Shaffer Family Voting Guide 2026 General Election - Nov 3

See the spreadsheet at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/148olyFbZiLIepgkaulw9MMEcOaHbvuQ60buYCs1bXJ0

There you will find the Shaffer family recommendations, along with the endorsements (from most liberal to most conservative) of: SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and San Diego Union Tribune. Also the San Mateo Daily Journal for the local races / propositions. I dropped the LA Times, which I have used previously, as they don't seem to do endorsements any more (though they do have one editorial to vote no on prop 40 - the billionaire tax - that I found rather compelling).

For those of you who don't know me, my politics are fairly liberal, though I would say I am fiscally moderate, believing in data and effective government providing value for tax dollars spent. I historically match up to the San Jose Mercury News endorsements in most cases. I also lean towards "No" on propositions that mix-and-match topics to try to bring together disparate constituencies or which are too complex for the voter initiative process and should be handled legislatively. 

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE!

Shaffer Family Voting Guide 2026 CA Primary - June 2

See the spreadsheet at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/148olyFbZiLIepgkaulw9MMEcOaHbvuQ60buYCs1bXJ0

There you will find the recommendations, along with the endorsements (from most liberal to most conservative) of: SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and San Diego Union Tribune. Also the San Mateo Daily Journal for the local races / propositions. I dropped the LA Times, which I have used previously, as I couldn't find any endorsements from them. Maybe will look for a new endorsement channel for the fall election if they don't endorse again.

For those of you who don't know me, my politics are fairly liberal, though I would say I am fiscally moderate, believing in data and effective government providing value for tax dollars spent. I typically match up to the San Jose Mercury News endorsements in most cases. I also lean towards "No" on propositions that mix-and-match topics to try to bring together disparate constituencies or which are too complex for the voter initiative process and should be handled legislatively. 

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE!

Shaffer Family Voting Guide Nov 2024

This election is highly consequential, however I can't imagine anyone needs a voting guide to vote on the national races this year. As such, I've focused on the propositions, which are always a chore to sift through...

https://bit.ly/ShafferVotingGuideNov2024 

There you will find the recommendations, along with the endorsements (from most liberal to most conservative) of: LA Times, SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and Sacramento Bee. Also the San Mateo Daily Journal for the local races / propositions.

For those who don't know me, my politics are fairly liberal, though I would say I am fiscally moderate, believing in data and effective government providing value for tax dollars spent. I typically match up to the San Jose Mercury News endorsements in most cases. I also lean towards "No" on propositions that mix-and-match topics to try to bring together disparate constituencies or which are too complex for the voter initiative process and should be handled legislatively. 

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE!

Shaffer Family Voting Guide: 2022 Election - Tues Nov 8

 http://bit.ly/ShafferVotingGuideNov2022

There you will find the recommendations, along with the endorsements (from most liberal to most conservative) of: LA Times, SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and San Diego Union Tribune. Also the San Mateo Daily Journal for the local races / propositions.

For those of you who don't know me, my politics are fairly liberal, though I would say I am fiscally moderate, believing in data and effective government providing value for tax dollars spent. I typically match up to the San Jose Mercury News endorsements in most cases. I also lean towards "No" on propositions that mix-and-match topics to try to bring together disparate constituencies or which are too complex for the voter initiative process and should be handled legislatively. 

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE!

Shaffer Family Voting Guide: 2020 Election - Tues Nov 3

 This voting guide is in spreadsheet form as a Google doc, and can be found at:

http://bit.ly/ShafferVotingGuideNov2020

There you will find the recommendations, along with the endorsements (from most liberal to most conservative) of: LA Times, SF Chronicle, San Jose Mercury News and San Diego Union Tribune.

For those of you who don't know me, my politics are fairly liberal, though I would say I am fiscally moderate, believing in data and effective government providing value for tax dollars spent. I also lean towards "No" on propositions that mix-and-match topics to try to bring together disparate constituencies or which are too complex for the voter initiative process and should be handled legislatively. 

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE!

Family Voting Guide - Nov 2018 Election

This voting guide is in spreadsheet form as a Google doc, and can be found at:

http://bit.ly/ShafferVotingGuideNov2018

There you will find the recommendations, along with the endorsements from SF Chronicle, LA Times, San Diego Union Tribune and San Jose Mercury News. I believe these are ranked, from most liberal to most conservative, as: LA, SF, San Jose, San Diego, fwiw...

Enjoy and get out there and VOTE, you mackerel snappers!

Shaffer Family Voting Guide - 2018 June Primary Edition

As always, people should be aware that I am a pretty liberal democrat, though I consider myself fiscally moderate. So these endorsements reflect that position on the political spectrum. Second, I was a little lazy and mostly followed the SF Chronicle endorsements, though for some I had to research further. I include below a link to each editorial source that I used.

Background:
    - I followed all the chronicle endorsements, *except* I picked Villaraigosa for governor. I really like Gavin Newsom, but here am trying to game the "top two" primary system. I am hoping for 2 democrats at the top of the ballot, to optimize the outcome for the November election, which seems to me to be one of the most important since... well... since the last national election...
    - Beyond that, I used the San Mateo Daily Journal, Palo Alto Daily Post and Sacramento Bee to source endorsements for positions not covered by the Chronicle.

Shaffer Family Endorsements (in order they appeared on my ballot):
* Governor: Antonio Villaraigosa (or Gavin Newsom, really...)
* Lieutenant Governor: Jeff Bleich
* Secretary of State: Alex Padilla
* Controller: Betty Yee
* Treasurer: Fiona Ma
* Attorney General: Xavier Becerra
* Insurance Commissioner: Steve Poizner
* Member State Board of Equalization, 2nd district: Malia Cohen
* US Senator: Dianne Feinstein

(San Mateo Ballot pages)
* US Representative: Jackie Speier
* 22nd Assembly District: Kevin Mullen
* Judge of Superior Court, office #2: Gerald Buchwald
* Superintendent of Public Instruction: Tony Thurmond
* County Superintendent of Schools: Nancy Magee
* Assessor: Mark Church
* Controller: Juan Raigoza
* Coroner: Robert Foucrault
* District Attorney: Stephen Wagstaffe
* Sheriff: Mark Melville (this was a close call, still not really sure...)
* Treasurer: Sandie Arnott
* Prop 68: Yes
* Prop 69: Yes
* Prop 70: No
* Prop 71: Yes
* Prop 72: Yes
* Regional Measure 3: Yes


Editorial Sources:

SF Chronicle endorsements:
    https://projects.sfchronicle.com/2018/voter-guide/endorsements-list/

San Mateo Daily Journal endorsements:
    https://www.smdailyjournal.com/opinion/editorials/daily-journal-endorsements-for-san-mateo-county-june-elections/article_be91448a-5fba-11e8-81f7-1bd664e210de.html

State Board of Equalization, 2nd District
    https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/05/09/editorial-pick-cohen-for-tax-board-that-should-be-shut-down/

Superintendent of Public Instruction:
    http://www.sacbee.com/opinion/california-forum/article209944079.html

San Mateo Judge:
    http://padailypost.com/2018/02/09/contested-judge-race-san-mateo-county-takes-interesting-turn/