“Fasten Your Seatbelts,” actress Bette Davis famously said in All About Eve, “It’s going to be a bumpy night.” Perhaps Labor Council head Lorena Gonzalez felt the same way last Election Night as, one-by-one, her favored local candidates went down in flames. [We had those feelings on our side in 2008 as we were losing].
In a new report received late last week by the Registrar of Voters, the Labor Council PAC (San Diego Works!) identifies 8 San Diego candidates and causes they financially supported, or opposed, in the November runoffs. The handy chart above summarizes the amounts spent, the candidates or measures, and the final election outcomes (7 defeats, 1 victory).
Sparing the Labor Council from a complete Goose Egg was Mona Alvarado-Rios, who finished 1st in a 4-candidate field for National City Council.
But if you add up the total dollar figures, that amounts to $199,000 spent by the Labor Council PAC on losing campaigns, compared to just $8,000 on the single winner. Ouch.
The saving grace for Lorena Gonzalez and San Diego Works! came at the statewide level where their preferred candidates for Governor (Jerry Brown, $136,866), State Controller (John Chiang, $3,000), and Lt. Governor (Gavin ‘whether you like it or not’ Newsome, $3,000) all were victorious.
……….DEMOCRAT vs. DEMOCRAT
In some cases, these were straight Democratic v. Republican fights (notably the 2 County Supervisor contests), or Public Employee Union vs. Taxpayer dramas (the Proposition D sales tax hike in San Diego for example).
But just as often the donations reveal Democrat v. Democrat tensions ……..especially the attempt to purge respected Democratic Mayor Ron Morrison of National City. Morrison survived the test, brushing aside San Diego Works!-backed Alejandra Sotelo-Solis by a convincing 54% to 36% margin.
It was a similar story in San Diego’s 8th council district, where a $65,000 (!) Labor Council effort for candidate Felipe Hueso was rendered null-and-void by insurgent Democrat David Alvarez. Mr. Alvarez posted a 58% landslide victory, which is even more impressive when you consider the Labor Council PAC gave Hueso their largest local financial backing.
……….Last Words to Bette Davis
We began with Bette Davis, so let’s close with her too, as her character Margo Channing is asked about her favorite Party: “There’s a message from the bartender. Does Miss Channing know she ordered domestic gin by mistake?….. “The only thing I ordered by mistake” replies Bette Davis, ” is the guests. They’re domestic, too, and they don’t care what they drink as long as it burns!”
[slow curtain]
Comments 4
Didn’t they support loser Prop J?
We believe we remember hearing that the Labor Council knew Prop J (SD Unified Parcel Tax) would easily be defeated, so spent no money there….same with PLA ban…Jim will likely know. At any rate, here are the endorsements made, regardless of financial support…
http://www.unionyes.org/node/233
When “GOP Mother of Three” talks, SD Rostra listens !
Your memory is right that Labor financially backed
Proposition J, but the heavy lifting was done by the
statewide Calif. Teachers Assn. and the local San
Diego Education Assn. Major support also came
from a few locals in the Building Trade unions.
But I found no direct support from the SD Labor
Council itself.
Some day I hope SD Rostra can help put GOP
Mother of Three on the School Board where her
common sense and courage would be very
welcome indeed.
The largest single contributor to Prop J was Irwin Jacobs.