Primary candidates Ana Ventura Phares and Anna Caballero both
garner praise from Democrats
Primary elections often create tough decisions for many voters
when they are forced to choose between two highly qualified
candidates of the same political party. This year’s 28th Assembly
District race
– where the candidates share many similarities, including the
same first name – could prove to be a more difficult choice than
normal.
Democrats heading to the polls in a few months will choose
between Watsonville Mayor Ana Ventura Phares and Salinas Mayor Anna
Caballero to represent them in the General Election race for the
28th Assembly District seat.
Primary candidates Ana Ventura Phares and Anna Caballero both garner praise from Democrats
Primary elections often create tough decisions for many voters when they are forced to choose between two highly qualified candidates of the same political party. This year’s 28th Assembly District race – where the candidates share many similarities, including the same first name – could prove to be a more difficult choice than normal.
Democrats heading to the polls in a few months will choose between Watsonville Mayor Ana Ventura Phares and Salinas Mayor Anna Caballero to represent them in the General Election race for the 28th Assembly District seat.
Geography and endorsements could decide the outcome of the election, according to Terry Christensen, a political science professor at San Jose State University.
Christensen heard both candidates speak before a delegation of the South Bay Labor Council. The council and SJSU do not endorse a candidate in the race, but Christensen commented on the candidates and the factors, which could help decide the race.
“The perception was – and my impression – was that Caballero was the somewhat more moderate of the two and that Phares was a little more grassroots,” Christensen said. “Caballero is a little more politically established.”
On the surface, the democratic candidates for the 28th Assembly District seem to share a passion about the same issues as well as a common past.
At a meeting with the San Benito County Democratic Central Committee on March 9, both candidates listed education and healthcare as their two top priorities if they are elected to the Assembly. Caballero listed infrastructure concerns as her third priority while Phares said housing was hers.
Their similar backgrounds could play a role in issues that are near and dear to them. Caballero’s family worked as copper miners in Arizona before settling in California. Phares moved from Salinas to the Imperial Valley to the Pajaro Valley as the daughter of migrant farm workers. Both families stressed the importance of education and each woman not only graduated from college, but went on to earn law degrees. Caballero graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles Law School and Phares graduated from the Western State College of Law.
Caballero went into a private law practice that served working families in Salinas and Hollister. Phares joined the California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., which specializes in offering legal assistance for farm workers.
Phares started out her political career in 1998 as the first Mexican-American woman to be elected to the Watsonville City Council. She has been re-elected twice and was appointed mayor in 2004.
Caballero became the first Mexican-American Mayor of Salinas in 1998 and she has been re-elected for four terms. She served two terms as a city council member before running for mayor.
As local politicians, each woman worked with youth causes in their respective cities. Caballero established “Partners for Peace,” a non-profit organization of which she is the executive director. The organization focuses on violence prevention efforts.
“Part of the challenge of prevention is that it is much less sexy than going in and arresting people,” Caballero said. “But we have to get to the root cause of violence.”
Phares set up a forum where students could share their visions for community centers and provide input that politicians might have overlooked. Many students wanted computers in after school centers to help with homework, since computers are not often available to them at home.
“We have to value them (youth) a lot more,” Phares said. “Watsonville is giving youth a priority and should back it up with the budget.”
During their tenure in local politics, Phares and Caballero each have causes that they championed.
Phares took an active role in Action Pajaro Valley, a community group that worked hard to decide on land uses in the region.
“It was a community of diverse stakeholders,” Phares said. “We got consensus between the farm workers union, the Chamber of Commerce, real estate.”
After five years of collecting input, Action Pajaro Valley has outlined the development of the region for the next 30 years and has designated certain farmland as untouchable to developers.
Caballero entered the race in January, so she could be sure to focus on a local measure to provide funding to Salinas city libraries. She started “Rally Salinas!” as a way to bring attention to Measure V, an initiative to raise city taxes to keep the library open.
“We were directly affected because the state couldn’t balance the budget,” Caballero said. “They shifted money away from our library, parks and recreation, graffiti abatement.”
While issues are important, endorsements could also play an integral part in the election as the campaigns continue.
“Endorsements are more important in a race like this one, where both of these candidates are of the same political party,” Christensen said. “Look at, ‘who do the women’s groups support, environmental groups? Which side are we usually on?'”
Both Phares, who has been campaigning since September 2005, and Caballero, who entered the race in January, have collected a long list of endorsements.
In terms of labor groups, the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have endorsed Caballero.
Phares has picked up several labor organizations herself, including the California State Council Service Employees International Union, the California Federation of Teachers, United Farm Workers, Legal Service Workers and the Pajaro Valley Board of Realtors.
“It’s not unusual in a primary race in a district like this for different unions to take different sides,” Christensen said. “It can really just be based on geography or whom they’ve worked with in the past.”
The geography of the district could also play an important role and the endorsements are already bearing this out. The 28th district assembly includes parts of Santa Cruz, Santa Clara, San Benito and Monterey counties.
“Geography is still a big factor,” Christensen said. “Often the battleground would be where neither of the candidates has a stronghold.”
So far, Caballero has won the favor of local politicians and school officials from Monterey and San Benito counties. Phares has picked up the approval of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara politicians, as well as many school officials in those counties.
Some of the local politicians have endorsed both candidates in the primary, including Hollister City council member Pauline Valdivia and former State Assembly member Manny Diaz.
“It’s becoming more common when you have candidates who are really similar and it’s hard to make a choice,” Christensen said.
Early polls, like the one conducted by JMM Research for Caballero’s campaign, also play a role in gathering more contributors or endorsements, Christensen said.
The February poll showed Caballero had 62 percent name recognition across the 28th district, and 40-15 percent of the voters polled said they would likely vote for her.
“It’s inside politics,” Christensen said. “I don’t take those numbers very seriously in terms of the outcome of the election. It means voters support someone like Caballero.”
The challenge for Phares is to catch up with name recognition and to get more information about her campaign out there, Christensen said.
“Really, starting in April or May will be the most intense time,” he said. “Voters will get more information, positive about both and negative, as usually happens in a close race like this.”
BOX:
Phares’ top issues:
Education – “Schools have high standards, but are at the 40 percentile of funding per student nationwide. We better back it up”
Housing – “The state needs to put teeth into having certified housing elements.”
Healthcare – “Those working in the fields, seniors, have little or no healthcare.”
Caballero’s top issues:
Education – “In school I had music education. I played sports. All of that paid for by taxpayers.”
Healthcare – “In Monterey they are talking about closing a county hospital. We need to make it more workable.”
Infrastructure – “The population has grown, commuters have moved in. They improved Pacheco Pass, but at 152-156, it’s a mess.”
