Notes, quotes and dust motes

Delegates to the convention were selected months ago in caucuses organized around Assembly districts. The 21st Assembly District, which encompasses most of the county, had two competing slates. One, SMC Dems United, was led by Assemblymember Diane Papan. The other, Peninsula People Power, was led by San Mateo County Supervisor Noelia Corzo. These two slates reflect the current political split in the county between “establishment moderates” (Papan group) and “insurgent progressives” (Corzo group).

A fair amount of lobbying went into this competition and, when all was said and done, the two groups split the 14 delegate seats precisely down the middle — seven for SMC Dems United, seven for Peninsula People Power. It should be noted, the Peninsula People Power slate won five of the top slots.

It is hard to interpret what all this means in the long run, but it clearly demonstrates there are two groups of busy activists. While they may agree more than they disagree over the critical issues facing the county, the fight over who wins and who holds office will continue to dominate local politics.

RUNNING: People are running for office and if it seems awfully early to you, it is worth noting that the 2024 primary election is March 5. This means candidates have a scant 285 days (nine months and nine days, according to the handy online date calculator) to get organized, raise money and win you over. Or disgust you, as the case may be.

Of course, some people already are off and campaigning, most notably Burlingame Councilmember Emily Beach, who is running for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors District 1 seat. She held a campaign kickoff event last week at a Burlingame art gallery. On hand to endorse her was U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin. Beach finished fourth out of seven candidates in last year’s primary for the congressional seat. Shortly after, she endorsed Mullin, and he has returned the favor as an early and prominent supporter. … U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo will headline an event for Beach in early June. … Speaking of Mullin, Supervisor David Canepa posted a photo on Facebook of the two of them together having steaks at Westlake Joe’s. Apparently, it had something to do with the margin by which Mullin defeated Canepa in the congressional race. Interestingly, Canepa wrote in his Facebook posting: “Thank you Kevin for your support as we work together to better the lives of the hundreds of thousands of people we serve every single day.” Perhaps that is a generic expression of support, because there is nothing to indicate Mullin has endorsed Canepa in his reelection effort next year.

OFF AND KIND OF RUNNING: Millbrae Councilmember Gina Papan is also running for District 1 and I mention her only because she called to detail some endorsements she has received, but also to insist she has not yet launched her campaign, despite postings by her and her supporters of a “campaign kickoff event.” And, you know, endorsements.

OFF AND SOON TO BE RUNNING: Irving Torres, director of Community Engagement at All Home, a housing advocacy group, told me he is running for the District 1 supervisor seat and that he will announce officially in the next few weeks. Torres has deep political roots in the county and has been an instrumental ground-game organizer for other candidates, most notably the winning effort by Corzo.

JUST RUNNING: In the race for Supervisor District 4, East Palo Alto Councilmember Lisa Gauthier is in and has a campaign website up and running.

RUNNING. REALLY? California Board of Equalization member Sally Lieber, who was elected to this near-mythical office little more than seven months ago, is running for the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors seat being vacated by Joe Simitian due to term limits. When she was elected to the BOE, she tried unsuccessfully to hold onto her seat on the Mountain View City Council. As she said herself, Lieber likes holding office. Apparently, she likes running, too.

SWIMMING: Not to put too fine a point on it, but when Hollywood producers make a show that requires a character to swim, just once it would be nice if they cast someone who looks like they had not just learned how.

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.