California State Assembly 2020 Primary Preview: Dems Seek to Hold Districts 76 & 77
Somewhere around the middle of the last decade, voters in State Assembly District 76 started to get behind Democrats. Now Tasha Boerner Horvath represents them in Sacramento.
In 2012, 2014, and 2016 there were no Democrats on the ballot for this Assembly seat. Rocky Chavez was The Guy who managed to keep enough voters from both parties in his corner even as Hillary Clinton won the district by 13 points.
When then-congressman Darrell Issa decided to cut and run in 2018. The 49th Congressional District seemed like a natural choice for Chavez, given his moderate proclivities and good name recognition.
Hardliners in the Republican Party had other ideas, and seven other GOP candidates emerged, along with four Democrats and four others of various precautions. Diane Harkey and Kristin Gaspar ran to the right of Chavez, with Harkey going on to defeat by Democrat Mike Levin in the general election.
In 2020, Chavez is running for Mayor of Oceanside because, as he told Voice of San Diego, “the GOP has little to no influence over the state’s affairs.”
Meanwhile, the Republicans worst nightmare came true in Assembly District 76: Two Democrats made it through the primary. Encinitas City Council member Tasha Boerner Horvath beat (not that) Elizabeth Warren in November.
Having won that seat, Democrats are going all-in to back Horath in 2020. Second quarter financial disclosures revealed the assembly member to be the second most successful candidate seeking a Sacramento seat, behind only Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins.
Voice of San Diego explains:
As it turns out, Boerner Horvath has Atkins and many of her other legislative colleagues to thank.
She occupies a vulnerable North County seat previously represented by a Republican. Her fellow Democratic lawmakers are pitching in to ensure she can keep it. Nearly half of Boerner Horvath’s fundraising haul came from the campaign committees of other Assembly candidates, including Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez and Assemblyman Todd Gloria. Atkins kicked in $2,000 from her re-election committee as well.
She’s done well in her first term, winning some battles and losing others. Her state legislation to ban certain kinds of vacation rentals in beach neighborhoods in San Diego County became a two-year bill, but Boerner-Horvath got noticed, thanks to her attention to detail on a tough subject.
The assembly member stood with newly-elected County Supervisor Nathan Fletcher in demanding Tri-City Medical Center reinstate services rendered by behavioral health beds. Not long thereafter a deal was announced to build a new stand-alone psychiatric hospital to replace the units.
Legislation introduced by Boerner-Horvath to require pay equity for female and male competitors as part of the permit and land lease requirements for contests held on state beaches, parks and other resources was signed by the Governor in September.
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The Republican challenger for the 76th District seat is Melanie Burkholder of Carlsbad.
She is a former decorated U.S. Secret Service field agent, who has since earned a doctorate degree in counseling. She now owns a consulting firm dedicated to mental health.
A decision to describe herself as “doctor” on the candidate statement designation was challenged by Caitlin MacMillen, a primary care physician at the University of California San Diego.
From the Coast News:
On Dec. 26, 2019, a judge in Sacramento Superior Court ruled Burkholder misrepresented herself as a medical doctor. As a result, Burkholder’s candidate statement will list her as business owner even though she will continue to use the doctor (she holds a doctorate in Christian counseling) designation in campaign material, according to her campaign consultant Duane Dichiara.
Derek Humphrey, a campaign consultant for incumbent Assemblywoman Tasha Boerner Horvath (D-Encinitas), slammed Burkholder, saying she “purchased” a doctorate from an unaccredited institution and lied to voters about her qualifications.
“Doctor” Burkholder appears regularly as a guest on the KUSI morning show, doling out advice for seasonal issues, like summer parenting and holiday season mindfulness. Her bid for office has not been among the topics discussed on the program, though it certainly doesn’t hurt to have what is essentially an infomercial for your business.
Burkholder has been endorsed by the San Diego Republican Party.
Since there are only two candidates vying for this seat, the primary is just a dress rehearsal. The finale will come in the November general election.
Tasha Boerner Horvath
Website | Facebook | Twitter
Melanie Burkholder
Website | Facebook | Twitter
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Incumbent Brian Maienschein saw the Blue Wave coming, dove under it, and squeaked through to victory over Democrat Sunday Gover in 2018 by 607 votes.
After running for office regularly since 2000 as a Republican, Maienschein became a Democrat on January 24, 2019.
While everybody involved says this decision wasn’t made until after the election, there certainly were signs that something was afoot. Some big name Democrats held back on endorsing his opponent. The state Republican Party didn’t cough up any money for Maienschein’s last assembly campaign.
He was, in fact reliably moderate Republican voice in the legislature. And we know how Trumpanistas feel about the unfaithful.
Escondido’s Marie Waldron termed Maienschein a “turncoat.” The San Diego County Republican Party called for his immediate resignation.
Brian Maienschein has shown himself to be the absolute worst kind of politician; someone making decisions based on politics instead of principles,” said Tony Krvaric, chairman of the county party. “By running for re-election as a Republican, he was making a statement about who he was and now he is switching parties for self-preservation and political games.”
The 77th District Republican wasn’t the only one jumping ship in San Diego last year. District Attorney Summer Stephan and City Councilman Mark Kersey both avoided getting slimed by changing their voter registration to No Party Preference.
Democrats in the last election flipped seven GOP seats in the U.S. House and eight more in the state Legislature. They’ve swept every statewide office since 2010.
While Republicans have coalesced behind June Yang Cutter in an effort to win the seat back, Maienschein has the advantage of incumbency, a fat political war chest, and being in a down ballot in a year where the President dominates the news.
Plus, it doesn’t sound like his constituents were unhappy about his party switch. He told a Union-Tribune reporter that, of his more than 1,000 donors, only five requested he return their contributions.
Challenger June Cutter is an attorney/businesswoman. It’s clear from looking at her web site that her handler’s are going after the suburban mom vote. Why there’s even a “Mom’s for June” group you can sign up for.
Now Brian Maienschein is personally responsible for everything bad: the cost of living, traffic jams, poor education quality, crime, and “the many new taxes and fees the liberal elite in Sacramento want to raise each year…”
She’s apparently going to solve the homeless crisis by... “by shedding light on the substance abuse and mental health issues which plague the vast majority of our homeless population…”
Shame and blame has nothing to do about treatment or what to do about the significant number of homeless people who are not included in her plague. Or that there might just be a lack of housing, which probably isn't mentioned because they might want to build some affordable units in her district.
Given that Cutter is Maienschein’s only opponent in the primary, they’ll be facing off again in November.
Brian Maienschein
Website | Facebook | Twitter
June Yang Cutter
Website | Facebook | Twitter
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