Why Your Candidate Might Not Have A Statement in the Voter Information Guide
Voter Information Guides for the March 5th Primary Election are now arriving in mailboxes throughout Sacramento County. The guide includes voting locations, measures on the ballot, important dates, and some candidate statements. Ballots will be mailed starting February 5th.
When you search the candidate statements, don’t be surprised if some candidates didn’t submit one. There’s a good reason. They’re very expensive and they need to be paid at the time of filing.
Here are some examples:
- Congressional District 6 – $18,050
- Congressional District 7 – $17,250
- Assembly District 6 – $12,400
- Assembly District 7 – $12,750
- Assembly District 10 – $12,250
- Judge of the Superior Court – $38,600
- Supervisor District 4 – $8,050
- Sac Board of Education 4 – $6,400
- Sac Board of Education 6 – $5,700
- Mayor of Sacramento – $12,300
Other counties, including Los Angeles, have Candidate Statements online, so the cost is much lower. In Sacramento, you can opt to receive your Voter Information Guide online, but who knew that??
Voters think that candidates just didn’t care to tell their story if the ballot statement is blank, and that is a disservice to many who would be great leaders, but just didn’t have the $$$ at the time of filing. Most fundraising happens after a candidate files and sets up their finance committee. And this year, money has been very difficult to raise because people are concerned about the economy’s future under Biden and Newsom.
That said, even a small donation is helpful, so please consider supporting the candidates you like. Every dollar will be appreciated.
SacCountyGOP Chair Betsy Mahan is taking the lead to call for online Candidate Statements. “The current system gives Democrats a big advantage as they have public employee unions and special interests funding their campaigns,” said Mahan. “The Sacramento County Elections office is gouging candidates to cover costs of the election. This keeps many potentially great candidates from filing, especially for local offices, when they know they can’t afford a Ballot Statement.”
If you want to learn more about the candidates, take the time to look them up on social media or find their website. Our Voter Guide webpage will have links to all of our endorsed candidates information before ballots are mailed on Feb. 5th to make it easy to learn more about them. If you have any questions about the election, and if you’d like to be an election observer, call our Voter Helpline at (916) 822-5618.
SacCountyGOP has endorsed in the races on the Voter Guide below. The Committee has not endorsed in the Central Committee races that will appear on Republican ballots. If you receive any materials that has our logo on it or claims to be from the Sacramento County Republican Party, it is not true. Our Chair does have recommendations if anyone wants to know, and she can be reached at Chair@SacCountyGOP.com.