With almost half of the 28th State Assembly District’s precincts
counted, Watsonville Mayor and Democrat Luis Alejo and San Benito
County Republican Robert Bernosky appear to be the clear
front-runners.
With almost half of the 28th State Assembly District’s precincts counted, Watsonville Mayor and Democrat Luis Alejo and San Benito County Republican Robert Bernosky appear to be the clear front-runners.
As of midnight Tuesday, with 112 of the district’s 243 precincts counted in the primary battle for the Assembly seat, Bernosky, a chief financial officer, led business owner Allen Barker by a 18.2 percent margin – 4,598 votes to 3,186 – according to the California Secretary of State. On the democratic side, Alejo – Watsonville’s mayor – was 10.9 percent ahead of Salinas Councilwoman Janet Barnes and 36.4 percent ahead of Gilroy Unified School District trustee Francisco Dominguez. Alejo had 6,489 votes to Barnes’ 5,049 and Dominguez’s 1,686, according to the Secretary of State.
LUIS ALEJO
Watsonville Mayor Luis Alejo’s top three priorities are job creation and preservation, education and neighborhood safety.
Getting local families working again and supporting local businesses will improve the state’s economy while targeting dropouts and making college more affordable to high school graduates will turn around the state’s educational system, Alejo said. The Democratic candidate also aims to keep neighborhoods safe by supporting police and focusing on prevention and intervention programs to “keep youth on the right track.”
Other priorities include balancing the state’s budget, changing the two-thirds requirement to pass the budget, reforming healthcare and solving the state’s water issues.
Born and raised in Watsonville, Alejo returned to live and work in his hometown after earning dual bachelors’ degrees in political science and Chicano studies. He also holds a master’s of education from Harvard University and a law degree from University of California, Davis. He works as a staff attorney for the Monterey County Superior Court.
ROBERT BERNOSKY
If you ask Republican candidate Rob Bernosky, eliminating unnecessary government jobs is the first step in getting California’s budget back on track.
“Government has to shrink,” Bernosky has said. “The only way we’re going to get out of the mess we’re in now is through the creation of private sector jobs, not government jobs.”
Success in the classroom and in the business sector comes when control is put back at the local level, Bernosky said.
“There’s no better person in a position to address our students’ needs in the classroom than the teacher,” he said.
As trustee of a school district that was at the bottom of the barrel when he was voted in and since shot to the top of its class, Bernosky believes collaboration is key.
Instead of increasing taxes, he would advocate for closing the state’s yawning budget gap by slimming down the governor’s list of appointees.
A chief financial officer with experience in fields ranging from semiconductors and software to financial services, Bernosky majored in business at the University of Delaware then moved to California. He and his wife, a principal at a San Benito County school, have three children and live in San Benito.
