Running The Table-- Monterey County, California

Miller and Bernal

In a year in which Democrats took a beating at the polls nationally, California Governor Jerry Brown’s nearly 20-point win ranked at the top of a run of state and local victories pulled off by Ace Smith's SCN Strategies. Of the 10 general election campaigns they ran in 2014, they didn’t lose one, although-- Hillary beware-- they saw a spectacular primary loss in CA-33, where their centrist candidate, Wendy Greuel came in third. Despite that, even competitors were impressed. David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University: "Everything Ace Smith seems to touch turns to gold. They are behind-the-scenes, under-the-radar superstars. The firm really is unbeatable." Which is exactly what Smith and his business partners want to make sure Hillary Clinton takes away from his races this year. "Anything Hillary Clinton asks me to do, I will do," Smith said. "I’m a huge charter member of the Hillary Clinton fan club." No doubt.

"SCN is the hottest Democratic firm in the country right now," said Aaron McLear, the Republican strategist who advised Kashkari. "All they do is win," wrote the most biased and unprofessional political hack pretending to be a journalist in California, the San Francisco Chronicle's Carla Marinucci.

What nobody seems to be saying-- or in Marinucci's case, even thinking-- is, having your clients be the top three on the ballot-- Jerry Brown, Gavin Newsom and Kamala Harris-- and not running strenuous campaigns might have been good for them but screwed the turnout for everyone else statewide. Hell, Brown had over $25 million in a war chest and continued to take checks. What is tough to swallow is patting yourselves on the back for winning a game you essentially rigged. Top three Democrats on the ballot did nothing to support the party or the numerous other close races that really could have used their help. Four uninspiring right-of-center Democratic incumbents-- Ami Bera (New Dem), Jim Costa (Blue Dog), Julia Brownley (New Dem) and Scott Peters (New Dem)-- each came within a hair's breadth of losing their seats due primarily to poor voter turnout.

What has gone under the radar is one of the largest upsets in California in, of all things, a Sheriff’s race in Monterey County where a moderate Republican handily beat the rigged system Ace Smith presided over. There seems to be a lot of lessons to be learned for Democrats here so let’s look at the circumstances surrounding the race. The incumbent is registered as a No Party Preference but from all appearances was the Democratic Party-backed candidate, having the support of Governor Brown, local state Senators Bill Monnning and Anthony Cannela, Assemblymen Luis Alejo and Mike Stone and Congressman Sam Farr.

We have discussed the numerous issues plaguing Sheriff Scott Miller before, but it appears all these good Establishment Democrats chose to ignore them in favor of getting "their guy" in again. To set the bar slightly higher, all three major local newspapers not only endorsed but aggressively advocated for Sheriff Miller. So how the hell did a Republican-- albeit a moderate one-- win in a heavily Democratic district? And when we say Democratic district, keep in mind everyone one of these Dems who supported Miller won the County by at least 20 points with Farr coming in at over a 50 point margin!

We contacted Christian Schneider of Pivotal Campaign Services, a solid Democratic strategist who buked the party and their corrupt candidate and managed the race for the winner Steve Bernal. He had this to say, "Field wins. Both campaigns did mail, TV, and social media. But only one put together a comprehensive field program. Sheriff races are notoriously difficult to beat an incumbent. We were one of only three out of 100 across the state to replace a sitting Sheriff, and no other incumbent had the level of support from the media and Democratic electeds actively campaigning on their behalf. Steve had little name recognition as a first time candidate."

It was so bad that one local pundit had predicted a landslide for the incumbent of 60%-40% and everyone still seems astounded at the result. Remember, Monterey County is 53% Dem, 23% Republican and 24% Decline To State in registration. In 2012, Obama beat Romney 51,712 (66%) to 25,087 (32%). In the end, Bernal beat Miller 52.25% to 47.75% in a very bitter and divisive race, in which the state's Deputy Sheriffs Association gave Miller a vote of No Confidence and sued him four violating election rules.

There seems to be a lot to learn from this campaign which demonstrated you can beat the good ole boy system no matter how far-fetched it seems and no matter how rigged from the top it is. It's something progressives should think about when they go into primaries against corrupt conservatives like ex-Sheriff Miller.