With voting centers in Los Angeles County set to open in the coming weeks and mail-in voting already underway, KHTS has assembled all of the information that voters in Santa Clarita may need to feel confident in their vote for the 2020 election.

Here at KHTS, we believe that it is the responsibility of every eligible citizen in the United States to participate in our country’s election process. We also believe that our residents should be as informed as possible when it comes to candidates and propositions on the ballot.

In the interest of helping residents make informed votes, we have provided the following Santa Clarita 2020 Voter’s Guide so that voters can feel confident in their decisions regarding local issues when they turn in their ballot.

Santa Clarita 2020 Voter’s Guide

Congressional Race (CA-25)

In the race for the Congressional seat in California’s 25th Congressional District, which represents Santa Clarita, the Antelope Valley and parts of Simi Valley, incumbent Republican Congressman Mike Garcia faces Democratic Assemblywoman Christy Smith.

The seat originally became vacant in the end of 2019, after then-Congresswoman Katie Hill resigned following allegations of improper relationships with staff. This resulted in a “jungle primary” in March of 2020, which saw over a dozen candidates vying to serve the remainder of Hill’s term.

At the time, Smith and Garcia received the most and second-most votes respectively, but neither were able to secure a majority. This led to a special run-off election in May.

Garcia won that run-off by over 10 percent of the vote, marking the first time that a Congressional seat from California flipped from Democrat to Republican control since 1998.

The most recent fundraising numbers submitted by the two candidates show that Garcia had raised over twice as much as Smith, reporting roughly $3.18 million compared to Smith’s $1.34 million between July 1 and Sept. 30.

More information on Garcia can be found here, while more information on Smith can be found here.

Assembly Race (CA-38)

The race for California’s 38th Assembly District is unique this year, as it features two Republican women: Suzette Valladares and Lucie Volotzky.

The two Republican women are running for the assembly seat currently held by Assemblywoman Smith, who decided not to run for re-election so that she could run for Congress against Congressman Garcia

Valladares and Volotzky came in first and second place respectively in the California primary back in March, making up a total of 52.9 percent of the vote total, according to officials with the California Department of State.

Valladares received roughly 33 percent of the vote with 23,454, while Volotzky received 19.3 percent of the vote with 13,698.

The fundraising gap between the two candidates is quite notable, with Valladares taking in $330,814.55 in contributions during the third financial quarter, compared to only $4,345 for Volotzky.

Both candidates sat down with KHTS News Director Michael Brown at the end of September. Those interviews can be viewed here.

State Senate Race (CA-21)

In the race for California’s 21st State Senate seat, Republican incumbent Scott Wilk faces Democratic challenger Kipp Mueller.

Nearly $1 million was raised between the two candidates in the third quarter for the 2020 election. Wilk took in $431,903.95, while Mueller took in $455,130.45 from July 1, through the final reporting date on Sept.19, according to filings with the California Secretary of State’s office.

Over that same span, the re-election campaign for Wilk outspent Mueller’s campaign by $347,873.35, according to the filings. 

Mueller slightly outpaced Wilk in contributions in Q3 by roughly $23,000 and has had the edge in fundraising throughout 2020 with $108,000 more in contributions this year on the whole.

Wilk’s campaign however began the year with more cash on hand and opened their coffers in Q3 to nearly double the Mueller campaign’s Q3 spending with $748,598.63 to $400,725.28 in expenditures, respectively.

Wilk appeared on KHTS Radio at the end of September to discuss the race, as well as issues that the state faces in the coming months and years. That interview can be viewed here.

Mueller was originally scheduled to appear on KHTS Radio the same week as Wilk, but later cancelled and failed to respond to attempts to reschedule. More information on him can be viewed here.

Los Angeles County District Attorney

The ballot for this November’s election includes the Los Angeles County District Attorney race between incumbent Jackie Lacey and challenger George Gascón, who offer similar priorities but different paths forward to addressing the challenges the county faces.

The two also differ in their career experience, Lacey has spent the majority of her career as a lawyer working in the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office, whereas Gascón has served primarily in law enforcement before he became San Francisco District Attorney in 2011.

A further exploration of the two candidates can be read here.

Santa Clarita City Council

The two seats up for grabs in the 2020 election include current Santa Clarita Mayor Cameron Smyth’s seat, and Councilmember Bob Kellar’s seat. Kellar had previously announced that he would not run for re-election, and did not file paperwork to run in November. 

The candidates running this year are:

• Dr. Aakash Ahuja, certified psychiatrist 
• Cameron Smyth, Santa Clarita Mayor
• Christopher Werthe, Chief Safety Engineer for LADWP
• Douglas Fraser, Canyon Country Advisory Committee Director
• Selina Thomas, Owner of 6 Degrees HR Consulting
• Jason Gibbs, WiSH Foundation Board Member
• Kelvin Driscoll, Program Director for L.A. County Department of Social Services
• Kenneth Dean, Advocates of Santa Clarita member
• TimBen Boydston, Executive Director for the Canyon Theater Guild

Between July 1 and Sept. 24, the nine candidates running for two seats in the Santa Clarita City Council reportedly raised $69,850, according to campaign filings published by the City Clerk’s office.

Smyth led in terms of money raised during the third quarter, reporting $22,062 in contributions. Driscoll and Gibbs rounded out the top three, raising $16,479 and $15,984 in the third quarter respectively.

However, Gibbs leads in both total funds raised in 2020 and reported cash on hand, having reported $36,682 raised throughout 2020 and $27,034.62 of cash on hand.

KHTS interviewed eight of the nine candidates running for City Council back in September. Those interviews can be viewed here.

State Propositions and Ballot Measures

When Santa Clarita residents cast their ballots during the 2020 election, they will have the opportunity to vote on a dozen state propositions ranging from cash bail to affirmative action.

Out of the dozen state propositions set to be voted on in November, eight were placed on the ballot by citizens and special interests, while four were put on by state legislators.

An overview for the 12 state propositions can be viewed here, and each specific one is explained further in the stories linked below.

• Prop 14
• Prop 15
• Prop 16
• Prop 17
• Prop 18
• Prop 19 
• Prop 20
• Prop 21
• Prop 22
• Prop 23
• Prop 24
• Prop 25

Additionally, Measure J will appear on the ballot for Los Angeles County residents. If passed, it would amend the county’s charter to require no less than 10 percent of the county’s general fund to be allocated to community programs and alternatives to incarceration, such as youth development programs and mental health services.

An in-depth look at Measure J can be found here.

Endorsements

In September, the Santa Clarita Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors announced their endorsements for the 2020 election, which can be found here.

The Board of Directors for the Valley Industry Association (VIA) announced their endorsements for local candidates in the 2020 election near the end of September. Their full list of endorsements can be read here.

Some Santa Clarita residents have utilized the KHTS Letter to the Editor page in order to publish some of their own endorsements for local races ranging from Santa Clarita City Council to some of the school and water boards. Those letters can be read here.

If you’d like to know who KHTS owners Carl Goldman and Jeri Seratti-Goldman will be voting for this year, check out their endorsement list here.

Where to Vote

In-person voting is set to be available in nearly 20 locations throughout Santa Clarita, with some locations scheduled to open on Oct. 24 and others planned to open on Oct. 30. All locations would remain open through Election day on Nov. 3.

Several vote by mail ballot drop-off locations are available throughout Santa Clarita. Drop-off box locations in Santa Clarita include several at parks, libraries, and fire stations.

Voters can opt to receive updates on the status of their mail-in ballots by signing up for “Where’s My Ballot?”.

A full map of voting centers in Los Angeles County can be found here.

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