Voters in the 37th state Senate District have no doubt noticed the long list of candidates ostensibly seeking to represent them in Sacramento.
Among the list are some more familiar names, including Democratic incumbent Sen. Josh Newman, as well as some familiar Republicans, former Assemblyman Steven Choi and former Irvine Councilman Anthony Kuo. While the number of Republicans on the ballot isn’t particularly surprisingly, what is surprising are the number of Democrats on the ballot, six challengers to Newman.
As explained by Politico, there’s a reason for the flood of Democratic candidates: union payback.
“AFSCME 3299 has launched and funded a collection of neophyte Democratic challengers — an audacious gambit that is illuminating fissures within the Democratic coalition and roiling a marquee Senate race,” according to Politico. “It appears calculated to send a message to Newman after he declined to support one of the union’s priority bills — a constitutional amendment bolstering the rights of the union’s University of California worker members — and the proposal stalled.”
As explained by the University of California in opposition, “ACA 6 singles out UC by applying public sector employment laws not just for its rank-and-file workers, but also for its students, researchers, faculty, and clinicians. The state’s public employment framework was not designed with academic and clinical enterprises in mind. The state framework, for example, does not contemplate such things as faculty sabbaticals, or the need to book lab time at odd hours – practices and work that are fundamental to the academic enterprise.”
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Newman chose to heed the University of California’s warnings about the possible negative consequences of ACA 6. And now he’s being punished for it by the AFSCME 3299, which is pouring hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race.
This editorial board has often disagreed with Newman, though we did oppose his recall in 2018, arguing that “recalling Newman simply for doing his job as an elected representative of his district and casting a vote is an abuse of the democratic process.”
We have similar thoughts here.
The AFSCME 3299 of course has every right to use the democratic process to support candidates against Newman. But the specific way they’re going about it, fielding candidates solely for the purpose of putting the pressure on Newman, is a slap in the face to voters and the democratic process.
Whether the effort works or not, there will no doubt be a chilling effect on any Democratic member of the Legislature with any inclination toward doing the right thing. That is a loss for good governance in California.