(Names in Boldface type are those of known members of the Jewish community)
SAN DIEGO — For political junkies and journalists (two groups that sometimes merge), the month of January will be exciting.
The U.S. Constitution sets January 3rd as the date for the new Congress to convene. As January 3rd falls this year on a Sunday, there has been some talk about delaying the opening of Congress until either Monday, the 4th, or Tuesday, the 5th, but it would take a bill approved by both Houses and signed by the President to bring that about. So, while it’s not impossible that the date still could be delayed, Sunday looks like the day when the House of Representatives convenes to swear in such new members as Democrat Sara Jacobs of San Diego, and to elect the leadership of both parties. Two Californians — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarty of Bakersfield — will run for reelection respectively as the Democratic and Republican leaders of the House. With a narrower majority, and some disgruntled Democrats, especially in the Progressive wing of the party that includes U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Pelosi’s reelection, though favored, is not a sure thing.
Jacobs, who was appointed first to the Democratic Policy and Steering Committee, later was successful in her bid to become a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, winning the position over another Jewish member of the freshman class, Kathy Manning of North Carolina. Manning was assigned to the Labor and Education Committee, on which outgoing Congresswoman Susan Davis of San Diego had served. Davis also had been a member of the House Armed Services Committee. Another incoming Jewish freshman Congressman, Jake Auchincloss of Massachusetts, was assigned to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
Back here in San Diego, meanwhile, the new County Board of Supervisors is scheduled on Monday, Jan. 4, to swear in its three new members, including Democrats Terra Lawson-Remer and Nora Vargas, and Republican Joel Anderson. An organizational meeting will be held the following day, when in all likelihood Democrat Nathan Fletcher, who is in the middle of his term, will be elected as the chairman of the County Board of Supervisors. The fifth member of the Board of Supervisors, also in the middle of his term, is Jim Desmond, a Republican.
Anticipating Lawson-Remer’s swearing-in, The San Diego Union-Tribune ran a feature on Monday morning introducing her to readers. Having both a law degree and a PhD, Lawson-Remer had worked on policy matters in Washington DC before deciding to return to San Diego. She had been raised here and distinguished herself as a La Jolla High School student when she led a walkout in protest against the 1994 state Proposition 187, which would have denied non-emergency public services to undocumented immigrants.
On her return to California, Lawson-Remer helped organize the “Flip the 49th” campaign, which ultimately led to the election of Democrat Mike Levin in the northern San Diego County-southern Orange County 49th Congressional district that had long been represented by Republican Darrell Issa. {Issa didn’t run that year, but switched districts this year to successfully return to Congress as the representative of the 50th Congressional District, replacing the disgraced Congressman Duncan D. Hunter, who was forced to resign after being convicted of fraudulent use of his campaign funds.}
A single mother, whose daughter, EevKai, was born during her supervisorial campaign, Lawson-Remer handily defeated Republican incumbent Kristin Gaspar for the Board position, after first vanquishing Escondido City Councilwoman Olga Diaz in the primary election. According to the Union-Tribune profile, Lawson-Remer expects her board priorities will be the county’s public health response to the Covid 19 pandemic and fighting climate change.
On Tuesday, January 5th, the attention of the nation will turn to Georgia, where two runoff races for the U.S. Senate will come to a simultaneous vote. Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock seek respectively to oust Republican U.S. Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. If both Democrats were to win, control of the U.S. Senate would flip from Republican to Democratic, ending the reign of Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky as Senate Majority Leader and giving incoming President Joe Biden Democratic majorities to work with in both Houses of Congress. In such an event, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York would be the leading candidate to become the Senate Majority Leader, in which position he can determine what bills are called to the floor for votes and which are delayed or never see the light of day.
The biggest day of all in January is expected to be Wednesday, January 20th, when Biden is scheduled to be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States, notwithstanding President Donald Trump’s last-ditch efforts to have various state elections declared invalid so he can remain in office. Biden has already designated various candidates to serve in his White House staff and Cabinet, including Ron Klain as his chief of staff, Antony Blinken as Secretary of State, Janet Yellen as Secretary of the Treasury, Alejandro Mayorkas as Secretary of Homeland Security, and Avril Haines as National Intelligence Director.
Depending on when Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services-designate Xavier Becera submit their resignations respectively as U.S. Senator from California and this state’s attorney general, California Gov. Gavin Newsom will have the opportunity to appoint people to fill out the remainder of their terms. That could prompt a new round of appointments or special elections if he picks people who already are officeholders. It is also possible that additional Californians may be selected for other positions in Biden’s Cabinet, with California Secretary of State Alex Padilla the subject of frequent speculation as either a Cabinet pick or Newsom’s choice to replace Harris in the U.S. Senate. Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles also had been the subject of speculation for a Cabinet position, but he recently removed his name from consideration.
Already lining up a campaign to run for California Secretary of State is Lorena Gonzalez-Fletcher, who handily won reelection in November to the 80th Assembly District. Given that Covid concerns prompted the Legislature’s two leaders — Senate President pro tempore Toni Atkins of San Diego and Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon of Lakewood — to delay the Legislature’s opening session until Monday, January 11, Gonzalez-Fletcher is expected to be on hand January 5th when her husband, Nathan Fletcher, may be elected as chairman of the Board of Supervisors.
Adding to the excitement in January is the fact that we will see whether a proposed recall campaign against Dr. Jennifer Campbell, the newly-elected president of the San Diego City Council, gets off the ground. A petition with valid signatures of 15 percent of the registered voters in Campbell’s 2nd Council District will be required to get a recall election on the ballot, which The Voice of San Diego equated to 14,648 voters, as of the last election day count. Two former San Diego City Councilmembers are weighing in for and against Campbell. Former Republican Councilman Jim Madaffer, who today is a political consultant, is reported to be among a group of anti-recall planners that also includes local political strategist Dan Rottenstreich. Among those supporting the recall is former Democratic San Diego City Councilwoman Barbara Bry, who had sat next to Campbell for two years on the Council’s dais. Campbell had endorsed Todd Gloria in his successful election for mayor over Bry.
And, oh yes, there are people up and down the state who’ve been grumbling about recalling Governor Newsom, a fact that will make even more difficult for Newsom who to choose for the vacant statewide positions.
Is it any wonder that the political junkies and journalists are all abuzz?
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Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com