Former Santa Barbara County Supervisor Mike Stoker scheduled a press conference at the Betteravia Government Center in Santa Maria for March 7 to announce he’s running for the California State Senate in 2012.
Stoker, a Carpinteria attorney specializing in land use, government, and business law issues, is so far the only Republican to declare his candidacy for the new 19th Senate District, recently redrawn to include all of Santa Barbara County and western Ventura County.
Stoker, 56, served on the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors from 1986 to 1994 and was chairman of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board from 1995 to 2000. He was appointed as Deputy Secretary of State, a position he held until 2003, and worked for former State Sen. Tom McClintock as his district director in Santa Barbara County. Stoker previously ran for the 35th Assembly District in 2010, where he narrowly lost to ex-Santa Barbara City Council member Das Williams in the general election.
In addition to those duties, Stoker has also served as chairman of the Santa Barbara Air Pollution Control District, and the Santa Barbara Association of Governments. He has held seats on the board of directors for numerous nonprofits, including the Santa Barbara Taxpayers Association, Marian Medical Center foundation board, and the American Heart Association.
Stoker will face off against former state Assembly member Hannah-Beth Jackson and Jason Hodge, an Oxnard firefighter and Port Hueneme harbor commissioner, both Democrats, in June’s open primary. Democrats hold about a 12 percent advantage in voter registration in the revamped district, though a poll released in early February by Hodge’s campaign showed Stoker beating both candidates in the event of a runoff election, leading Jackson 47-42 and Hodge 42-41. The top two vote getters in the primary will move on to the general election in November.
This article appears in Mar 8-15, 2012.