Republican Tony Strickland will be fined $3,000 for violating state campaign law.  The fine stems from a negative attack mailer against then-opponent Hannah-Beth Jackson in 2008.  Strickland, a career politician, failed to disclose the source of the mailer.  According to the state Fair Political Practices Commission, Strickland should have known better stating the omission was, “at worst intentional, at best negligent.”

Strickland, who has been fund raising for former Goldman Sachs board member Meg Whitman, wants to trade in his senate seat for a run for State Controller.  Given his history of reckless, even illegal campaign practices, some would question his suitability for higher office.

“Because we all love California too much to let it fail.” Something Meg Whitman likes to say every few minutes on TV.  She spends her millions trying to convince Californians to trust her better judgment and believe that she can bridge the divide.  Then she goes and taps Moorpark’s own Tony Strickland to run for State Controller on her slate.

State Controller, you say?  I know I want someone in that job who has a track record of being owned by big tobacco, indian gaming, and health insurance companies. Someone who literally has taken his party’s lead on halting bi-partisanship in Sacramento and who is ready to give up his state Senate seat after just completing his first year.  A career politician who has virtually no record of accomplishment.

Doesn’t that make you feel a lot better about her choice?  What on earth was Meg Whitman thinking when she made this decision?

Yesterday, Senate Bill 810 (Leno-S.F.), a bill that guarantees affordable health insurance for all residents of California, passed the full Senate on a vote of 22 to 14.  This bill passed because of the long-term and arduous work of activists like you.  For that, we thank you.  Since the Senate vote, many of you have called and asked, “What’s next?”

Next, the bill is assigned to the Assembly Health Committee.  In the coming weeks we will know when the bill is scheduled for a hearing.  According to the official Assembly calendar, SB 810 must pass the Health Committee by July 2.  After passing the Health Committee, it will be sent to the Assembly Appropriations Committee for a hearing.  It must pass Appropriations by August 13.  Finally, it must pass the full Assembly by August 31 at which time the bill is sent to the Governor.

We have much work to do.  We will ultimately need 41 votes on the Assembly floor for passage.  Although we have successfully passed SB 840 (the former number of SB 810) twice through the Senate and Assembly, only to have Governor Schwarzenegger veto it twice, this time around there is a new political dynamic in play.  Beginning last week, the Republicans are aggressively fighting the legislation and are presenting verifiably false information to reporters.  Unfortunately, most reporters are letting the lies go unchallenged and report the lies as fact.  This is why we have much work to do.  We must overcome the false propaganda and continually educate ourselves, our colleagues, friends, neighbors and families and, of course, our Assembly members.

During the coming months, the OneCare Campaign will provide you with up-to-date information, Action Alerts, and things you can do to help grow our movement and educate fellow Californians.  As part of our educational campaign, starting March 1, a 30-second video ad that will highlight a fact about single payer health care, will be emailed to you each day for a year!  Stay tuned.  The ads will feature your friends and neighbors as well as famous celebrities.  By the end of the Ad Campaign, our legislators  and you will have received 365 educational messages.  You can help make our ad campaign “go viral” which will create the largest grassroots ad campaign in history.

Finally, thank you for your financial support.  You have made the difference.  We know we can count on you which is why we know that WE WILL WIN!

Fresh off winning by a sliver of a percentage point by pretending to be an “independent” with “green” credentials, Tony Strickland is already causing trouble. In a move that will surprise absolutely no one but the moderate voters unfortunate enough to get suckered by Strickland’s con artistry, Strickland is already carrying water for his friends in the extremist Republican Yacht Party.

As California attempts to cut spending and raise revenues to avert a fiscal disaster, Tony “Independent Green” Strickland is standing once again to the right of his own Republican governor in insisting that the perfectly legal and eminently reasonable Democratic budget plan is somehow unconstitutional. It matters little to Tony Strickland if California falls into the sea, economically speaking, so long as his corporate friends in the oil industry are taken care of.

From the VC Star:

The Constitution allows fees to be implemented by a majority vote and also allows lawmakers to pass tax measures that are revenue neutral with a simple majority. Democrats asserted their plan met both of those tests.

