In TOMORROW’S election, well-funded, well-connected Jewish Democrat Scott Svonkin faces off against poorly-financed Tea Party-ite and acknowledged social conservative, Lydia Gutierrez. You’d think that the race for a vacant seat on the Los Angeles Community College Board on the ballot TOMORROW would be a slam dunk for the standing Svonkin. But, record low voter turnout (In most communities, the seat No 5 is the only office on the ballot), could score his right-wing, evangelical Christian lunatic opponent an upset victory.
Recent reports on the candidates have the LA Weekly and Frontiers trading charges of political hackery, with the Weekly making characterizations depicting Mr. Svonkin as a temperamental, boorish lout, a borderline psychotic. Frontiers weighed in on Ms. Gutierrez’s vigorous campaigning to pass Prop 8, and her stand against Svonkin’s proposal to mandate that new buildings are built by union.
Ms. Gutierrez strongly supported Proposition 8. She is a right-wing zealot with a record of supporting the Tea party agenda and discriminatory policies to a public education governing board. Last year she worked to defeat the Mental Health Services for At-Risk Youth bill (SB 543). The bill, now law, enables youth to receive counseling without parental consent. Svonkin – residing over the embattled San Gabriel Unified School District Governing board, which has seen more than its share of malfeasance and mismanagement – has been a staunch supporter of full equality for LGBT Californians. As Senior Advisor to Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, he was instrumental in working to publicly oppose Prop 8 and other anti-LGBT initiatives.
After Mr. Svonkin related the religious basis for his political belief system, a reporter (from WeHo News), asked Ms. Gutierrez about her own formative beliefs. Her response to the question, “What religious practice do you follow?” was, “I voted for Prop 8.” When asked the question six more times in six different ways, she gave precisely the same answer – “I voted for Prop 8”. Six times. On Prop 8, she denied having any more to do with it than voting for it, repeating when asked about her other activities in support of the measure such as her campaign’s paying for lawn signs only the phrase, “I voted for Prop 8.” Four times in the interview.
Head’s up, Los Angeles voters. Right-wing conservatives have been attempting to clandestinely win seats on the Community College District Board of Trustees for years, running campaigns that evade mention of their conservative and radical views. With evangelical, Christian minority populations supporting Ms. Gutierrez, a church-based get out the vote drive could swing an election with small turnouts. And an upset of a heavily-favored Democratic Party-backed candidate would provide the Tea Party with its first inroad to elected office in Southern California. Rarely has there been such a clear choice between candidates in a low turn-out election as this one. Please vote tomorrow.