Voters in the redrawn 67th Assembly District, which includes  communities ranging from Cerritos and Cypress to Buena Park and Fullerton,  have their pick of two very distinctive candidates to represent them in Sacramento.

Incumbent Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat, has long been associated with the more moderate wing of her party.  In recent years, she has been a critic of efforts to reform Proposition 13 and the high-speed rail project, for example. She’ll sometimes even buck her party on legislation, like a state law banning gas-powered leaf blowers.

On major issues like housing policy, she has supported zoning and land-use reforms to make it easier for more housing to get built and she has consistently indicated her support for CEQA reform.

Recent legislative efforts on her part includes pending legislation to put in place “key guardrails to protect against the further politicizing of CalOptima,” Orange County’s health care plan for low-income people.

The bill would specifically restrict Orange County supervisors who serve on the CalOptima from being able to work for CalOptima for one year after leaving office, among other restrictions.

This proposal is sensible, given the recent, documented activity of Supervisor Andrew Do, who was found by the Fair Political Practices Commission to have violated “pay-to-play” rules while serving on the CalOptima board by pushing CalOptima contracts for campaign contributors.

Quirk-Silva’s sensible legislation in response to this reflects well on her good government-sensibilities.

Her Republican opponent, ABC Unified school board President Soo Yoo, does indeed have a number of policy positions we agree with. She is justly critical of California’s poorly performing K-12 education system and is a strong supporter of school choice. She also rightly opposes Sacramento’s endless barrage of policies which increase the cost-of-living in the state and the barriers for businesses to operate.

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However, we were disappointed in an interview by her tendency to speak in generalities rather than specifics when it came to state policies. In a state Capitol with a one-party supermajority, it is important that candidates from outside that supermajority demonstrate an ability to constructively engage with existing political realities. We are not persuaded Soo Yoo is the right fit for that.

While we have many criticisms of Sharon Quirk-Silva’s voting record, we have always found her a straight shooter who is willing to admit when mistakes are made. For instance, she conceded in an interview with us that it was a mistake when she signed onto a letter aiding Santa Ana police union boss Gerry Serrano’s efforts to boost his pension.

Re-elect Sharon Quirk-Silva.