Anti-tax groups, with the support of GOP lawmakers, had vowed to challenge the plan in court had it been enacted.

Sen. Tony Strickland, R-Moorpark, said the Democratic plan “circumvents the Constitution and the will of the people. I think they know it’s unconstitutional. If they really thought this could be done, it would have been done a long time ago.”

Despite the concerns of other Republicans, Schwarzenegger said he would have signed the Democratic bills had they included the economic stimulus provisions he is demanding.

In the end, both Schwarzenegger and Strickland are opposed the Democratic budget solution, but for different reasons. Our own Pedro Nava is on point as usual about the ramifications of failure to pass this badly needed budget:

“If he doesn’t sign it, he needs to explain to the people of California about the 200,000 construction jobs that will be lost,” said Nava, whose district includes Ventura, Santa Barbara and much of Oxnard. “He needs to explain to the 200,000 people out of jobs why he doesn’t think he got enough of what he wanted.” [snip]

“I am bewildered that Republicans fail to recognize the urgency,” he said. “This is like your house is on fire and you’re trying to put it out and the Republicans are objecting because you’re not using the right hose.”

For Republicans like Strickland, however, the entire point is to allow the house to burn down. When you’re part of an extremist party interested only in draining the swamp and making government so small it can drown in a bathtub, bankrupting the State isn’t a bug–it’s a feature. A feature explicitly designed to destroy progressive advances across the state.

And all this being done by a Yacht Party (with Tony Strickland as one of its premier captains) incapable of coming close to majorities in either the State Senate or Assembly, and only capable of electing a governor by nominating a movie star in the wake of a trumped up recall election.

Friends of Hannah-Beth Jackson
PO Box 92010
Santa Barbara, CA. 93190

Dear Friends,

It has been over two weeks since Election Day, and it is hard to believe that we still do not know the results of our State Senate race.

We have been receiving periodic updates from Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los Angeles counties, and as we suspected, the numbers have been fluctuating up and down. We’ve been waiting for the provisional ballots to be counted, which occurs only after the Vote By Mail ballots are counted by each county.

In Santa Barbara, they have gotten to that point. So yesterday we received the very first tally of provisional ballots from Santa Barbara County and along with it some very encouraging news. Santa Barbara counted over 2,000 of their provisional ballots and we won them by over 65% giving us an additional 735 votes.

This means that we have gained on Strickland’s lead and are now only trailing by 1,721 votes.

This deficit may seem like a lot but there are still over 3,000 provisional ballots in Santa Barbara to count and an estimated 14,000 provisional ballots in Ventura County, and these ballots should favor us.

The bottom line is we are still in the game here and have a good shot at winning. We always knew it was going to be a close race, and it will be close to the very end. We could very well see a little more up-and-down movement while LA and Ventura finish up their non-provisional vote count, so hang in there!

Thank you very much for all of your support and kind emails and phone calls. We all have to stay patient during this process. It’s important that the counties take the time they need to accurately count the ballots. And know that we have dozens of election monitors working with the counties to observe the counting of ballots to ensure that this happens.

We will keep you posted in the days ahead as we get updates. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience, and wish you all very Happy Thanksgiving Holiday.

Many thanks,
Sandra M. Sanchez
Campaign Manager

Strickland mailer designed to look like it is coming from Jackson.
Illegally fails to disclose actual sender.

Tony Strickland has reached a new low in his dishonest campaign against Hannah-Beth Jackson. Yesterday, voters in the 19th District received a mailing from Strickland’s campaign titled “Hannah-Beth Jackson’s Economic Plan.” Inside, the mailing contained Strickland’s predictable false charges about Hannah-Beth Jackson and taxes.

The mailing was clearly designed to look like it was coming from Hannah-Beth Jackson’s campaign.

The problem is that nowhere on the piece of mail is the actual sender (Tony Strickland’s State Senate Committee) disclosed. State election law requires the name of the committee to be prominently placed on the outside of every piece of political mail.

We know it comes from Strickland because it has his return address on the piece – postal regulations require a return address. The piece could not be mailed without one.

“Tony Strickland believes he can blatantly violate the law because he knows that the only consequence will be a fine, levied months after the election. Strickland has no regard for the law,” stated Jackson consultant Parke Skelton.

