We are now eight days away from the most unpredictable election of our lifetime.

The usual below the belt campaigning has discovered new depths, ones we never could have imagined, and what’s most unfortunate, those tactics have moved down to our local races for Congress, State Senate and State Assembly.

We’ve witnessed unprecedented dollars thrown into our local campaigns, particularly by the national democratic party.

Unfortunately, the acceptance of those dollars by our local democratic contenders has come with a hefty price.

Instead of selling their soul to the devil, our democratic candidates have taken their better judgement and allowed the nastiest marketing campaign of misinformation and flat out lies to bombard our airwaves and mailboxes. Even intelligent, classy candidates such as Christy Smith, who doesn’t need to resort to the bottom of the barrel, chose to take the money from the devil instead of highlighting her strengths.

When the dust settles, our hope is we heal and vow to take the high road with future elections instead of the low road.

Over the previous weeks, we have endorsed a number of local candidates, including Congressman Steve Knight for Congress, Assemblyman Scott Wilk for State Senator, Mayor Pro Tem Dante Acosta for State Assembly and Mayor Bob Kellar and Cameron Smyth for City Council. (See links to other endorsements at the end of the story.)

We also are endorsing Steve Fazio for State Senate. Fazio’s district covers the far western side of the Santa Clarita Valley, a district currently led by Senator Fran Pavley who has termed out of her seat.

Last March, Fazio and his wife joined us on our annual two-day KHTS Sacramento Road trip. They rode our bus, listened to concerns and shared ideas with the other hundred plus local stakeholders who were with our group.

Steve wasn’t politicking, he was there to learn. He was engaged. He wanted to understand the subtleties of our challenges. Our bus was filled with Democrats and Republicans, our Mayor, School Board members, Water Agency Board members, Chamber and Business leaders, and executives from many of our leading non-profits. During those intense two days, Steve impressed us as someone who could represent us well.

Fazio is a small business owner. Very few Sacramento politicians can claim that on their resume. Steve is smart, energetic and as we said, a good listener, which is a rare attribute among many politicians.

We believe he will make a strong representative for the western side of our valley. He’ll work well with our other candidate of choice for Senate, Assemblyman Scott Wilk.

Unlike Fazio, his opponent Henry Stern has made almost no attempt to understand our Valley’s issues.

We have yet to see him at any local events, on any committees or just getting to know his potential district north of the 14/5 interchange.

Politics in Sacramento is very dysfunctional because it is so polarized. Both Steve Fazio and Scott Wilk have demonstrated their ability to work with both sides. We believe they will both take stands on the important issues impacting the Santa Clarita Valley, based on their merits and not their party line.

As polarized as Sacramento has become, it could get worse if the Democrats achieve a Super Majority in either the State Assembly or the State Senate. We lived through that when the Democrats had a supermajority four years ago. In today’s climate, it would create a new level of dysfunction.

That is why it is critical we support candidates who will not only keep a balance in Sacramento, Steve Fazio and Scott Wilk both demonstrate the wisdom and temperament to find compromise and work toward solutions to our challenges.

Next Tuesday, we encourage you to vote for the following local candidates:

Congressman: Steve Knight

State Senate: Scott Wilk; Steve Fazio

State Assembly: Dante Acosta; Tom Lackey

City Council: Bob Kellar; Cameron Smyth

College of the Canyons Board of Trustees: Steve Zimmer, Michele Jenkins and Bruce Fortine

Castaic Lake Water Agency Board: Bill Cooper, Jerry Gladbach, Bill Pecsi and RJ Kelly