Tomyamaguchi’s Weblog

For California Governor, I am voting for Katie Porter.

California’s primary election is getting national attention. We will be deciding on our next governor, as Gavin Newsom leaves that office. There are over 60 candidates listed on the ballot, though a number of them have dropped out. There are still a lot of active Democratic candidates left who may splinter the vote so much that the top two candidates to go to the general election may be Republicans. That seems less likely now that Donald Trump has endorsed Steve Hilton, and party support is swinging toward him. Still, the fear of that possible result has led to a push to end the current system and go back to having each party have its own primary ballot. I don’t support that and will explain later.

First, this is how I cast my ballot. I am supporting Katie Porter. I also gave her a small donation.I supported Porter previously when she ran for Senator. Porter has the support of Elizabeth Warren, who was one of my favorite candidates for President. A few months ago, I hesitated when I learned that Porter has issues with her temperament. After further consideration, I decided Porter is the best qualified and would be the most effective of all the candidates listed. All candidates have flaws. For me, Porter’s flaws are minor compared to her strengths. 

While Tom Steyer is getting support from many climate activists, I am concerned about his lack of experience in elective office, especially when he is running for the highest elective office in the state. He previously ran for President, again without previous experience. Imagine if he had supported Jay Inslee, the Washington Governor who made climate his focus issue. Steyer’s support could have made a difference.

My union, SEIU 205, just dual endorsed Tom Steyer and Xavier Becerra. Their previous endorsement was Eric Swalwell, and we see how that went. In addition to my problems with Steyer, I have problems with Becerra for taking fossil fuel money for his campaign.

A number of Democrats have argued that we should wait to cast our ballots until some frontrunners emerge from the pack. That is taking the risk of not getting our ballots in on time and not being counted. I feel comfortable voting now and voting for Porter.

I made a Google sheet of my other selections on my Alameda County ballot.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11MUVY8nUvLwmIrH521dyYFq8cWyh_I1CLRP6wOuQ6SQ/edit?usp=sharing

Now, let’s talk about the way we do primaries in California, which changed when we went with the current “top two” system. The idea is listing all candidates from all parties with the top two candidates going into a runoff in the general election. The political parties have always hated this system, especially the smaller parties, e.g. Green, Libertarian, and Peace and Freedom, who get frozen out of general election spots.The Democratic and Republican parties don’t like it either since those not registered in their parties have a vote regardless of party. Previously, independents were shut out of the primary election. 

The new system is labeled the Jungle Primary, which really irritates me. It feeds into the white supremacist view of the jungle as a violent, uncontrolled, and unmanageable place; the African jungle and Africans themselves being viewed as inferior to white/European culture. 

While the new system is flawed, it is not as flawed as the system it replaced. The new system has allowed us to retire incumbents who stopped being effective in office and replace them with new blood. Replacing Mike Honda with Ro Khanna is a one example. It does a better job than the overly restrictive term limits. 

If we are looking for a better system, the answer is rank choice voting. It eliminates the need for a primary election in June, where turn out is always lower. Instead, one election in November is decided when one candidate receives over 50% of the rank choice vote. There is no fear of throwing one’s vote away by selecting a preferred candidate over one who has a better chance of winning. You can vote for both, ranking each accordingly. And who knows? If enough people agree with you, your preferred candidate may win! The system has worked well in locally and has expanded to include the states Maine and Alaska. It would work well in California.

If you haven’t voted yet, please vote now, even if you vote for one of the Democrats I didn’t support. Whoever wins, I will vote for Democrats in November.

May 24, 2026 - Posted by tomyamaguchi | Uncategorized | democracy, elections, news, politics, voting