An Important Message From Heather Cox Richardson

For those who want a governor who represents the majority:

This is a good strategy for the Ca primary for Gov. Please consider it.

" I can’t stress this enough: If you live in California, please do not vote early — until you’ve watched the gubernatorial debates. Then still don’t vote early until a clear frontrunner emerges. (Two of the debates fall after early voting opens on May 4. Definitely do not vote until well after the first week of May.) Becerra has hit 10%, so he’ll be one of the debaters. We need to see Becerra, Porter, and Steyer debate each other. After they do, one of them will emerge in the polls as the frontrunner. And when that person does, we all need to jump on board. There can be no supporting a fringe candidate. There can be no trying to convince people that your person is the one if they’re polling below 10%, or even polling several points behind the frontrunner.

Don’t waste your time trying to convince other people to swap over to your low-polling candidate. This election isn’t about that. This election is about keeping the fourth largest economy in the world out of the hands of MAGA. Not in the country — in the world.

This is not gonna be a election that is about progressive change or purity voting or single issue voting or “voting your conscience“ if your conscience isn’t telling you to vote for the Democratic candidate who’s in the lead.

It’s a jungle primary: the top two vote-getters will be on the ballot this fall, and they can’t both be Republicans. We can’t let them both be Republicans. A Republican governor would throw environmental concerns on the burn heap. Be even more supportive of deporting people who don’t deserve to be deported. Make life miserable for everybody who isn’t white, straight, old, Christian-posturing, and right wing. And if a senator leaves office while we have a Republican governor, they can appoint a Republican to fill the slot. If a Democratic Congressperson leaves office while we have a Republican governor, they can delay the special election to fill the seat.

Please, please, please… tell your friends. Share this information with your fellow Californians so they understand that this election is vital. High turnout is vital. High Democratic turnout is vital. High turnout of Independents and non-party-affiliates who are leaning liberal is vital.

I would suggest not even donating to any candidate until a frontrunner emerges. It’s all going to depend on the debates. Whoever “wins” the debates and surges in the polls is our best chance, and we don’t want to split the vote between two candidates. We want our votes to go to one Democratic candidate so we have at least one Democratic candidate in the November election.

Circle the wagons. Get on board. Be as single-minded as the other party. Don’t raise concerns. Don’t equivocate. Don’t trash-talk any of the candidates, because we don’t know which one will pull best and we don’t want to put any negativity out there in conjunction with any of them. Don’t withhold your vote in protest.

Whoever winds up in front won’t be the least of three evils. They will be the candidate who will represent your values and beliefs infinitely more strongly than any Republican candidate ever could. If the idea of electing Tom Styer, a billionaire, to the office is leaving a bad taste in your mouth, keep this in mind: He shares your values farmore than any of these MAGAites do. So don’t punish him for being a billionaire. Don’t withhold your vote if you were hoping for Becerra or Porter. If Steyer pulls out in front, support him to the hilt. Phone calls, postcards, emails, boots on the ground. Volunteer as if your life depended on it because it does. Or if you have enough privilege that you’ll be fine no matter who’s elected, think of those who don’t fall into that category and vote on their behalf.

If you’ve read this far, thanks for listening. I hope listening leads to heeding. We need all of us working together to make this happen."