1 week Ago By By ARTURO BOJORQUEZ Editor
I don't know if you, like me, dear reader, have finished this election cycle fed up, tired, and exhausted, not only by the propaganda bombardment all of us in the Imperial Valley suffered but also by the campaign content quality level. Candidates reached such a point that, instead of having proactive campaigns, many committed themselves to toss dirt at each other, kicking, hitting, accusing each other, and, in some cases, bringing up things from the past without relevance whatsoever for either the voter or the candidate. This propaganda bombing reached such a point that, for a few weeks now, when I have had winks of leisure and dedicated myself to playing chess on my cell phone, promotional videos of a candidate from the Imperial Valley popped up between games, not to mention the multiple advertisements on social media and the flyer delivery paid for, on some occasions, by organizations from outside the Imperial Valley, and which finished up in the recycling bin.
In my case, by the time those flyers arrived at home, I already had a precise picture of whom I was voting for. Compared to previous years, these 2024 dirty campaigns without proposals were the order of the day, specifically in the final weeks of the electoral contest. Despite everything, some things that were quite obvious and expected became clear, such as the fact that Democrats swept in state elections and, as I had already written in last week's column, Donald Trump won the presidential election, helping many other Republican candidates with his victory to achieve not only the return to the White House but also the majority, both in the House of Representatives and in the Senate of the United States.
As I wrote, the Hispanic vote was key in this election, mainly in swing states where the Latino population has considerably grown. Republicans, by the way, won in Clark County, Texas, where Democrats had not lost for over 130 years. At the local level, there are several lessons not just for the candidates who ran but also for those thinking of throwing their hats in future contests.
First, being an incumbent does not necessarily guarantee success. Brawley Mayor Ramon Castro and his Calexico colleague Camilo García are the clearest cases, who will leave their elected positions in the coming weeks. The opposite occurred with El Centro Mayor Sylvia Marroquín, Calipatria Mayor Sylvia Chavez, and Holtville Mayor Murray Anderson.
If elected officials seek reelection, they must not only run a good campaign to win but must perform while holding the job as well as possible. Likewise, future candidates should not forget that trying to deceive voters is the worst strategy for winning office, particularly if they change their residence after being elected, try to hide the fact from the electorate that brought them to office, and then try to run for another office without leaving the first one, which, according to California law, turns out to be illegal. Voters are smart and severely punish any attempt at deception.
Regarding the Assembly election, Democrat Joey Acuña is behind in the vote count against Republican Jeff Gonzalez, despite being supported by Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia. The results show that Acuña lost (again) not only in Riverside County but also in San Bernardino County. As of Wednesday night, Acuña was down by around 2,000 votes.
At the national level, voters gave President Trump and Republicans a blank check to manage the country as they please, which obliges them to manage the government responsibly and give all Americans excellent results, particularly in the economic aspect, which was one of the main issues for which voters opted for Republicans this time. Adelante Valle Editor Arturo Bojórquez can be reached at [email protected] or (760) 335-4646.
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