“This was not an inadvertent failure to put the proper disclaimer on the mailer, it is an obvious attempt to confuse voters,” Skelton continued.

This is the prevailing section of the State’s Political Reform Act:

§ 84305. Requirements for Mass Mailing.

(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), no candidate or committee shall send a mass mailing unless the name, street address, and city of the candidate or committee are shown on the outside of each piece of mail in the mass mailing and on at least one of the inserts included within each piece of mail of the mailing in no less than 6-point type which shall be in a color or print which contrasts with the background so as to be easily legible.

“We will be seeking legal remedies to ensure that this illegal election fraud is appropriately punished,” Skelton concluded.

Jackson secures endorsements from vast majority of Police and Deputy Sheriffs Organizations

The Association of Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS) that represents thousands of Deputy Sheriffs in Los Angeles County endorsed Hannah-Beth Jackson for State Senate. The 19th Senate District includes a portion of Los Angeles County in the Santa Clarita area.

With ALADS, Jackson has secured endorsements from the vast majority of police and deputy sheriffs organization throughout the district including: Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC), Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs’ Association, Ventura County Professional Peace Officers Association, Santa Barbara Deputy Sheriffs Association and the Santa Barbara Police Officers Association. This is in addition to every Firefighter organization in the 19th District. For a full list go to: www.Jackson4Senate.com .

Jackson has a proven record as an effective crime fighter both as a former prosecutor for Santa Barbara County and during her tenure as a State Assemblymember. Jackson was able to pass laws to protect families from violent criminals, assist victims of crime and punish those who break our laws. Jackson was honored by Mothers Against Drunk Driving for passing a law to more severely punish drunk driving and by the Junior League of California for passing laws to prevent domestic violence.

Republican Sheriff Bill Brown from Santa Barbara County agrees: “Hannah-Beth Jackson is a former prosecutor who understands that we need supportive leadership in the State Legislature to be effective in the fight against crime and violence. She was an effective member of the Assembly with a strong public safety record. That’s why I support Hannah-Beth Jackson for State Senate.”

Police Chief Pat Miller from the City of Ventura also agrees: “Time and time again, Hannah-Beth Jackson came through in making sure we had the laws we needed to arrest and prosecute violent criminals. She will be a great champion for public safety in the State Senate.”

State Senate District 19 Democratic candidate Hannah-Beth Jackson will square off with Republican Tony Strickland once again in a town hall-style event on Friday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Ventura College Cafeteria. The event will be sponsored by the Ventura Chamber of Commerce and the Ventura County Star. It is free and open to the public.

Jackson, the former Assembly member for the 35th District, demonstrated just how capable a debater she is with a strong showing against Strickland at a forum held Sept. 21 at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks.

The former deputy district attorney effectively challenged her opponent’s ballot designation as a “renewable energy businessman” after the forum moderator announced the environmental records of the two candidates.  The California League of Conservation Voters gave Jackson a 98.8 percent rating vs. Strickland’s 1.67 percent. Strickland immediately went on the attack against the organization.

Jackson countered, “Rather than defame an organization that’s been held in high esteem in the environmental community for decades, let’s look at the bills they were talking about.” Strickland even voted against a bill which would’ve helped the renewable energy industry, she said.

Jackson also excelled at a Sept. 24 forum co-sponsored by the Star and the California Association of Political Centrists. Citing issues with the bipartisan group co-sponsoring the forum, Strickland declined to participate.

Jackson spoke about why she decided to go into politics. “I’m an eternal optimist and that’s what brings me into the political world.”

Her advice for negotiating next year’s budget: “Stop this ideological posturing. Politics is the art of compromise.”

The Ventura College Cafeteria is located in the CSA building across from the gymnasium, 4667 Telegraph Road, in Ventura. Parking is free. For more information, call the Ventura Chamber of Commerce at (805) 676-7500.

The next forum between Jackson and Strickland will be hosted by the League of Women Voters and will be held Oct. 10 from 4-5 p.m. at Cal Lutheran University’s Oxnard Campus, 2201 Outlet Center Drive, Suite 600, in Oxnard.