When it comes to electing Marin’s representatives in Sacramento and Washington, D.C., the contests ought to look familiar to voters.
In all but one, they are the exact same face-off voters decided in June.
In each one, incumbents Rep. Jared Huffman, state Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Marc Levine won by landslides.
We endorsed them in June and they have our endorsements again as they seek new terms.
Their challengers have failed to generate convincing campaigns to show they would be better in those jobs. All three incumbents are Democrats, as are two of the challengers because the local GOP failed to muster a candidate that would have given voters a real choice.
Two of the challengers — former Santa Rosa councilwoman Veronica Jacoby, who is running against McGuire; and San Rafael contractor Dan Monte, who is running to unseat Levine — promise to be more loyal to liberals’ agenda.
Huffman is being challenged by Humboldt County store clerk and Republican Dale K. Mensing, who again is running an almost non-existent campaign and, for the third time, should be handily defeated in a November run-off.
Huffman, who represented Marin in the Assembly before his 2012 election to serve the North Coast’s District 2 in Congress, has proven himself to be an effective leader, in Washington and locally. The San Rafael resident has worked to make sure federal agencies are responsive and responsible to taxpayers and has gotten actively involved in finding solutions to local debates, such as providing greater security for the continuation of ranches in the Point Reyes National Seashore, the long-standing battle over dogs in Marin’s national parks and traffic and parking problems resulting from the growing visitation to Muir Woods National Monument.
In these and other issues, Huffman has stepped to the front of the line, making sure locals aren’t being steamrolled by a Washington bureaucracy.
In the Capitol, he also has been a strong voice calling for tougher gun control and immigration reform.
Huffman has done a fine job representing a district that is geographically and politically diverse. That’s why he won in June with 72.5 percent.
McGuire won in June with a 76.2 percent majority. The Healdsburg resident, who brought experience as a county supervisor and a city councilman to the job, is seeking a new four-year term. He’s earned it.
Even as a freshman lawmaker, he led efforts to come up with a legislative packet that helped remedy loose ends over legalization of medical marijuana. He also has been a leading voice on housing and dealing with homelessness.
His tireless response and leadership in the face of the disastrous North Bay fires was impressive and important.
We would like to see McGuire be a more forceful advocate for public pension reform, without which taxpayers will be seeing more tax dollars going to fulfill promises to current and future retirees and less for covering the cost of services, programs and projects.
The same goes for Levine, who tried to push for reform, but has been reluctant to revisit the issue, even as one of the Assembly’s senior members.
Levine, a former San Rafael councilman, is seeking his fourth term.
Levine also has steered clear of debates over charter schools, when he could be helpful in clearing up ongoing issues over public accountability and fiscal support.
He has drawn headlines statewide for his bills aimed at allowing voters to take “selfies” in the polling place, greater workplace health protections for fashion models and banning smoking on state beaches.
To his credit, since the North Bay fires, the Greenbrae resident has worked to remedy many of the issues faced by affected communities and those who face a similar risk.
Levine also deserves credit for pushing sluggish state bureaucracies to reopen the third eastbound lane on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge during commute and higher traffic periods.
In June, Levine won the primary with more than 80 percent of the vote. Monte’s challenge has not required Levine to spend much of his Goliath-sized $1.4 million campaign war chest.
Again, as we did in June, we recommend the re-election of Rep. Jared Huffman, Sen. Mike McGuire and Assemblyman Marc Levine.
