Newsletter: The Times Editorial Board’s endorsements for Nov. 8, with some words of hope for democracy

Good morning. I’m Paul Thornton, and it is Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022. Election day is this Tuesday; if you’re in Los Angeles County, click here to find information on vote centers and returning your mail-in ballot. Let’s look back at the week in Opinion.

This close to an election, normally I’d devote this space almost exclusively to endorsements by The Times Editorial Board and resources for voters. The thinking is that most citizens are beyond persuasion by this point, and the only thing left for voters to do is cast their ballots, if they haven’t done so already.

But this is far from an ordinary time, and that was true before Paul Pelosi was assaulted in his San Francisco home by an intruder reportedly looking to kidnap his spouse, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The 2022 midterm elections are the first votes of any national consequence since the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. In a speech Wednesday, President Biden warned that democracy is on the ballot, which may fall a little flat in California, where the race for Los Angeles mayor has remained focused almost entirely on the city’s numerous pressing issues (never mind one candidate’s unceasing barrage of ads) and pitches on propositions that deal with real policy matters. That’s what living in a state without 2020 election deniers on the ballot affords us — a vote on actual issues.

Other states aren’t as lucky, and voters in places like Arizona, Pennsylvania and Texas face control by or further entrenchment of officials who deny that Biden won in 2020 and would toss aside election results they find inconvenient. This was clear before the attack on Pelosi’s husband a week ago, a stark reminder that powerful political forces in this country no longer have use for the peaceful transfer of power.

So while we in California luxuriate in issue-driven (though nauseating) political ads and real choices on electric car incentives, arts education and abortion rights, millions of our fellow citizens elsewhere in the country risk coming out on the other side of Tuesday in an environment not unlike what led to Jan. 6.

May the winner of the most votes actually end up serving, and may those winners accept defeat when it eventually comes to them. This is a simple wish, something a child might learn in kindergarten about American democracy — but today it counts as a political statement. It’s where we are.

Click here for The Times’ guide to the midterm election. To find where to drop off your ballot or vote at a vote center in Southern California (not just L.A. County), click here.

Here is the complete list of editorial board endorsements for the Nov. 8 vote. You can also find this list at latimes.com/endorsements.
Proposition 1: Yes
Propositions 26 and 27: No
Proposition 28: Yes
Proposition 29: No
Proposition 30: No
Proposition 31: Yes
L.A. mayor: Karen Bass
L.A. city attorney: Hydee Feldstein Soto
L.A. city controller: Kenneth Mejia
L.A. City Council District 5: Katy Young Yaroslavsky
L.A. City Council District 11: Erin Darling
L.A. City Council District 13: Hugo Soto-Martínez
L.A. City Council District 15: Tim McOsker
Proposition LH (city of Los Angeles): Yes
Proposition SP (city of Los Angeles): No
Proposition ULA (city of Los Angeles): Yes
Los Angeles County sheriff: Robert Luna
L.A. County Measure A: Yes
L.A. County Measure C: Yes
L.A. County Board of Supervisors, District 3: Lindsey Horvath
L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees, Seat 2: Steven Veres
L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees, Seat 4: Sara Hernandez
L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees, Seat 6: Gabriel Buelna
L.A. Community College District Board of Trustees, Seat 7: Kelsey Iino
L.A. Community College District Measure LA: Yes
LAUSD Board District 2: María Brenes
LAUSD Board District 6: Kelly Gonez
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 60: Abby Baron
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 67: Fernanda Maria Barreto
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 70: Holly Hancock
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 90: Melissa Lyons
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 118: Melissa Hammond
L.A. Superior Court Office No. 151: Patrick Hare
California Supreme Court chief justice: Yes on Patricia Guerrero
California Supreme Court associate justices: Yes on retaining Goodwin Liu, Joshua P. Groban and Martin J. Jenkins
2nd District Court of Appeals: Yes on retaining all justices
Lieutenant governor: Eleni Kounalakis
Secretary of state: Shirley Weber
State attorney general: Rob Bonta
State controller: Lanhee Chen
State treasurer: Fiona Ma
State insurance commissioner: Ricardo Lara
State superintendent of public instruction: Tony Thurmond
State Senate District 20: Caroline Menjivar
State Senate District 28: Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
State Assembly District 39: Juan Carrillo
State Assembly District 40: Pilar Schiavo
State Assembly District 51: Rick Chavez Zbur
State Assembly District 61: Tina McKinnor
State Assembly District 69: Josh Lowenthal
U.S. Senate: Alex Padilla
U.S. Congressional District 27: Christy Smith
U.S. Congressional District 37: Sydney Kamlager
U.S. Congressional District 40: Asif Mahmood
U.S. Congressional District 41: Will Rollins
U.S. Congressional District 42: Robert Garcia
U.S. Congressional District 45: Jay Chen
U.S. Congressional District 47: Katie Porter
U.S. Congressional District 49: Mike Levin