Spencer Pratt ran an aggressive campaign for L.A. mayor, marked by cutting-edge ads. Despite the abject failure of current mayor Karen Bass, Pratt still only finished second – until the mail-in ballots began to be counted. Then Pratt sunk out of contention. Socialist L.A. City Council member Nithya Raman passed him. California has “jungle” primaries. Candidates from all parties run in one primary. If the winner gets 50%, election over. If not, then there’s a runoff. So, in November, a failed, incompetent leftwing mayor will square off against a weepy (Raman thought she lost on election night and blubbered) self-avowed socialist. Such is the state of L.A. politics today.
But don’t be fooled. Despite the cry that Spencer Pratt was cheated out of the runoff – with wide-opened mail-in balloting, he was – the likelihood that Pratt would win a clean election for mayor wouldn’t be much better. The hard truth is that L.A., like coastal California – where the population centers are -is Democrat territory. Democrats are typically going win elections in California because more Californians are left-leaning and Democrat. From time to time, less cheating would make some elections more competitive, but the state’s tilt would remain. Removing the cheating – in other words, eliminating mail-in balloting or most of it – won’t flip California red.
The reasons are many for that. The three chief reasons are: Generational change, minority influx (read legal and illegal), and outmigration – as in, middle-income and working class Californians leaving the state, along with Republicans from whatever class. California is largely a self-selecting state. Those who are agreeable to how the state and localities are governed, stay. Yes, there are Californians who are “trapped” by jobs, family commitments, roots, etc. But there is no equivalent of a Berlin Wall around California.
Otherwise, for years and increasingly, those who are sick and tired of high costs of living, high taxes, strangling regs, crime, homeless encampments, and whatever else has eroded the quality of life in the once Golden State, have left or are planning to leave. In other words, California has and is experiencing a steady drain of voters who are conservative or plain common sense.
Even Spencer Pratt threatened to leave California if his election bid went south. And he should leave. Life is short. Is California a hill worth dying on?
Best wishes to GOP gubernatorial nominee Steve Hilton. Good man – solid instincts and policy proposals. May he beat the odds this November and best Democrat Xavier Becerra. Yet the deck is stacked. Anything goes mail-in balloting will rear its ugly head. But so will California voters, who aren’t victims. Most are culprits in their state’s long downward spiral.
Pity. California dreamin’ was once the envy of Americans everywhere.