The key races in the Nevada County primary election would have been gaffes this year if not for some local Republicans walking away.
Their target, Natalie Adona, has 70% of the total votes so far. That seems like a pretty clear message to the gang behind Americans for Good Government and that nasty flyer.
However, don’t count on anyone taking the hint. Their reality seems to be of the Upside Down variety, in which The Big Lie and “2000 Mules” and the utter nonsense on the flyer may be nuthin’ but the truth, just ask them.
Barry Pruett, John Young, Susan Walsh, Eddie Garcia, Bob Hren, bow out. Adona could thank you first of all. Regardless of the relative qualifications for the office, a filthy campaign like that didn’t fly here.
Hren, the chairman of the Nevada County Republicans, will no doubt feel bruised at the mention of his name with Confederates. He only gave the rotten PAC money a year and a half ago. How was he supposed to know what it was really about? Kind of beg an obvious question which I’ll leave hanging here.
Pruett, posing as political independence just as he has been posing as an effective advocate of late, will protest that his collaborations with local Republican leaders do not make one. And technically speaking, of course. He just has this “talk, walk like a duck” problem here.
Together, they helped their strong frontrunner Jason Tedder sit on the sidelines early Tuesday night, around the time the polls closed.
Shame. In fact, I really liked Tedder when I met him. I could see a path for him with a different campaign and very different “support”. Adona was not a lock as a candidate herself.
Well, until the leaflet.
As for the other candidate, Paul Gilbert, let’s hope for him that he is better at maintaining his vegetable garden than for the citizen audit.
DOUBLE DIP
Pruett’s black thumb heeded Calvin Clark’s fanciful inclinations to recall all county supervisors and report to Sue Hoek’s headquarters. If Clark dropped the ball on recall to focus on his run for supervisor, well, that’s hard to say. Neither of them managed a blip.
Hoek at last check had 85% of the vote in his 4th district. Either way, she was going to crush Clark as one of the most capable and present supervisors in Nevada County history.
Clark immersed himself in a fierce torrent of misrepresentation and his association with Pruett, who somehow managed to make a client’s temporary restraining order permanent while helping to steer the rappel into the same rocks as Tedder’s campaign. That the judge chose not to throw the book at the other two with temporary restraining orders came despite Pruett’s antics in the courtroom.
Of course, Clark has burned enough bridges on his own that even the Tea Party doesn’t have him.
KICK CAN?
Credit Valentina Masterz for pushing the District 3 Supervisor race to a possible second round. Otherwise, Lisa Swarthout could have won without problem, I think.
Masterz was a delightful, candid candidate like no other. The only real problem was that she too had no idea.
Swarthout and Patti Ingram Spencer, softer and more circumspect, would each bring their experience, knowledge and thoughtful nature to the county council. Neither, by the way, would be great news for the prospects of reopening the Idaho-Maryland mine.
NOBODY BUT…
But hey, what’s wrong with the Republicans, you might ask? Not a thing.
I agree with some of the platform and principles, and disagree with some. I lean Republican with statewide offices and toward Democrats at the federal level.
No problem with friends who chose Trump, even though I didn’t, or supporting Newsom against my better judgment. We vote and live with the results. This is how we settle our political differences, peacefully if not always in agreement about it.
What’s wrong with these specific Republicans? Well, going down the drain is giving up honor for something else. Whatever higher purpose these people might be pursuing is erased by their actions, politely said.
I mean, do the leaders best embody the local Republican Party? It’s a good question.
Hopefully the overwhelming vote for Adona at least provides the start of the proper response, because it also looks like at least as many Republicans voted for her as they didn’t.
The “Anyone but Adona” call to action in the flyer might be better directed at authors and funders. I would call that a good start.
Don Rogers is publisher of The Union and Lake Wildwood Independent. He can be reached at [email protected] or 530-477-4299
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