Antonio Villaraigosa Gaining Ground In Race To Governor

13Jun
by Leticia Chavez-Garcia

The race for Governor of California is moving quickly across California. There is quite a field of candidates.  A new poll shows Gavin Newsom in the lead, but the same poll also shows former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio VIllaraigosa closing in on that lead. We will be keeping a close eye on this race that includes notable candidates, John Chiang and former California Schools Superintendent, Delaine Eastman, though they both seem to be performing very poorly at this point with less than 6% support. In fact, the only two Republicans in the race, John Cox and David Hadley are polling higher than Chiang and Eastman. Right now this is a race between Newsom and Villaraigosa.  

According to the article, if the race comes down to two Democrats, Newsom and Villaraigosa, and the Republicans support Villaraigosa, he will easily win in November 2018. I agree with this analysis.

The California governor’s race is important for several reasons. In the absence of a national leader presently, we will need a strong governor to keep California moving forward with or without the support of Washington, DC. Additionally, we need a governor who will prioritize education as we try to navigate the lack of leadership at the Department of Education.

Often the pulse of the rest of state is felt first in Los Angeles, that said, we recently had a historic race at LAUSD, which could be a preview for the outcome in 2018.  Parents are showing up to vote for candidates who care about education, and these parents are passionate about have educational choices for their kids. Antonio Villaraigosa has always made education a priority, and while Mayor of Los Angeles, he worked to create educational opportunities in partnership with the Los Angeles Unified School District. While Gavin Newsom seems to understands the power of educational choices and had adopted strong school choice language into his educational platform while running for Lieutenant Governor, his current website does not give much information about K-12 education.

“We need greater choice, competition, and accountability within the public school system, not a diversion of public funds to private schools that are unaccountable to taxpayers. With research increasingly showing the critical nature of learning in the early years, we should move toward universal access to pre-kindergarten education,” Gavin Newsom said previously.

What do you think?

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Leticia Chavez-Garcia

Leticia Chavez-Garcia is a Mother, Grandmother, former Middle School Teacher, former Member of a School Board of Education and an Education Advocate for hundreds of parents and students in the Inland Empire. Having become a mother at 15, Leticia knows what it’s like to be a single mother trying to navigate the education system. Leticia received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Public Administration from California Baptist University and a Masters’ Degree in Education Technology from Cal State Fullerton in her 30’s. Leticia has used her knowledge and experience to help hundreds of families as an Education Advocate in the Inland Empire and currently works as an Education Specialist.

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