Here's a pdf of my ballot(s) before I turned it in: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mA6VKDjKrgRi8iyCzvyWpl7OuYmnKMyh/view?usp=sharing
I had two more posts because I realized I forgot to emphasize a few of the candidates on my previous posts, as well as some ballot measures. The second post includes links to my scanned ballot before I sealed it in the envelope and dropped it off, as well as links to the pamplets for CA General and Alameda County.
There is also a link to get you signed up for "Where is my ballot." I got my notification day before yesterday that my ballot was received and will be counted.
Here are the final posts:
Election Ballot Mop Up post
Well, SHIT! In my zeal to finish what I started at the top end of this week, I overlooked a few things on the ballot. I’ll start with the humans, and then get to the props.
FIRST AND FOREMOST - Duh - This is the one National Race that has direct US Midterms influence (read, to check down Emperor Shitpantz and his band of Nazi wannabes) - the US House of Representatives. We must elect a majority of Democrats (or independents who will not caucus with the MAGA morons) so we can actually have a Congress that does its job again and works more than 72 days a calendar year. Our district is a safe bet, but still, in case anyone is wavering on this one, let me help tip the balance for ya:
Lateefah Simon for US D12 Congress!
She’s picked up the mantle from where Barbara Lee and, before her, Ron Dellums, have left off. She’s done an admirable job representing The Town so far.
The other candidate…well just look at p15 of this: https://acvote.alamedacountyca.gov/.../vig_nov2026_eng...
This candidate has the following party preference (and itinerant* location) history for the past 10 years: Out of State 2016-2020, Democratic San Francisco 2020-2020, No Party Preference Alameda 2020-2025, No Party Preference San Francisco 2025-2026, Democratic Alameda 2026-2026.
If that wasn’t enough, there’s this quote on her campaign site: “Last year she moved to D.C. for 3 months to negotiate with DOGE to protect agencies.”
Fuck outta here!
*For those of you still learning big words, itinerant means “moving or traveling from one location to another rather than staying in a permanent home or single workspace.” One cannot be itinerant and represent The Town in the US Congress. Especially if you're only 27 years old.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction: Richard Barerra. Do not vote for Pro-Trump Sonja “It's just wrong, a boy is a boy, a girl is a girl" Shaw. Any questions?
For Peralta Community College District Trustee, Area 5, I went with the incumbent, Cindi Reiss. I don’t see any reason to vote her out and they need tenured people to help this District navigate through tough waters facing many smaller colleges these days - the upcoming merging of Laney and Merritt into Oakland City College probably needs as many experienced hands as there may be. Anyone with any insight on this district, feel free to chime in.
For EBMUD I voted for the incumbent Marguerite Young. She’s been the incumbent since 2014. My tap water tastes great. While the challenger, Don Gray, has an endearing website and has some patents and is an Engineer and stuff, and makes a compelling case for having a real Engineer on the board, I don’t get the sense that he’d be very good at public relations but you can decide for yourself by reading this, which is the only material I could find about him: https://www.gray4ebmud.org/
Lastly, there is the curious case of the AC Transit Director Ward 4 race. Sara Syed, the incumbent, has been named in some controversies in her first term. Early in her term, other board members attempted to censure Syed for what they called “bullying,” But reading through this article https://oaklandside.org/.../ac-transit-sarah-syed.../, by the end I couldn’t help but feeling the other board members were attempting to gaslight her.
Now there is another controversy. But this time director Syed was subjected to unwanted physical contact by Joel Young, who had previously been the board President but currently the board member at large, now running for the Ward 3 seat because the board decided three years ago to phase out Young’s at-large position. Young has been on the board since 2009. Thanks to a 2023 redistricting, Syed is now running for the Ward 4 seat. Got all that? Read here for all the sordid details: https://oaklandside.org/.../joel-young-ac-transit.../...
I watched the video. The hug is definitely inappropriate. It’s weird, he puts his arms around her neck from behind damn near. WTF was that?
It would seem there is drama and there are factions on the board. That said, I don’t think all of that should disqualify Syed. It sure looks like she’s run up against an old boy network. I think it’s the old boys, honestly, causing the drama. I think Sara should get a shot at a board with fewer old boys and I hope Young’s opponent in Ward 3 wins out. https://oaklandside.org/.../ac-transit-2026-election.../
Her opponent, Gabriel Morales, is a school teacher and says the right things, but it’s not clear he has the resume for the job. I voted for Syed, after spending way more time down the rabbit hole for this otherwise innocuous looking down ballot race.
D4 Councilmember Janani Ramachandran and City Auditor Michael C. Houston are running unopposed.
Ok, now for the Props.
Prop 1 - Yes, we keep throwing money at housing, seemingly getting nowhere to fix the homeless problem. Or, if you prefer, the unhoused problem. But we have to keep trying. If fixing this was so easy, we would have fixed this already. There are no magic bullets.
Prop 2 - California’s tax revenue is a lot more tied to the boom and bust times we’ve all learned to deal with. Increasing the rainy day fund is a good bet. AI is here to stay in some form, but we are currently in a bubble, and there’s a good chance that bubble is going to burst at some point, followed by a correction. It happened with the dot com boom and bust a generation ago, and like highly speculative times where there are a lot of - prospectors - it’s sure to happen again. Just like it did with the Gold Rush. So yeah, let’s make sure there’s a bigger rainy day fund.
NOW I’m done. [UPDATE - Turns out I wasn't]
Election - Final update
Here is a scanned pdf of my completed ballots before I sealed them in the envelope, signed them and turned them in to my local ballot drop box at the Hacienda Peralta Museum of Oakland: https://drive.google.com/.../1mA6VKDjKrgRi8iyCzvy.../view...
Here is the General Election Pamphlet for CA: https://vig.cdn.sos.ca.gov/2026/general/pdf/complete-vig.pdf
And the County of Alameda Voter information guide one more time: https://acvote.alamedacountyca.gov/.../vig_nov2026_eng.pdf
I encourage everyone to sign up for alerts. Sign up at "where is my ballot" here: https://california.ballottrax.net/voter/
Last two things I failed to mention earlier:
Prop 37: Y California Middle-Class Homeownership and Family Home Construction Act of 2026
3% Down Payment. There are other programs out there that lowers down payments. We had a 3% FHA loan back in 2009 and that helped us get into the market. That was a Federal Program. This one is a State Program. We need all the help we can get for folks who want to buy a home in California and I am generally supportive of measures that targets that helps toward single home buyers and not institutional buyers and speculators.
Prop 38: Y "Prop 38 will support life-saving medical research at California’s world-class universities and research institutions, countering the Trump administration’s dangerous cuts to medical research.” - Gov Newsom. Michael J Fox supports it.
There are compelling arguments for and against this measure - but the thing that strikes me with some of these measures is CA stepping into voids created by the US Government stepping out. It is conceivable that this could be the wave of the future if the blue wave doesn't happen in the midterms - which would enable Trump and cronies to be even more horrible than they already are. States will have to step up even more. I'll just leave it at that.
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