This article is the first in a series about Jim Dantona’s views on the issues that are important to him and to residents of California’s State Senate District 19, which he seeks to represent. The district is currently represented by Tom McClintock, who will step down at the expiration of his term. Former state assemblyman Tony Strickland looks likely to win the Republican nomination; Dantona and former state assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson will contest the Democratic nomination.
When Jim Dantona announced he would enter the campaign for the California State Senate’s District 19 seat in August, the race was still wide open. Only former Republican assemblyman Tony Strickland was known to be running for the seat.
But then, after weeks of swirling rumors, former assemblywoman Hannah-Beth Jackson announced on October 17 that she would enter the race.
After years of declining Republican voter registration in Ventura County, the race is competitive and according to Timm Herdt of the Ventura County Star, will be closely watched by both parties.
“It will likely be one of the most contested and expensive Senate races in the state, as it is one of only a few that is potentially competitive,” Herdt wrote on August 28.
Now this is getting exciting.
“Dantona’s candidacy has energized east county Democrats who have endured years of famine,” wrote Herdt in an October 24 opinion piece, “A Democratic Civil War?”
The problem for Dantona is that Jackson enjoys the support of many people in Santa Barbara and the west end of the county.
This could mean an east-west battle over the Democratic nomination.
Make no mistake, District 19 is an important part of a very important state. It includes the Ventura County cities of Ventura, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo, Moorpark, Ojai, and Simi Valley among others. In Santa Barbara County, it includes the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, and Lompoc, among others.
Even after the Democratic nominee is chosen, there will be a tough battle against Tony Strickland, who has already raised a lot of money.
So why is Jim Dantona running?
“This race means a great deal to me,” he said at a fundraiser on October 18. “We are motivated.”
“We can finally break the hold of the McClintock-Strickland machine that they’ve had for so many years.”
Dantona’s strategy has been to call himself a centrist, knowing that the district is narrowly split between Democrats and Republicans, with a large cadre of people declining to state a party affiliation.
“You know, it’s not a matter of just some label on you—you’re liberal, you’re conservative, you’re a Democrat, you’re a Republican—it doesn’t really matter: it’s about all of us living a better life,” said Dantona.
During the speech at his fundraiser, Dantona mentioned jobs, health care, and education as his primary concerns. These are the same issues he discussed in a September 13 article in the VC Reporter.
He added women’s reproductive rights to the list during an interview with me the night of his fundraiser.
“I care about the ability of women to be able to choose what they want, that they’re working on the same level,” he said.
The issues of jobs and health care are interrelated for Dantona.
“I am not against globalization,” he said. “What I’m against is when major corporations end up outsourcing jobs, Americans, Californians in particular, lose their jobs, they can’t afford any health care, they can’t afford anything else in terms of putting food on the table.”
Dantona objects to corporations receiving “tax benefits,” as he calls them, despite outsourcing jobs overseas.
Education is another key issue for Dantona, who believes that No Child Left Behind “doesn’t solve one problem in this state.” And, he says, “we need to get rid of it now.”
Getting back to the campaign itself, Dantona was gracious about his Democratic opponent—but makes it clear that he’s out to win: “I have no problem with Hannah-Beth, she’s a wonderful person. This district isn’t drawn for her. She’s way too far to the left and I’m a centrist and I’m the guy who can bring it all together. I have the leadership’s support on this thing and with that, that’s going to be the thing that wins the race, and that’s what I believe is going to happen.”
