Williams, Jordan assembly battle flares up
In what is expected to be the most explosive Democratic primary in decades, the battle between Das Williams and Susan Jordan for the 35th District Assembly seat has taken on a new sense of urgency, with both candidates frantically scrambling to raise money before the end of December.
Whoever rises to the top early next year when the financial contributions are made public will symbolically make a statement about the viability of his or her campaign.
Williams and Jordan are locked in fierce political warfare that has already ripped apart local Democrats. When it comes to fundraising, any significant financial edge is expected to help swing key undecided Democratic donors and endorsers.
The two candidates are looking to win state office at a time when California is getting strangled by budget deficits, massive cuts in education, and a gutting of health care funding, among other major problems.
Williams, who is serving his second term on the Santa Barbara City Council, is looking to succeed Pedro Nava, who must step down from the state office because of term limits. While Williams is comfortable in the role of candidate – he also ran for county supervisor in 2005 – his challenge this time is more formidable than it appears on the surface.
By some measures, the 35-year-old Williams is fighting against the power of Sacramento incumbency.
Jordan is Nava’s wife and she has locked up much of the same Sacramento support that backed Nava. And while Nava is focused on his own campaign for state Attorney General, his Bill Clinton-to-Hillary-like presence in the race is already playing a role in the campaign.
In a passive slap at Williams, just this week Nava sent out a letter blasting the city of Santa Barbara for the rise in medicinal marijuana centers. Williams chairs the committee that is currently addressing the dispensary issue. Mayor Marty Blum accused Nava of meddling in the city’s affairs. Williams outright accused him of political posturing.
Nava has been all but invisible on city matters up until his sudden interest in medical marijuana dispensaries.
The letter is perhaps the first salvo in what is expected to be an explosive primary over the next several months.
Democrats expect the primary to get ugly, negative and expensive.
“The higher the stakes get, more pressure will be put on the candidates, both internally and externally, to run aggressive campaigns,” said political consultant James Kyriaco, who is not representing either Williams or Jordan. “Both candidates are extremely competent, qualified and compassionate individuals who have the ability to be strong representatives.”
The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican Mike Stoker in November. While Stoker has much name recognition, the district is largely made up of Democrats, giving either Williams or Jordan the advantage. Democrats make up nearly 50 percent of the registered voters in the district, while Republicans total just under 30 percent.
“It’s a win-win,” said Daraka Larimore-Hall, chairman of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party, a group that does not make endorsements during partisan primaries. “Either Das or Susan will clean Stoker’s clock.”
So with Democrats believing that the race will essentially be decided in June, the urgency on the part of Williams and Jordan is real.
Jordan, a longtime environmental activist, who has never held public office, but did serve on the county planning commission, refutes any accusations that Nava’s recent medicinal marijuana letter was politically motivated.
“I had nothing to do with it,” she said. “I don’t see why anyone would think that it is politically motivated. It is entirely appropriate for him to weigh in.”
Jordan touts her years as a business management consultant, and founder of environmental organizations. A mother of a 21-year-old college student, Jordan also points to her life experience as a parent, and the length of her career.
“I come to this with over 30 years of experience,” Jordan, 57, told the Daily Sound. “I know what it means to manage a payroll. I know what it means to write a check.”
Such experience, she said, will help her in Sacramento.
“I have never seen Sacramento this divided, this polarized, this confused,” she said.
Still, Jordan must overcome the perception that she is riding the coattails of her husband, who hand-picked her to replace him in the state Assembly. It’s a perspective that rubs her the wrong way.
She said that because of her environmental activism she was approached to run for Assembly in the late 1990s – long before she met Nava, whom she married in 2002.
“I am Pedro’s spouse, but I don’t think it defines who I am in this election,” she said.
Williams, who has championed environmental initiatives since he was elected to the council in 2003, and who has become a darling among progressive liberal Democrats, only jumped into the race after Jordan and Nava’s opposition to the PXP coastal drilling deal, which was brokered by the region’s most influential and prominent environmentalists.
Jordan and Nava in January helped sink the Plains Exploration & Production deal, an agreement between local environmental groups and the oil company to decommission several offshore platforms, in exchange for expanded drilling rights at Tranquillon Ridge, offshore from Vandenberg Air Force Base.
The deal, voted down by the State Lands Commission, would have resulted in hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenue for Santa Barbara County, and an eventual early shutdown of the oil platforms. Nava and Jordan helped crush the deal, claiming it was largely unenforceable, infuriating many in Santa Barbara’s progressive environmental community.
Nava and Jordan’s display of muscle in Sacramento over the PXP deal is an example of the kind of politics, Williams said, that voters want a change from.
“Right now Sacramento is broken,” Williams said. “We need new leadership and new energy to take on the status quo and fight for a better future. I’m an outsider to the Sacramento establishment, but my experience getting results on the local level and bringing people together is what will make me a more effective legislator.”
He acknowledged that fundraising is an important element of any campaign.
