Get ready for a mega historical election in San Mateo County with an open Congress and Assembly seat. We won’t know until after June 7 who will emerge from the crowded primary to fight it out in November. It is usually two Democrats in the predominantly Democratic Bay Area unless there are so many democrats on the ballot a Republican will emerge with enough votes to make the runoff. And that could happen in both races. There are three major Democratic candidates for Congress — Burlingame Councilmember Emily Beach, San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Canepa and Assemblymember Kevin Mullin. Mullin is sure to make it to the November ballot but it may be Republican Gus Mattammal who ends up as his opponent.
The race for the Assembly includes James Coleman, a South San Francisco councilmember and a young hero of progressives and the LBTGQ community who is also getting support from the Asian community. His mother is Chinese; Mayor Giselle Hale of Redwood City who has support from U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and the California Teachers Association and many assemblymembers; San Mateo Deputy Mayor Diane Papan who has the support of fellow Greek Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis and many assemblymembers.
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U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier, known for encouraging and supporting women candidates, is supporting two men in high profile races: Kevin Mullin for Congress and Charles Stone for supervisor whose main opponent is Noelia Corzo, San Mateo-Foster City School District board trustee. The Daily Journal recently did a profile on Corzo in which she highlighted the role of Amourence Lee, San Mateo councilmember, as her mentor. But it turns out Lee is endorsing both Corzo and her opponent, Stone, for county supervisor.
Meanwhile U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo has several opponents but will no doubt prevail. Some thought she would be stepping down from Congress especially if her best friend, Speaker Nancy Pelosi did. But both are running again for re-election. It is rumored that Pelosi might step down mid-term and support her daughter in a special election.
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Surprising news from San Mateo. Popular Councilmember Eric Rodriguez will be stepping down at the end of his term this year. He is giving up elected office to spend more time with his family. His middle school son is a fencing prodigy and travels to meets around the country. And Rodriguez’s online health information business is becoming big time and needs more of his attention. He is endorsing Baywood neighbor Lisa Nash as his replacement. Nash lost to Amourence Lee in her first run for City Council. But she has been waiting patiently for an opening. And now her time has come. She wouldn’t run against Rodriguez and it seems she won’t have to run against current Mayor Rick Bonilla, a Hayward Park resident, but in the same district as the Baywood community. Meanwhile most of the homeowners associations in the district have endorsed her.
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Sustainable San Mateo County will hold its Awards Ceremony May 11. Its virtual auction starts Wednesday and runs through May 15. Award winners this year include Each Green Corner which teaches people of all ages to create sustainable gardens which supply produce to food- insecure community members in the county, estimated 40% of the population is food insecure; Kalimah Salahuddin, Jefferson Union High School District board trustee who has been a tireless advocate for affordable housing — 122 new affordable homes will be available this spring to teachers in her district; and Seamless Bay Area, a nonprofit working to transform the Bay Area’s fragmented public transit systems into a unified, equitable system.
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Great news about the possibility of a new school in North Central San Mateo. The neighborhood needs its own school since Lawrence Elementary School and Turnbull Middle School were shut decades ago. A Mandarin immersion and gifted program at the Turnbull site, now called College Park, was misguided.
Instead let’s turn the new school into a charter type school — small class size, all day program, lots of individual instruction and goal that all these kids will be prepared for a four-year college.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
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