ADVOCACY REPORT
California Gubernatorial Race Offers Opportunity
for Almond Industry
The 2018 gubernatorial election will bring big changes
to California politics, opening a critical window of
opportunity for the almond industry to engage candidates
and educate them on the value that our industry brings to
the state and local communities. The industry faces several
key challenges – on issues ranging from water use to
greenhouse gas emissions – and our future could well be
shaped by the choice California voters make in November.
After serving a historic four terms in office, Jerry Brown
has announced that when his gubernatorial term limit
ends this year he will retire from nearly 50 years of
public service to live on his family ranch in Colusa
County. His tenure will be marked by the willingness and
ability to work with both parties in an era of extreme
partisan politics. While his support for environmental
regulations has created a challenge for agricultural and
manufacturing industries, he has also been known as an
advocate for farmers, including defending agricultures’
use of water during the drought and for appropriating
cap and trade funds to assist the FARMER program.
The new governor will have the authority to approve
or veto legislative measures and power to act through
executive order to direct the agencies that impact us
most, like California Air Resources Board, Department
of Water Resources, and the Department of Pesticide
Regulations to exact regulations that could have a
dramatic impact to our industry.
The election will be the state’s first under new rules that
allow the top two vote-getters, regardless of political
party, to advance to a run-off. According to a recent
poll by the reputable, nonpartisan Public Policy Institute
of California, come the June primary, the top two
contenders to replace Governor Brown will be Gavin
Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa. Both candidates will
need voters in the Central Valley. During the Democratic
convention in Anaheim, whereby the most progressive in
the party attend, no gubernatorial candidate received
majority of the vote to win endorsement. However, the
vote breakdown was telling that progressives stand with
Newsom, as he received 39 percent of the vote, while
Villaraigosa received only nine percent.
Newsom, the current Lt. Governor and former Mayor of
San Francisco, has positioned himself as a progressive
that will work to position California as a world leader
on environmental issues. He is the founder of Plumpjack,
a wine and hospitality company with ties throughout
the Napa Valley. His campaign website asserts that he
“will double down on the production of organic and
sustainable food, and promote food security, particularly
in low-income communities and, disproportionately,
communities of color that lack access to healthy choices.
It’s ironic and bizarre that the San Joaquin Valley grows
the food for the nation but poor communities there do not
have an adequate supply of their own.”
Villaraigosa, a former Assembly Speaker and Mayor
of Los Angeles is positioning himself as the moderate
Democrat in the race. He has focused his campaign on
improving California’s economy and business climate,
while addressing the growing divide between those
thriving in the new California economy and those who
have been left behind. Villaraigosa’s website outlines
his regional approach to governance. “A policy that
might make sense in Silicon Valley doesn’t necessarily
make a difference in Fresno. A regulation that is a small
annoyance for a thriving business on the west side of
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