Your Vote is Your Power. It’s Time to Flex It.

Keep maga out of the California Governor’s Office. Make your way down the ballot to our endorsed candidates.

Fellow SLO County Democrats:

With Memorial Day around the corner and the final week of campaigning before the June 2 primary election ahead, the SLOCDP encourages all SLO County Democrats to get those ballots turned in before Election Day.

We strongly encourage you to drop your ballots at the nearest drop box, or at the SLO County Elections offices in San Luis Obispo or Atascadero.

Find the nearest drop-off location here.

Key Races in SLO County

While the governor’s race is top of mind, please make your way down the ballot to vote for the SLOCDP’s slate of endorsed candidates: 

• Jim Dantona – 2nd District SLO County Supervisor

• Jimmy Paulding – 4th District SLO County Supervisor

• Elaina Cano – SLO County Clerk-Recorder

• Dawn Addis – Assembly District 30

• Gregg Hart – Assembly District 37

• Salud Carbajal – Congressional District 24

• Jimmy Panetta – Congressional District 19

CADEM Endorsed Statewide Candidates

There are a host of statewide races other than governor. The California Democratic Party has endorsed candidates for some of these races, but not for others. Those who received the endorsement met the 60% threshold of the vote at the CADEM Endorsement Convention in February.

Here's a list of CADEM endorsed statewide candidates and candidates for state Assembly, state Senate and U.S. Congress.

Governor’s Race Update 

As we have suggested in previous updates, we encourage SLO County Democrats to vote your values. Since no single gubernatorial candidate received enough votes at the CADEM convention in February, party rules dictate that neither CADEM nor local county Democratic Central Committees (including the SLOCDP) can endorse any candidate.

That said, we encourage you to be mindful of the polls, and to pick the candidate you believe has the best chance of making it into the top-two slots in California’s so-called “jungle primary,” in which the two top finishers move on to the general election in November.

Here’s CADEM’s fifth and final tracking poll update for the governor’s race, conducted May 14-15, published May 19, of 1,200 likely California voters. The top Democrats: 

• Xavier Becerra, 21% (up from 18% on May 2)

• Tom Steyer, 15% (up from 12% on May 2)

• Katie Porter, 7% (down from 8% on May 2) 

Maga candidates Steve Hilton comes in at 22%, and Chad Bianco at 10%.

It should be noted that this CADEM poll’s results differ from other polls, which is why we encourage SLO County Dems to keep track of the polls as we get closer to June 2. For example, the respected Emerson College poll released May 13 shows: 

• Becerra, 19%

• Steyer, 17%

• Hilton, 17%

• Bianco, 11%

• Porter, 10%

• Matt Mahan, 8% 

The SLOCDP’s recommendation remains consistent: 

• Narrow your choice to one of the top-polling Dem candidates who aligns with your values on or before the June 2 primary election to avoid a maga sweep of the top two positions.

• We suggest waiting a few more days before submitting your ballot to see if the numbers at the top of the pack change.

• Don’t wait too long because the SLO County Elections staff is small and we don’t want to jam them up right at the end, delaying results.

• Use a drop box. If you must use the mail, get it in early. 

One thing that won’t change: Democrats hold about a 2-1 voter registration edge over Republicans in California. So, if most Democrats vote for one of the top-polling Dem candidates, chances are good we’ll place at least one Dem into the top two in the June 2 primary election. And then on to victory in November.

Poll Trackers

Here are polling aggregator sites we track. Each includes the polls mentioned above: 
New York Times Poll Tracker
270 to Win
Real Clear Polling

Thanks for all that you do,

SLOCDP