Endorsements: The race for State Senate

State Senate is one of the more mysterious publically held offices to the general voter. Ask the average resident of Temelec who represents them in the 3rd District and you’ll get your share of blank stares. (Pssst… it’s Lois Wolk, Democrat from Davis; she’s being termed out.) The current unfamiliarity with the state legislature is partly due to the redistricting which took place in 2012 that upended most district boundaries and found many communities suddenly represented by people they’d never heard of, nor voted for. It’s also because a mere 50 state Senators divvy up all of California, the most populous state in America, and its third largest in area. Let’s face it, you’re not likely to bump into your state Senator in the granola aisle at Sonoma Market.

For the June 7 primary, Sonoma Valley voters will go to the polls to choose between current 4th district Assemblyman Bill Dodd, former 4th district Assemblywoman Mariko Yamada, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Gabe Griess, and Dixon small-business owner Greg Coppes.

You may get used to seeing Coppes’ name. As the lone Republican running, he stands a decent chance of continuing on as one of the top-two runoff candidates on the November ballot. Beyond that, however, the 60-year-old football coach faces a tough road in a largely Democratic district. He cites increased “water storage” as his No. 1 priority (“We don’t have a water storage problem, we have a leadership storage problem,” he quips) and wants to curb “job-killing regulations that make California uncompetitive for jobs.” CEQA and the $15 per hour state minimum wage are firmly in his crosshairs.

Greiss, 42, of Vacaville, puts education and water at the top of his things-to-do list. He also talks the biggest game about environmental awareness and energy conservation. Greiss has a lot of admirable policy positions, but one wonders if the political newcomer, much like Coppes, would benefit from a run at a city council or a water district seat before taking a swing at State Senate. Which brings us to Yamada and Dodd – both have served in the state Assembly and, for better or worse, know full well how Sacramento operates.

Yamada, 65, was termed out in 2014, after six years in the Assembly. To her, “aging and long-term care” are the most important issues facing the 3rd District which, she says, is “not ready for the coming onslaught of seniors.” We like a lot of what Yamada champions: retirement security, single-payer healthcare, GMO labeling, sustainable agriculture. But taking admirable stances only goes so far – Yamada hasn’t demonstrated to us that she’s been a highly prolific legislator, authoring about 30 bills in her six years in the Assembly. She says she isn’t interested in “playing the game” of passing a lot of bills – and there’s some truth to that description, as many lawmakers in Sacramento author easily digestible, but ultimately worthless bills simply to carve notches on their legislative headboards. Nonetheless, her achievements in the Assembly have been worthy – a bill upgrading training for nursing home employees, for instance - but modest; there’s little evidence a Senate term would be much different.

After a dozen years on the Napa County Board of Supervisors and a year-plus in the Assembly, Dodd, 59, is closer to Yamada in experience and is the only candidate currently holding office. He’s the “establishment candidate,” if you will. Dodd also provides his share of question marks.

The former Supervisor has only been in the Assembly a little more than a year and already he’s jumping offices. His fellow Democratic opponents in the race are (not surprisingly) questioning his progressive convictions – he’d been a Republican up until a few years ago. Yamada suggests he switched parties in order to run for Assembly in the overwhelmingly Democratic district. Dodd says he made the change because the GOP positions on climate change, marriage equality, immigration and other issues, “just wasn’t who I was.” We take him at his word, though there’s no doubt the former Culligan distributor knows which way the political waters flow in these parts. Perhaps we just need to get to know Dodd a little better – of all the congressional or state legislators representing the unincorporated Sonoma Valley, we’ve seen Dodd in the 95416 area code the least.

Those qualms aside, we like Dodd’s energy – and his Napa background is closer in line with Sonoma Valley concerns than any of the other candidates. He’s versed in the type of wine-country, tourist-economy issues we deal with on a daily basis in the Valley. He’s certainly a moderate with a capital M in this election, but his platform doesn’t waiver in any extreme way from the typical Sonoma voter. He cites affordable housing, gender pay equity, education funding and the environment among his primary concerns.

Dodd led the second, and eventually successful, push to have Berryessa Snow Mountain declared a federally protected land. He gets poor marks from labor groups, though he does support the $15 minimum wage.

In the 2016 race for 3rd District State Senator, there’s no slam-dunk candidate. But we think Dodd best deserves the four-year state Senate term to prove us wrong.

We recommend Bill Dodd for state Senate.

Jason Walsh, editor

John Burns, publisher