For about half the people who live in California, they probably don’t even know there’s an election for governor this year. The other half or so who might vote, half of them will just vote “incumbent.” Democrats will dominate the rest of the votes because they’ve gerrymandered the state so bad it almost doesn’t matter if another party is even actively involved.

So let’s look at a few things we’ve gotten under Gov. Jerry Brown’s leadership and the liberals who have controlled and driven California in the over-regulated toilet.

We have an American soldier who put his life on the line for all of us sitting in a Mexican prison for over six months (though he may be out soon). Recently, Brown welcomed the president of Mexico to California with open arms. He wined, dined and smooched on our dime! Nothing was reported whether Brown ever brought up our soldier or chastised President Enrique Peña Nieto for his inaction.

Nothing was said about the thousands upon thousands of kids who flooded across Mexico and waltzed into America, where they are melded into our schools, hospitals and welfare programs. Mexico has the toughest borders in the world, but it was no problem allowing illegals (and terrorists) to prance on through to get our free stuff (free to them, expensive for us). President Nieto even had the gall to say he wanted to make life better for Mexicans on both sides of the border — “This is the other Mexico,” were his words.

Brown should have taken the Mexican president in the back room and flayed him over what he’s done to America and California in particular. How dare you, Jerry Brown! My family in Germany has been trying to get here legally for over 30 years!

Brown insults Californians even more by telling illegals, “You’re all welcome in California.” I don’t see them moving into his house.

On another subject, the aging hippies like Brown and our liberal Legislature still can’t let go of the mythical “climate change” and have decided to punish Californians yet again with another increase in a gas tax coming to a pump near you next year. They (whoever they are) say we pay the second-highest gas tax at 68 cents a gallon, but I’d bet good money we are the highest — or we will be. So yet again, we’ll be paying more money to be squandered on what we have no idea — but one thing it won’t be spent on is fixing our roads.

For example, locally a new concrete center divider was built out by Winchester Canyon Road. It was unnecessary. Traffic diminishes dramatically at that point. It probably had something to do with money in some account that needed to be spent or lose it. But on that very same stretch of highway where we now have this ugly wall, which appears way too short to stop a car from flying over anyway, the freeway surface is a disaster. Rather than fix the holes and ditches, a fortune was spent on a useless concrete divider.

Another of Brown’s acts of wisdom is the ridiculous billion(s) dollar bullet train from nowhere to nowhere paid for with of our tax dollars, again, intended to line the pockets of the unions involved in pushing it. Ninety-nine percent of Californians will be driving their cars on horrendous highways and paying exorbitant taxes while a handful of riders out in San Joaquin Valley may hop on the “bungle” train just out of curiosity.

It’s hard to fathom that in the last major election, nearly every tax increase on the ballot was voted for. And nearly every liberal who had a hand screwing up this state was put back into office to continue to screw it up. And now it appears history may repeat itself and that Brown, God save us, will be re-elected.

The film industry goes to Canada and New Mexico, Tesla moves to Nevada (you can wave at them from California), oil is considered devil’s blood, our farmlands are becoming wastelands and we are the heaviest regulated state out of 50. This is what the people of California are happy with?

We could be the wealthiest state (country) in the world if ideology wasn’t how decisions were made. With the massive regulations imposed upon business already you would think we could find a way to tap into our natural resources where everyone would be happy. A land where our roads were smooth as glass, our taxes would go down, the schools wouldn’t be at the bottom of the heap and legal citizens were given the jobs back they once had.

Thanks, Brown, for giving away the store. I can’t wait to see what you do when you don’t have to run for office again — similar to President Barack Obama telling the Russians, “I’ll be more flexible after the election.” How’s that one working out?

— Henry Schulte of Santa Barbara owns and operates Dos Pueblos Ranch. He has been politically active in the community for years. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.