Uplifting news, for the most part

Measures

Humboldt County victory against the recall of District Attorney Paul Gallegos! 61% to 38% in spite of the divisive recall effort primarily funded by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber. The recall effort was initiated after D.A. Gallegos brought a lawsuit for fraud against PL. The lawsuit will continue to move forward. More details are included in the Humboldt County: 2; Multinational Corporations: 0 article by Diane Beck in this issue.

Mendocino County Measure H passed 56% to 44% surmounting a well-funded opposition campaign by biotech business interests. Mendocino Group is thrilled. This means genetically engineered crops and animals may not be grown in the county, but the measure does not ban the sale of GMO medicines or food. See the article by Linda Perkins Mendocino Says No to GMO's for more details.

Napa County Measure O Failed. John Stephen's of Napa Group writes: "The silence of the forest will be torn by the screams of chain saws." Only 27% of the voters favored Napa's Measure O, the Logging initiative. It faced on the one hand a well funded opposition by the Board of Realtors assisted by the right wing Sacramento based Pacific Law Foundation that is philosophically opposed to any governmental regulations. On the other side it was attacked by the mainstream farming industry who favored the weaker Measure P setbacks. Stephens asserts: "There is now a cold, conservative wind blowing in Valley politics."

Napa County Measures Q, R, and S were opposed by Napa Group and successfully defeated at the polls. These "spot-zoning" measures would have provided exemptions to Measure J -- Napa County's landmark agricultural preservation measure.

Candidates

Sierra Club endorsed candidates won in about half of the contests where we made an endorsement in Northern California in the March 2004 elections.

United States Senate, Barbara Boxer (incumbent) won the Democratic Primary, with 100% of the vote.

Assembly District 6, Joe Nation (incumbent) won the Democratic Primary, with 100% of the vote. District 6 includes Southern Sonoma County.

Assembly District 7, Noreen Evans won the Democratic Primary with 55% of the vote. District 7 includes Northern Sonoma County. A big "Thank You!" to everyone who helped with the campaign, especially Sonoma Group Political Committee. And thanks to all the members who answered Club volunteers calls and agreed to put up lawn signs, write letters and spend time at Noreen's phone bank.

Mendocino County Supervisor, District 1: Joe Louis Wildman lost, with 28% of the vote.

Mendocino County Supervisor, District 2: The Club made a joint endorsement of Phil Baldwin and Richard Shoemaker. Baldwin lost, with 12% of the vote. Shoemaker came in second, and qualified for the runoff election, with 41% of the vote.

Mendocino County Supervisor, District 4: Kendall Smith won, with 62% of the vote.

Napa County Supervisor, District 5: It appears that Mike Rippey (incumbent) may be declared the loser with just under 50% of the vote. The election results have yet to be certified in this extremely close race.

Solano County Supervisor, District 5: Ruth Forney (incumbent) lost, with 39% of the vote.

Sonoma County Supervisor, 1st District: Valerie Brown won, with 71% of the vote.