I don’t think any of us can say we never made a mistake. Most mistakes can be corrected and usually we don’t commit the same error twice. But some mistakes can have drastic consequences.
Recently, a political operative and her boss made a mistaken calculation that could haunt them for the next few years. Darcel Elliott is the chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party and chief of staff for Supervisor Das Williams. She or they concluded that he was a shoo-in for reelection and didn’t need much help from the Democrat political machine.
But Williams’ challenger was Roy Lee, a Carpentaria City Councilman who seemed to have a winning message:
“My commitment is to create a Santa Barbara County where every resident can trust that their government is acting in their best interest. We deserve a government that not only acts with transparency and accountability but also genuinely listens to its people.
“As your representative, I am committed to prioritizing the voices and needs of our community above the demands of special interest groups. My promise is to foster a government that is open, ethical, and dedicated to serving its residents first and foremost.
“District 1 deserves better than political pandering and insincere promises.”
Considering what’s been happening at the Board of Supervisors, specifically the American Medical Response contract termination decision, this message turned out to be a winner.
Following initial reports that William’s challenger had won the race on election night, Elliot said in a recent Noozhawk report:
“The reports from the field did not indicate this (that Roy Lee would win). The support that Das was getting in the field data was 60% from likely voters. I don’t know what happened. I felt that my No. 1 job as party chair was to keep the Third District.”
But their polling was inaccurate. You see, Roy Lee is also a Democrat, and Williams had made a lot of people angry in his district concerning a failure to stop cannabis greenhouses from spewing their uncontrolled obnoxious odors that permeate the Carpinteria valley during growing season.
Many people have strong feelings about these odors and expected Williams to act to eliminate the stench instead of accepting the cannabis growers’ donations to his campaign.
In the last few years polling prior to elections hasn’t been very accurate; when someone polls a few hundred people and then extrapolates the result and reports that a candidate or issue is going to win or lose, their predictions have often been proven wrong.
Why, well it’s conceivable that the folks answering the phone may not be willing to express their true feelings to a robocaller who is pestering them during dinner time.
The Democratic machine figured that either Frank Troise or Lompoc Mayor Jennele Osborne was a greater threat to the Democratic agenda than Lee, and they both needed to be defeated at all costs. It was going to take a lot of arm-twisting and cash to get the message out.
Almost all current and former Democratic politicians in the county endorsed Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann; almost all public employee unions either endorsed or contributed to her campaign.
But it was another story in the First District; many prominent Democrats, and even some Republicans, endorsed and actively supported Roy Lee, and that support put him ahead at the end of the count. This is a good example of how a candidate’s nonpartisan approach can be successful.
So, it appears political karma struck an unlikely target. Ultimately, their miscalculation of the First District vote and shift of resources to the Third District have cost both Williams and Elliot their jobs. But never fear, in California I am sure other Democratic politicians will take care of them.
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