Election 2018: Wrap Up
2018 Independent Expenditures
The Coalition of Labor, Agricultural, and Business (COLAB) has provided a series of articles on issues its membership believes important to the economic viability of Imperial Valley. We thank the Desert Review for its support and interest in publishing these articles. Please note that our articles do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Desert Review, its owners, or staff. The opinions expressed are that of the COLAB board.
Over the last couple of years, we have provided information on the donations and expenses in the Imperial Irrigation District and Imperial County’s election cycles. This one finalizes the information for the November 2018 election cycle for the two contested seats—IID Division 5 and County of Imperial District 1. The contributions and expenses did not experience the extremes of prior elections and it seems that interest groups from areas outside of Imperial County did not participate. The local Political Action Committee associated with IID elections in 2012 and again in the primary in 2018 was not active in this cycle.
Some basics of the many California Fair Political Practice Commission’s forms are repeated herein from the prior stories. In California, as well as other states, a candidate who receives more than $2,000 per year for political purposes must report those funds based on set schedules for each election cycle. The form the candidate is required to complete is called form 460. This form details monies received by the candidates and their expenditures. The final filing for the Supervisors’ and IID’s election of Nov. 5, 2019, was Jan. 31, 2019. The reported income and expenditures for the IID final two candidates for Division 5 and for the final County Supervisor candidates for District 1 are listed below. IID Division 1 and 3 were decided in June with Alex Cardenas and Jim Hanks winning their seats. Ray Castillo was unopposed for Supervisorial District 5.
Imperial Irrigation District Candidates (Division 5)
County Supervisor Candidates (District 1)
While the next election cycle seems a long way off in 2020, the California primary has been moved from June to March. For IID, two seats, Divisions 2 and 4, will be considered and for the County, Districts, 2, 3 and 4 will be on the ballot. In November 2020, the vast majority of cities and school boards will be on the ballot and the number of seats is dependent on the rotation cycle. To help interested individuals, the County of Imperial’s Election Department and COLAB will conduct a candidates’ training later this year.