“As unfortunate as it may be, one of the key early indicators of a candidate’s strength is through fundraising. Because my opponent and her husband, Assemblymember Nava, can pull some strings and raise money outside the district, I knew that fundraising would be a priority in the early stages of the campaign.”
Jordan, however, counters that she is the underdog when it comes to fundraising. Already, there are signs the race is getting testy.
“I am up against a well-oiled candidate,” Jordan said. “He comes into the race with an established fund-raising base.”
According to the most recent publicly available filings, but candidates were neck-and-neck in fundraising, coming in just under $125,000.
Since he jumped into the race, Williams has been out front on education issues, and is looking to distinguish himself as more than just an environmental candidate.
“Containing the damage to our public education and health systems done by state budget cuts is an immediate challenge,” Williams said. “We need to look beyond the short-term gimmicks and political expedience of ‘cuts-only’ budgets.”
Comment on this article
Mr. Gimmick himself : 12/2/2009
wow looks like Josh has found a new drama to exploit now that the City Council/Mayor race is over; and for Das to patronizingly link Jordan to her husband, when he is basically patronized by Salud Carbajal and Peter Sperling, both financially and politically, is really pathetic. Whose his real daddy?
Also funny to hear Daraka say that "either Das or Susan" could beat Stoker. Stoker must love hearing that as he'd like nothing more than the opportunity to go up against Das' ego, immaturity, duplicity and transparency. Good try though, Daraka
here we go again
Das is a sell-out to pro-marijuana forces : 12/2/2009
Taking campaign contributions from the Sperlings - who want full legalization of pot. Um, could that be why he wanted to hold the ordinance forever with the other clown, Grant? Could that be why he doesn't want a cap of 4 like Francisco suggested? Could that be why he didn't want Francisco taking this thing back to Council? Now that Das has taken monies from pro-dispensary people, like Maboob, watch for him to go to the mat trying to protect the pot queen LaForce of LA's Farmacy. I betcha Tuesday he'll try to rig that moratorium so she gets through, and the Aloha Spirit guys. The latter were closed in LA as a bad operator. But Das never met a pot shop operator he didn't like! Especially when they give him CA$H!
Fed up with dirty Das
daraka what? : 12/2/2009
Anyway, Stoker will eat Das alive in the debates. I can't wait to see that.
jon bennett
John & Yoko : 12/2/2009
It isn't Pot, it's the economy idiots! Why is it, that these days we are constantly fed this John & Yoko, JIm & Tammy Faye, Bill & Hillary, Bonnie and Clyde crap. That is a big state paycheck to one family, this is the problem with our government, parasites looking to feed off our tax dollars. They are the problem not the solution. It's a joke!
San Roque
Jordan's the One : 12/2/2009
In three little words, Susan Jordan astutely summed up Das's entire career: "well-oiled candidate." the perpetual candidate is in his fourth political race in 6 years--excessive by anyone's count. Why exactly did he need to run against Janet Wolf, wasting vast amounts of $$$, time and goodwill within the democratic party. Why now does he need to run against Susan Jordan, betraying his longtime political friends, and again squandering precious resources better used in the race against the Republican. But Das has shown himself to have no loyalties, and apparently few interests other than furthering his own ambitious political career. He has treated his City Council job as nothing more than a steppingstone and a way to gain attention and big money from the likes of the pot-pushing and very generous Peter Sperling. And if he wants to tout himself as an education expert, he might have bothered to help when asked multiple times by to take a look at the multiple issues in the Santa Barbara school district instead of just issuing platitudes and self-serving press releases.
Susan Jordan, in contrast, is an accomplished and impressive businesswoman, environmental and health care expert, with real world experience raising a child, balancing a budget and earning money--instead of living as a perpetual candidate asking for contributions. This former Das supporter is with Jordan all the way.
had enough
Hoping for a change : 12/2/2009
It seems naive to assume that she’ll be independent of her husband. Let’s face it, if she weren’t does anyone think for a moment she’d be running? Not only is she running on his coattails, she’d be lost without them. This is obviously a pitch to stay and keep the dynasty going and they’ll try and do so at the expense of the real issues that matter.
They can’t run on the environment, or education. Das is clearly the leader in these areas. More importantly he’s the candidate who has the strongest connection to the people in this district. How tuned in is Jordan to the needs and hope of the local community? Das has been plugged in at the local level, he knows the issues and he knows the people. He’s the candidate who is willing to stand up and take on the establishment (WHICH DOESN’T WORK). We all know that, why would we want to perpetuate it? The status quo is broken.
Vote change, vote Das.
David D.
Time for a change : 12/2/2009
Das is the clear choice in this race. What we need now in Sacramento is someone like Das who understands and has a experience on all the issues from education to creating jobs. With all due respect, Susan Jordan has zero experience when it comes to education, jobs, health care, etc ... With the way things are right now we can't afford to take a chance on more inexperience and more of the same.
no more pedro
No more Nava : 12/2/2009
Susan Jordan will extend the Pedro Nava practice in Sacramento of not getting things done for Santa Barbara. Das is the clear choice in this race - he is the only one who has ever had to balance a public budget and make tough choices without compromising local jobs and public safety. Susan doesn't have two legs to stand on in this race.
