Over the last two months, our editorial board has surveyed hundreds of candidates and conducted several dozen interviews in races across Southern California. Here are our endorsements, with select commentaries. You can read the full endorsements on our website in the Opinion section.
Statewide office
Lanhee Chen for state controller. Chen will use the powers of the controller to audit and expose waste in state government.
Lance Christensen for state superintendent of public instruction. Christensen will champion school choice and parental rights
After interviewing candidates for state treasurer, our editorial board has declined to issue an endorsement.
Los Angeles County
Robert Luna for Los Angeles County sheriff. We believe it is time for a change. Sheriff Villanueva has proven incapable of doing the job in a sensible manner. Luna will restore public trust in the department.
Jeffrey Prang for Los Angeles County assessor
Bob Hertzberg for Los Angeles County supervisor
Rick Caruso for mayor of Los Angeles. It’s time for Los Angeles to have competent, independent leadership.
Scott Silverstein for Los Angeles City Council
Hydee Feldstein Soto for Los Angeles city attorney
Stephanie Clements for Los Angeles city controller
Kelly Gonez and Nick Melvoin for Los Angeles Unified School Board
John Kennedy and Jason Lyon for Pasadena City Council
Orange County
Cecilia Iglesias for Board of Supervisors in District 2. Iglesias has long taken on public employee unions, championed school choice and fiscal responsibility.
Doug Chaffee for Board of Supervisors in District 4
Pat Bates for Board of Supervisors in District 5. Unlike Foley and Harkey, Bates isn’t beholden to the police unions.
Todd Spitzer for district attorney
Al Mijares for Orange County superintendent
Mari Barke, Lisa Sparks and Tim Shaw for Orange County Board of Education. We wish they’d focus less time fighting culture wars, more time on the basics, but they’re better than the alternatives.
Yes on Newport Beach’s Measure B
Riverside County
Jeff Hewitt for Board of Supervisors. The county board needs a fiscal truth-teller like Hewitt.
Lara Gressley for district attorney. Incumbent Mike Hestrin is presiding over major upticks in homicides and is too beholden to the police unions to be able to do his job without conflicts.
San Bernardino County
Jesse Armendarez and Curt Hagman Board of Supervisors. Both are common sense fiscal conservatives who will address housing affordability and homelessness.
Treasure Ortiz for mayor of San Bernardino. Mayor John Valdivia has proven himself to be incapable of performing his duties with integrity. San Bernardino needs a watchdog in City Hall who will call things as they are.
Fred Shorett for San Bernardino City Council