(June 7, 2012) Four candidates supported by the California Chamber of Commerce-affiliated JobsPAC were among the top two vote getters on June 5 and will move on to the General Election in November.
In recapping election results, The Sacramento Bee and the Los Angeles Times labeled CalChamber a big winner. In a June 6 article the Times said CalChamber “proved successful at trying to influence Democratic and Republican races alike.”
Among the winning candidates JobsPAC-supported were Orange County Democratic Clerk/Recorder Tom Daly, who won 41% of the vote in Assembly District 69. He will face Julio Jose Moreno (R) in November.
In addition, JobsPac-supported Merced Democrat Adam Gray came in second in District 21 with 32% of the vote. He will face Jack Mobley (R), who took 45% of the vote.
In the Stockton race of Assembly District 13, JobsPAC-supported Susan Eggman (D) won nearly 40% of the vote and will face Jeffrey Jafri (R) in the General Election.
JobsPAC-support also helped Republican Peter Tateishi garner more votes in his Sacramento area Assembly District 8 race than Barbara Ortega (R), setting up a competitive election with Democrat Ken Cooley in the fall.
The June 5 election was the first election under the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act, which requires that all candidates for a voter-nominated office be listed on the same ballot.
CalChamber-supported the Top Two Candidates Open Primary Act and Proposition 11, placing the drawing of political boundaries in the hands of the Citizens Redistricting Commission, to create new opportunities for competitive elections.
At least half the seats in the 80-member Assembly are going to change hands this year due to existing term limits and competitive redistricting.
As a result of voter approval of Proposition 28 at least half the candidates elected to the Assembly this year could be incumbents for the next 12 years.