The belated end of the squeaker between Assembly members Cathleen Galgiani and Bill Berryhill for 5th Senate District should not pass without a final denunciation of the odiously negative campaign Republicans ran.
Berryhill attacked Galgiani on accepting gifts from lobbyists, on supporting high-speed rail and on raising taxes. All fair game. But the capper came from the California Republican party.
This mailer was, to my mind, the absolute nadir of all local campaigns.
Galgiani didn’t vote to release a sex offender; the federal government mandated California to reduce its prison population. Galgiani voted for AB 109, the so-called realignment bill, that carried out the feds’ orders. The bill transferred state prisoners to local jails or parole. Numerous Republicans voted for AB 109, too.
It was wrong to tarnish Galgiani with an ad out of the Willie Horton playbook. I don’t lose any sleep when political parties that campaign like this lose elections.
