Yesterday’s special elections are showing that, in California, political parties may be losing influence to Labor unions. I’m going to look at four races, held yesterday, and approach them from the point-of-view that each one (in overwhelmingly Democratic Party controlled districts) was a statement either for or against the most powerful rent-seeker in California politics, labor unions.
Lorena Gonzalez won the 80th State Assembly District by an astounding margin. The labor union boss moved from Pacific Beach to the 80th District in anticipation of the soon-to-be-vacated Assembly seat. Gonzalez was challenged by fellow Democrat Steve Castaneda; he didn’t stand a chance. Gonzalez is the embodiment of labor union influence. While the majority of her donations came from union members and unions, both the CTA and AFL-CIO contributed $50,000 each to an anti-Castaneda committee to ensure a Gonzalez victory. The pro-Labor faction within the Democratic Party pooled its resources to ensure that a labor organizer would become a legislator.
The San Diego City Council District 4 race was another example of labor union influence. Labor organizer Myrtle Cole defeated Duane Crenshaw. Cole works for the legislated monopoly of home health workers, and labor unions rewarded her loyalty with gobs of cash. Pro-business groups tried to support Crenshaw, but labor unions saw Cole as a natural ally to unwind the pro-reform measures San Diego voters approved.
These two races are indicative of Big Labor striking when they know their rent-seeking interests can be protected. Both the 80th Assembly District and City Council District 4 are Democratic strongholds. Big Labor’s conspicuous influence in these races show that pro-business Democrats will face uphill battles in solid blue San Diego County Districts.
The Los Angeles Mayoral race and 16th State Senate District may have been an indication of the future — the anti-union vote. Eric Garcetti won his race by positioning his opponent as the bought-and-paid-for union candidate. The City of Los Angeles is a mess and government-employee unions looting was so obvious that current Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did a public mea culpa for bidding on Big Labor’s behalf.
Republican Andy Vidak pulled off a stunning upset in the 16th Senate District. Faced with a registration disadvantage of 2-1, Vidak ran an uphill battle. But the Central Valley is in dire economic straights. Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez tried to position herself as a “Valleycrat,” an idea that she would be independent and not beholden to the Democratic Party/Labor machine. Alas, her endorsement list (and campaign contributions) included the usual Big Labor suspects: California Nurses Association, California Federation of Teachers, and the omnipresent looters, SEIU. Perez’ main issue was to support a minimum wage increase (a labor union issue) while Vidak simply had to point out that a minimum wage increase did nothing for unemployed workers (except to create more of them).
This may be instructive for the California Republican Party and Republican Party of San Diego County. I think voters recognize that special interests are “looting” the taxpayers. It’s not only limited to Big Labor though. Crony capitalist interests have influenced the center-right coalition for generations and they are no better than the Big Labor looters. Like it or not, voters believe that Democrats are controlled by unions and Republicans are controlled by big business — both are rent seekers. Republicans need to change that perception if we are to govern.
California is financially collapsing all around us. Expect 20-25 cities to go the way of San Bernardino in the next 3-5 years. When that happens, Republicans will be offered the opportunity to govern in California again. If we successfully position ourselves as the “anti rent seeking” party, we’ll have a chance to do that for a generation or two.