Bee Opinionated: Abortion rights on the line + Undecided? Our endorsements are here to help
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Happy Sunday, opinion lovers. California will begin mailing out ballots this week, but one issue has overtaken every candidate’s platform thanks to a story that absolutely dominated the past week: The leaked Supreme Court draft decision that would overturn nearly 50 years of abortion rights in America — Roe v. Wade.
When I heard the news Monday evening, I immediately told California Opinion Editor Marcos Bretón that I wanted to pause my endorsement writing for a day and pull together a column about how I felt. I feel incredibly lucky to have a platform such as The Bee during this horrifying moment in women’s history and civil rights.
From my column:
A series of breakdowns in our democracy, all executed in the light of day, have led to this terrible moment. This is no accident. This day has been coming, forced by extremists who have been stacking the bench for years, waiting for the moment when the majority was in their favor, and allowed by politicians on both sides of the aisle who are either too weak or too scared to stop it.
This court opinion will have a cascade effect on every liberal decision of the court in the last 50 years or more. If you’re not scared right now, you ought to be.
Recent Gallup polls show 80% support for abortion in all or most cases, much higher than it was in 1975 when Roe was decided. The Pew Research Center found that 59% of American adults right now believe that abortion should be legal.
The only way to ensure our lives stay out from under the thumb of politicians who wish to turn back the clock on reproductive health care is to vote in representatives who will actually represent what the majority of Americans want.
With that in mind, let’s talk about editorial endorsements.
Politically Correct
You can find all of The Sacramento Bee Editorial Board’s primary endorsements by clicking here or visiting sacbee.com/opinion/election-endorsements. There, you’ll find dozens of editorials, interview videos, transcripts and editorials. These are exclusive for subscribers and took a monumental effort across our newsroom. Please consider subscribing to The Bee.
There are few key races I want to highlight.
3rd Congressional District, Kermit Jones
“Voters in the Placer County-based 3rd Congressional District face an unenviable choice of Republicans to succeed Tom McClintock, their longtime nonresident representative: state Assemblyman Kevin Kiley, who fomented last year’s wasteful gubernatorial recall attempt only to place behind two other Kevins; and Sacramento County Sheriff Scott Jones, a local exponent of Trump-style xenophobia who has defied pandemic precautions and let Netflix turn his miserable jail into lurid entertainment.”
State Senate District 8, Dave Jones
“With (Richard) Pan termed out, the Editorial Board was torn between veteran Sacramento City Councilwoman Angelique Ashby and former state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones for the new 8th District seat in the California Senate. It ultimately came down to which contender is more likely to stand up to the fierce opposition that stymies progress on housing, homelessness and climate change and challenge the status quo in the Senate. We believe Jones is up to the task.”
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors, District 2, Duke Cooney and District 5, Jaclyn Moreno
“Yes, (Jaclyn) Moreno and (Duke) Cooney are green in that they are new to the game and do not speak yet as politicians often do. But they abound with ideas that will bring a much-needed shift in tone to the Board of Supervisors; Moreno with her focus on mental health services and Cooney with his promised investment in economic justice. And best of all, their lack of calculation means they are not a part of the stale system that has led to the most recent county-wide scandals.”
State Assembly District 10, Josh Hoover
“On climate change, (Josh) Hoover is against government mandates that force businesses and consumers to switch to greener options, a position that will appeal to more conservative constituents but falls short of acknowledging the extent of the crisis. On that and several other issues, however, Cooley passed up the opportunity to meaningfully distinguish himself from the Republican, noting vaguely that he doesn’t ‘like putting all my eggs in one basket when I have a suspicion that there’s actually a couple other baskets out there that are not being looked at.’”
Sacramento City Council, District 3, Karina Talamantes
“Frankly, our board struggled to find consensus and pick a winner in this race. Each candidate embodies the ideals we seek in elected officials, having used their own experiences to find their purpose and turn the successes they attained into a vehicle to serve others. To her credit, Talamantes has built a dynamic campaign backed almost entirely by small donors… We hope Talamantes can step out from Ashby’s shadow and be a force for change in a new district that needs it.”
Opinion of the Week
“Nobody here specifically condemned white extremist groups or neo-Nazis. That was part of the question — whether or not you could condemn that sort of hate speech. Does anyone want to correct that?” — An actual question that had to be asked by The Bee Editorial Board during an interview with candidates for a seat on the Placer County Board of Supervisors.
Got thoughts? What would you like to see in this newsletter every week? Got a story tip or an opinion to tell the world? Let us know what you think about this email and our work in general by emailing us at any time via opinion@sacbee.com.
Don’t forget to call your mom,
This story was originally published May 8, 2022 at 7:00 PM.
