*** No candidate for Attorney General has been endorsed by the CDP ***
The Santa Cruz Sentinel Endorses Dave Jones for Attorney General
The Santa Cruz Sentinel became the latest newspaper to endorse Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones for Attorney General.
The Sentinel’s editorial endorsement can be read HERE.
The Sentinel finds both Jones and Democratic opponent Xavier Becerra to be qualified candidates for the office, but in comparing the two, it picks Jones as the best choice:
“Since both [Jones and Becerra] vow to fend off Trumpian overreach into California affairs, the question voters should ask themselves is which one will do this while effectively carrying out, and not politicizing, the many other duties of the office? Based on their records, and qualifications, we believe the choice should be Jones.”
The Sentinel joins the San Jose Mercury News, the East Bay Times, the Sacramento Bee, the Modesto Bee, and the San Francisco Bay Guardian in endorsing Dave Jones.
The Sentinel points to Jones’s time spent as Insurance Commissioner and as a state assemblyman as examples of his leadership and integrity. It also lauds Jones for his commitment to protecting California and the best interests of its residents.
“As insurance commissioner since 2010, the former special assistant to U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno and state assemblyman has aggressively protected consumers against fraud, while dealing fairly with the industry he was elected to oversee,’ said the Sentinel. “Jones also has successfully pushed needed legislation to protect policyholders reeling from recent natural disasters. He also has declared in his campaign that he will defend the state, and the will of voters, even if he disagrees with their position – which he has vowed to do in upholding voters’ decision to maintain the death penalty, a punishment he personally opposes because of erroneous convictions.”
Although the Sentinel credits Becerra for his resistance to the Trump administration, the editorial makes it a point to note Becerra’s many shortcomings as the state’s current Attorney General, a position he was appointed to – not elected to – in 2016.
In the end, the Sentinel says that Becerra’s willingness to fight the Trump administration does not outweigh his lack of impartiality in other areas and his tendency to “overtly and overly politicize too many other issues.”
“The attorney general is the state’s top law enforcement official, its chief counsel and consumer advocate, as well as overseeing 4,500 employees,” the editorial said. “In that light, Becerra has won a national name for himself in aggressively fighting the Trump administration, but we like how Jones has aggressively and successfully run a state agency.
“And while the office is not nonpartisan, Jones also seems to understand the attorney general needs to stake out a position of political independence, while overseeing the many duties of the job, which include, but are not exclusive to, defending California against federal overreach. And that makes Dave Jones the better choice among two qualified candidates.”
Dave Jones for Attorney General
“A Fighter, Not a Follower.”
