Nathan Newlove '25
In early November, California held their 2022 state elections. Also in early November, Cate School held their mock state election of 2022. Initiated by Juarez Newsome’s senior politics class, the school mock election presented to the Cate community the same propositions and candidates that appeared on the California ballot. In this article I will tell you a bit about how state elections work, and how our community voted compared to California.
Californians submitted their ballots that decided their governor for the next four years, as well as seven statewide propositions that ranged from protecting reproductive rights to a tax on incomes of over two million dollars a year to prevent wildfires. There were also local Carpinteria measures that only residents of the city could vote on such as Measure T, a confusingly-worded Parcel Rezoning Initiative centered around a proposal to build a hotel in Carpinteria’s downtown area. The electing of state-wide propositions and candidates is overseen in California by the Chief Election Official, who in California is the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken. For local measures, the elections are overseen by the mayor, or council members. Carpinteria is overseen by Mayor Wade Nomura.
Now an abbreviated comparison between Cate and California. First off, were the differences in turnout. Cate had a voter turnout of 245 out of around 500 students, faculty, and staff, which comes to 49% of the community. California had a voter turnout of 11,340,360 out of more than 39 million people which comes to 30% of the state. Between the candidates running for governor, Cate voted 87% for the incumbent Democrat Gavin Newsom, and 13% for the Republican Brian Dahle. In California, Newsom received 57.7% of the votes and Dahle received 42.3%.
On Proposition 1 which gives Californians the right to the use of contraceptives and abortion, Cate voted 95.5% in favor, and 4.5% against. In California prop 1 garnered 66.9% votes yes and 33.1% no. On Prop 30. which imposes an additional 1.75% tax on individual income over $2 million “for EV’s and fire protection”, Cate voted 78.8% yes and 21.5% no. California voted 42.3% yes and 57.7% no. Compared to California, Cate voted more for Democratic propositions and candidates. On local Measure T, Cate voted 52.6% yes and 47.2% no. Carpinteria voted 49.22% yes, and 50.78% no. This measure was decided by a mere 72 votes.
The fact that only 72 votes can decide major changes in our community alludes to the fact that voting is important, and that every vote counts. One can only hope that our generation will exploit their right to vote and make a difference in the communities around them. In the democratic society that we live in today, voting is the greatest tool for change, and using it will make differences that will affect generations.
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