By Kenneth Miller | Publisher
The first big test on the overthrown Voting Rights Act. Of 1965 will take place today with primaries unfolding across America and more specifically here in the state of California where a new governor will be elected.
It is critical mass, and the eyes of the nation will be looking at the Golden State with the big blue wall shielding the fractured foundation of Democracy with 17 United States House of Representative Seats on the ballot.
South Bay representative Congresswoman Maxine Waters (D-43) is being challenged by Myla Rahman, a former aide to Steve Bradford in the California State Senate.
Waters, 87, has been serving in the House of representatives since 1991, back when Michael Jackson’s “Black or White” top the Billboard Top 100 for seven consecutive weeks. The cost of gasoline cost just mere pennies per gallon, $1.14-$1.19 and 60 Minutes was the top rates television show.
The late George H. W. Bush was President and the late Tom Bradley was the Mayor of Los Angeles back then, but Waters has steadfastly kept going strong, winning one election after another, completing an incredible 21,834 votes and introducing 10 bills that have been enacted into law.
Yes, she is older than Donald Trump, but her voting record is strong, her reputation could not be any better and although she opposed a property tax in Compton to build more schools that put her opposite music icon Dr. Dre, she has continued to demonstrate she is a more than capable public servant.
Waters has earned the right to both choose her successor and step down when she wants, but the concern among her constituents is when if ever will she do that. She has enough political capital to stave off a lightweight Rahman,53, who probably should have been more patient.
Eight State Senator Races are on the table, 24 Assembly Seats and we will get a new Lt. Governor and Governor in 2026.
The South Bay Black Journal has endorsed Fiona Ma for Lt. Governor, the longtime Treasurer who has been stellar in handling the state money.
Ma office processes more than $3 trillion in payments within a typical year and provides transparency and oversight for an investment portfolio of more than $124 billion, approximately $34.8 billion of which are local government funds. She also is responsible for $93 billion in outstanding general obligation and lease revenue bonds of the state. Her office provides financing for schools, roads, housing, recycling and waste management, hospitals, public facilities, and other crucial infrastructure projects that better the lives of residents.
Over the past 20+ years, she has built a reputation as a problem-solving public servant, adept at building unlikely coalitions to overcome California’s most complex problems.
Meanwhile, the replacement for Gavin Newsom will come down to money. Billionaire Tom Steyer has bank rolled his campaign to the tune of $216 million or twice as more the entire field of candidates, but it still might not be enough to put him in the top two candidates.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass will be in a battle for her political life in the race to retain her job as mayor. Two candidates pose a real danger to Bass, Nithya Raman and outsider and Republican Spencer Pratt. The top two will advance to the November general election.
Compton also has a hotly contested Mayor race as six candidates challenge incumbent Emma Sharif. Councilwoman Wanda Love is challenging Tasha Cerda for Mayor in Gardena, and Love will learn the power of relationships in this one.
It doesn’t matter who you vote for, but if you want to matter then you gotta vote. Go to https://www.lavote.gov for more information.
