CALIFORNIA FOCUS
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 OR THEREAFTER
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 OR THEREAFTER
BY THOMAS D. ELIAS
“LOGJAM ENDS, REPLACING BOXER COULD BE
FIRST RACE OF NEW ERA”
This year’s election is over, and the
main Nov. 4 result in California was not the least
bit surprising: Four more years of Gov. Jerry Brown working with a
Democratic-dominated Legislature.
But the next election season began the
moment this year’s ended, and every indication is that the long logjam that has
frustrated ambitious Democrats for most of the last two decades will now break
up.
For Brown, about to start his fourth
term as governor, cannot run again for that office and is highly unlikely to
try for any other. Four years from now, he will be 80. He tried for president
and failed while in his 30s and 40s, and no one over 69 has ever been elected
for the first time as the nation’s leader. So as healthy and vigorous as Brown
appears, he’ll be finished when he’s termed out in four years.
At the same time, Democratic U.S. Sen.
Barbara Boxer may not seek a new six-year term. A four-termer, Boxer has been
considered one of the most vulnerable senators before each of her last three
runs. But Boxer always won, in part due to her hard work.
Her last run, in 2010, was typical.
She held coffees in living rooms from Chico and Eureka to the suburbs of San
Diego and many points east and in between. “It’s always hard for me,” she said
in an interview while running. “Every six years, there are millions of new
voters and I am constantly having to re-introduce myself to them.”
At 75 when her current term ends two
years from now, the onetime Marin County supervisor may simply retire to her
current home in the desert resort town of Rancho Mirage. Six years ago, as she
readied her run, Boxer’s campaign kitty held $3.6 million. By contrast, a month
ago it stood at just $200,000.
Already 81 and now the oldest member
of the Senate, Boxer’s longtime colleague Dianne Feinstein will be 85 when her
current term ends in 2018. Vigorous as she is, will she want a new six-year
commitment to continual red-eye cross-country airline flights? Especially since
the Republican takeover of the Senate will move her out of her chairmanship of
the Intelligence Committee, will she find it worth the trouble to run? The
regretful guess here is no.
Add this to the departures in this
year’s election of California congressional kingpins like George Miller, Henry
Waxman and Buck McKeon and it’s clear California is developing an entirely new
political elite.
Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, the former San
Francisco mayor, and state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris, previously the San Francisco
district attorney, both plainly aspire to lead, although it’s unclear whether
either will go after Boxer’s seat in 2016 if she opts out, or wait until 2018,
when two top-of-ticket jobs could be open.
They are not alone. Proven
office-holders like John Chiang, the current state controller and newly-elected
treasurer, may want higher office. Could billionaire investor Tom Steyer, long
a large contributor to liberal candidates and causes, become the next
big-bucks, self-funded candidate? Will current Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti
try for a top statewide office? How about his predecessor, the limitlessly
ambitious Antonio Villaraigosa?
And there could be Michelle Obama. She
and her presidential husband reportedly bought a house in Rancho Mirage earlier
this year, not far from Boxer. So despite current denials, First Lady Michelle,
like Hillary Clinton before her, might try picking off a Senate seat from a
state where she never previously lived. Of course, this sort of thing hasn’t
worked well for past newcomers to California.
On the Republican side, the persistent
and spirited showing of this fall’s gubernatorial candidate Neel Kashkari makes
him an intriguing figure. And San Diego County Congressman Darrell Issa has
long lusted after a Senate seat, while Fresno Mayor Ashley Swearengin’s strong
campaign for state controller could give her a future.
The upshot is that California is in
for an interesting four years of politicking, with the old guard that has
dominated state affairs for more than 20 years about to give way to younger
people. Only time will tell whether that’s good or bad for most Californians.
-30-
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough: The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Government’s Campaign to Squelch It," is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, go to www.californiafocus.net
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