Keep the Parties Out of Local Races

Our forefathers made it clear when they drew up the state Constitution that “judicial, school, county and city offices shall be nonpartisan.” Many decades later, in 1986, California voters amended this section by adding the phrase “No political party or party central committee may endorse, support, or oppose a candidate for nonpartisan office.”

The writers of the Constitution and the voters of California were after the same thing: a system in which local elected officials would deal with local issues independent of the party registration of their constituents and therefore free from the influence of party bosses. But as with many well-intentioned ideas, the 1986 amendment did not pass constitutional scrutiny. In 1996, the California Supreme Court ruled that barring political party “endorsements” of candidates for nonpartisan office violated the 1st Amendment right of free speech. And with that decision the door swung wide open; cash-rich political parties and their central committees could now financially support or oppose candi-dates running for nonpartisan office.

Orange County voters had not been receptive to previous attempts by the political parties and their central committees to influence local elections. Ever since Ralph Clark defeated Gordon Bishop in 1969 for the job of county supervisor by turning his opponent’s blatant and heavy reliance on the Republican Party into an issue, Orange County voters consistently have rejected attempts to turn nonpartisan campaigns into partisan-funded victories.

The Bishop defeat in 1969 was sufficient to cause the parties to retreat from local elections until the mid-1980s, when precinct walkers from both major parties distributed campaign literature for candidates for county supervisor along with campaign materials for their respective state and federal candidates. This relatively low-key party effort was not publicized widely by any of the candidates and did not appear to have any perceptible impact on the outcome of the elections.

But in 1998, the Californian Republican Party exercised its right under the 1996 Supreme Court decision and heavily funded the Republican candidate for a local nonpartisan office. The party spent nearly $100,000 in a failed attempt to unseat the incumbent mayor of Anaheim, Tom Daly. Not only did Daly win, but several prominent Republican Anaheim leaders expressed their outrage and openly denounced the Republican Party’s involvement.

In looking back over these scattered partisan incidents, it is clear that Orange County voters do not want local elections to be influenced by political party funds. Most candidates in this county have had the political wisdom to realize this and have refrained from soliciting financial support from the political parties. It isn’t that they wouldn’t like to accept the funds, but they realize the voters are likely to oppose them if the partisan support became public knowledge.

Why should partisan politics not be involved in campaigns for local office? The most important reason is to avoid giving local party bosses considerable power. When a large amount of your funds comes from the party, funneled through the local party boss, your ability to make independent decisions diminishes.

It is not surprising that survey after survey has shown that local nonpartisan officials are more trusted than state and national officials. This is because local officials are not beholden to the party or local party bosses for their election.

Furthermore, partisan politics interferes with everyday problem-solving. There is no Democrat or Republican way to build a park, fill a pothole or rezone property. Partisan politics obscures the issues that every city council member and county supervisor must wrestle with, such as low-income housing, growth management, environmental concerns, water quality, sewage treatment and urban runoff. Solutions to these issues are not found in the platforms of political parties, for these are issues that cut across all party lines and are primarily outside the purview of political philosophy.

We cannot afford to let local issues be decided on the basis of partisan politics, partisan fund-raising and party registration. Although the Supreme Court has ruled that political parties have the right of free speech and may use party money to fund candidates in local nonpartisan elections, Orange County voters have rejected those candidates who accepted political party funding. If conservative Orange County feels this way, it is likely that most California voters feel the same.

In the end, local government is the only government that really matters to most people. If citizens have a problem, they call their city councilman or county supervisor, even if it’s related to a state or national issue. It is the only level of government at which your party affiliation is unknown, unasked and irrelevant.

Orange County voters have always demonstrated their solidarity on this issue. Let’s keep it that way.