Editorial: It tight race, IJ recommends Lucan for Assembly – Marin Independent Journal
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In the June 2 race for Marin’s seat in the state Assembly, Marin Supervisor Eric Lucan has the most experience and regional knowledge among the three top candidates.
It is a wide-open race as two-term incumbent Damon Connolly is giving up the post to run for state Senate. There are six candidates, five Democrats and one Republican, vying to replace the two-term Democrat who represents District 12, which includes all of Marin and two-thirds of Sonoma County.
It’s a close call, setting the stage for a high-octane face-off between the top two finishers in November.
Lucan, a Democrat, brings to the race experience of having grown up in Marin, serving two terms on the Novato City Council, serving as a county supervisor and having served on several high-profile regional boards.
Two other Democrats, Corte Madera Councilmember Eli Beckman and Rohnert Park Councilmember Jackie Elward, are both very viable candidates. Beckman is running a strong and spirited campaign and is articulate on many issues. Elward offers the perspective of racial diversity and that of an immigrant which would prove valuable in shaping state law and policies.
Another Democratic hopeful, Tiburon Mayor Holli Thier, says she is the strongest candidate to stand up to President Donald Trump.
Elward has locked up an impressive list of endorsements from Sonoma County political leaders, past and present. She is an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and her rise in local politics is inspirational. She is a strong candidate and has dealt with important issues such as housing, homelessness, the politics of tribal gaming and a struggling economy.
Stephen Schwartz of Sebastopol, a former Assembly top aide and local school board trustee who heads a Sonoma County agricultural and food nonprofit, says he’s “a bridge builder.” That strategy could help state lawmakers address issues such as making housing affordable for first-time homebuyers.
The lone Republican, Eryn Cervantes, is a standard bearer for the GOP agenda, criticizing state spending on homeless programs “with few results” and the “weaponization” of the state’s environmental laws that has stymied economic growth and private property rights. She has worked as a correctional counselor at San Quentin Rehabilitation Center and is the only candidate who supports Trump’s crackdown by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency.
Lucan’s long list of endorsements reflects backing of leaders from both Marin and Sonoma counties.
He is a steady, conscientious, respectful and hard=working representative who looks for effective solutions, not the political spotlight.
As a county supervisor, he has dealt with many of the issues – homelessness, immigration, health care, climate change, transportation, the economy and housing – facing our state.
Beckman, Elward and Thier have strong records as elected local leaders, but they face a learning curve that is steeper than Lucan’s.
When it comes to, for example, Sacramento’s housing strategies, which have undermined local control over land-use planning and led to proposals for out-of-scale high-rise buildings, Marin needs someone who will challenge them and point out the real-life ramifications of state lawmakers’ votes.
A 24-story high-rise apartment building in downtown San Rafael is not the right answer to the state’s housing crisis. But Sacramento’s housing agenda is forcing it onto Marin’s landscape. Sacramento lawmakers don’t seem to care that people live in San Rafael because they don’t want to live amid high-rise buildings.
Lucan would work hard and push for needed change. He supports building more workforce housing and wants to revive the state’s redevelopment funding, which had developed a record in Marin and Sonoma counties as an effective tool to get affordable housing built.
Beckman says he’s a different type of political leader and tops his agenda with issues such as climate change, the cost of living and affordable health care. He says ICE’s mass-deportation push amounts to a “racist persecution campaign.”
Elward’s agenda stands out with a focus on wildfire prevention and drought resilience.
Thier promises to fix California’s home insurance crisis and to push for undergrounding power lines.
Among Schwartz’s top issues include affordability and sustainable agriculture.
On the June 2 ballot, the race for state Assembly is a close call. Voters are lucky to have a field of good candidates from which to choose.
In this primary, the IJ editorial board’s recommendation is Eric Lucan.
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