Anna M
Das bs Susan : 12/2/2009
What a shame that campaigning so often has to turn negative. Both Susan and Das are strong candidates and would make wonderful assembly members. I do wish that Pedro And Susan would ease upon the slams against Das and focus on Susan's record . Let's NOT divide local progressives over this, huh?
Lee h
LET'S STICK TO THE ISSUES, and keep it above the waist. : 12/2/2009
The State is in a budget crisis. We need someone bold and experienced yet fresh. Das is this person, period.
Assembly race : 12/2/2009
It would be nice to stick to the issues – but let’s face it this is a political campaign with high states. I don’t believe that Peter Sperling controls Das Williams any more than I believe that Pedro Nava controls Susan Jordan. Let’s look at the history. Das is a local boy, who went to UCSB, supports public education; has worked for various Democratic candidates, causes and has worked as a union organizer. He generally supports a progressive political agenda. He’s won elections and lost elections. His work in politics predates his support from Peter Sperling. At one point Das supported Jordan for the Assembly seat, but as Josh points out, they split over the PXP proposal. Many in the environmental community split on this issue. Das supports the plan, Jordan led the fight to defeat it in Sacramento because she felt it was unenforceable – a position shared by the Attorney General and State Lands Commission. Jordan has a long history of activism for women’s health and environmental protection. She’s run a business and a non-profit organization. Locally she served on the County Planning Commission, and her group Vote the Coast has been responsible for electing many Democrats to Office. She supports a progressive agenda. Her activism long predates her meeting Pedro Nava. Frankly, I’d be happy to have either of these two represent me - let's hope we can have a clean campaign and discuss some of the pressing issues - like the budget, jobs, education, health care - and if we want more oil drilling off our coast.
Lifelong Dem
No Way on Das : 12/2/2009
He's a complete prostitute - tells you whatever you need to hear to get you to give money or vote for him. He's part Asian in front of the Asian-Pacific Islander group (his stepmother is Asian). He's half-Latino for the Latino groups (he's not Latino). He wants to control pot in our city while he opens the floodgates for pot shops. He is the education candidate who didn't protect Peabody from being surrounded by pot shops. This guy has zero credibility, and his only interest is in running for his next job. No thanks. Give me someone upstanding like Jordan any day.
End Das' Political Career Before He Does More Damage
Dividing the progressives already happened : 12/2/2009
Lee H-
dividing of the progressives in this race began when Das did an about face and chose to oppose a progressive woman who was a close friend. Just like he divided the progressives when he chose to run against wolf in 2006, barely a year after winning city council. and slams? Lee H do you have any idea how Das uses his surrogates to do more than slime susan and others. please. he may be your buddy but believe us he is no choir boy just skilled at keeping his fingerprints off most of his (dirty) work.
worked alongside him
Jordan and Nava Playing Both Sides : 12/2/2009
Jordan and Nava claim to be environmentalists, but after fighting tooth and nail to keep the gas processing plants in Lompoc and Gaviota open indefinitely I started to ask why. I couldn't figure out why they wouldn't support closing the only oil infrastructure plants left in Santa Barbara County that all oilplatforms in are area rely on.. They said they were doing it in support of the environment. The more I studied the more I realized they were trying to protect State oil drilling. Oil platforms Irene, Pedernales, Hidalgo, and Hermosa remain active today when they could have been shut down permanently. Still it baffled me why Jordan and Nava would fight for oil drilling with no end date. A few months later I got my answer, Nava's new oil tax money plan for the State. With record deficits he knew he'd have a chance to get oil taxes passed. But you can't introduce new oil taxes if the State oil drilling operations are going to end. Oil companies would simply shut down early since they knew their time was limited. Their assets would be worth more elsewhere. Jordan either wasn't paying attention, or she knows she's being a hypocrite, saying she's for the environment when in fact State oil drilling now has a bright future.
http://www.noozhawk.com/politics/article/080609_nava_to_introduce_legislation_to_tax_oil_industry
Check the facts
dem and demmer : 12/2/2009
stoker has more brains and experience in his little finger than das and susan have put together times 10.
baraka livermore
you want to put that where??? : 12/2/2009
Das has a nipple ring...
committee to keep faux latinos out of office
Seeing a bit of bias here : 12/2/2009
Gotta say Josh that as a longtime newspaper reporter myself, I can't think of when I've ever written a candidate was anybody's "darling." Sounding a wee bit strange there. I believe this story also omitted a few facts: In addition to Pedro Nava and Susan Jordan opposing an unenforceable secret oil deal, the Assembly voted it down and so did 100 environmental groups. Details make all the difference, don't you think, Josh?
Lois Lane
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