #2

City Council, District 5: No endorsement

City Council, District 6: Andy Katz #1, Brent Blackaby #2

School Board: Corn, Vasudeo

Rent Stabilization Board: Kelley, Twu

See other posts for Berkeley ballot measures, other elected officials (from President to local districts + Alameda County), and the state propositions (coming soon!).

For details, read on...

Berkeley Measures - Nov. 2024

Here are my recommendations on Berkeley’s 12 (!!) ballot measures.  

Berkeley Measures

W: Yes to Update/Extend Berkeley’s Transfer Tax to Pay for Homelessness Services

X: Yes to Support Berkeley’s Libraries 

Y: Yes to Support Berkeley Parks

Z: Yes to Extend Sugary Beverages Tax

AA: Yes to Extend Voter-Approved Spending Limits

BB+CC: NO on two flawed Ordinances to modify Berkeley’s Rent Control system

DD: No Endorsement on Prohibition of Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations

EE: No to Paving-Focused Measure

FF: YES for Safer + Smoother Streets for Everyone

GG: NO on Poorly Crafted Measure for a Large Buildings Fossil Fuel Tax

HH: NO on Extremely Poorly Designed Indoor Air Quality Measure

See separate posts for recommendations on Berkeley elected officials (city council, school board, rent board), other elected officials (from President to local districts + Alameda County) and the state propositions (coming soon!).

For details on Berkeley's measures, read on ...

GG: No on Poorly Crafted Measure for Large Buildings Fossil Fuel Tax

GG: NO on Poorly Crafted Measure for a Large Buildings Fossil Fuel Tax

At first blush, Measure GG looked good: it taxes something we want to reduce (natural gas use) and uses the revenues to support good things. But after I read more about its impacts and the nuances of the measure, I concluded that Measure GG is a poorly-crafted measure that won’t actually incentivize lower emissions in a fair and sustainable way. I hope proponents will go back to the drawing board and work with the city to put a better plan forward. 

I'm voting No on GG.