California November 2018 Ballot - Lieutenant Governor

The biggest difference between the two candidates seeking to become the Lieutenant Governor of California is experience.

Eleni Kounalakis has never served in any legislative body. She was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary during the Obama Administration. She has donated large sums of money to Democratic candidates over the past decade-plus, including $100,000 to the 2008 campaign of Hillary Clinton.

Ed Hernandez is serving in his second term as a State Senator from Azusa. Prior to that, he spent a term in the State Assembly. His highest legislative priority has been healthcare.

John Nance Garner was the Vice President of the United States during two of FDR's terms in office. He famously described the office of Vice President as “not worth a bucket of warm spit.” It would be easy for someone to make the same statement about being the Lieutenant Governor. The primary purpose of the office is to have someone to take over if the Governor is incapacitated; or to sit in the”big chair” when the Governor is traveling outside California. The only other duties of the office are to sit on the boards that oversee the UC and Cal State systems, and on the State Lands Commission.

The reality is that being Lieutenant Governor is not much of a stepping-stone to becoming Governor. Grey Davis did it back in 1998 and he was recalled and replaced by the Gubinator, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Before Davis, you have to go back in time to 1953 and Goodwin Knight. He was serving at the Lieutenant Governor when then Governor Earl Warren stepped down to become Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court.

So why are these two fighting so hard and spending so much money to become Lieutenant Governor? Senator Hernandez is termed out of the Senate. If he wants to remain involved in elected office at the state level in California, he needed to find another office. Ms Kounalakis probably aspires to use a victory in this race as a springboard to seek higher office.

I'm voting for Ed Hernandez.