As everyone who pays attention to California politics knows, elections are never resolved on Election Day. It’s always weeks and sometimes months before the final tally is complete.
But initially, it appears that Democrats are satisfied with the pitiful condition of our state and county as they continue to support politicians who couldn’t care less about their quality of life.
But it’s not over yet; this was only the preliminary sorting out of candidates for statewide and federal offices. At least we may have a choice in our congressional district; hopefully in November there is a change of representation.
And it’s likely that he [Jeremy Ball] rallied his supporters to defeat a measure that would have provided a tangible benefit to everyone in the city.
At the county level, it looks like the 2nd District reelected ultra-liberal Laura Capps for another term of wreaking havoc on both her district and the rest of the county. Her supporters don’t seem to care that the policies she advocates create higher gas and consumable goods prices and her anti-oil positions hurt low- and middle-income families.
Maybe she doesn’t have to worry about the costs associated with her poorly thought-out positions on issues that matter most to her constituents. And being reelected in a solidly liberal enclave of Isla Vista, with its large transient voting bloc, is not difficult.
In the governor’s race it appears that there will be a choice between the same-old stale politics and a fresh approach. At least voters rejected a guy who tried, unsuccessfully, to buy the election with a lengthy $200 million ad campaign that was fraught with promises of “free stuff” that he could never deliver.
In Lompoc, Councilman Jeremy Ball seems to have succeeded in defeating a tax measure designed to fix our streets. Ball not only opposed the tax and voted against placing it on the ballot, he also authored ballot language opposing the measure. And it’s likely that he rallied his supporters to defeat a measure that would have provided a tangible benefit to everyone in the city.
Instead, he favored a general tax that could later be used for almost any trendy project that he and his followers felt was more important than serviceable roads.
Or did it fail because the public didn’t trust the City Council to use the funds to fix roads? Back is 2020, some of the currently sitting council members had hijacked Lompoc Measure I2020, which was supposed to be used to “maintain and improve public services, including neighborhood police patrols, firefighter staffing, gang enforcement, crime and vandalism prevention, street improvements, community and recreational services, and park upgrades.”
Those improvements never happened. Instead they used it to try and pay down retirement obligations. So, it’s easy to understand voter mistrust.
Once again, this isn’t over. In past elections, Democrats have found ways to “harvest votes” or “find lost ballots” if the initial tally shows that their anointed choice is coming up short.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in June 11 – June 18, 2026.
