The Best And The Worst Members Of The California Legislature

Overall, Jim Frazier is the worst Democrat in the California Assembly

Yesterday, the Courage Campaign released their annual ratings of California legislators. I don't follow the state legislature as carefully as I follow Congress, so I find the Courage Campaign's work invaluable... even if I don't agree with everything. I'm guessing they base their ratings strictly on votes-- as ProgressivePunch does. That excuses bad behavior and poor leadership. Example Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon killed the Senate-passed single payer healthcare bill, but his votes are good so he got an "A." That's misleading. I'd give him an "F," or maybe a "D." (Courage Campaign told me they docked him a few points for wreck single payer.)

The score card got off to a good start every single Republican in the Assembly and every single Republican in the Senate scored an "F." Perfect.

The Democrats with the really high scores-- A+ and the very high "A" scores. In the Assembly:

• Ash Kalra- eastern San Jose
• David Chiu- eastern San Francisco
• Laura Friedman- Glendale, Burbank, Los Feliz
• Mark Stone- Monterey Bay
• Monique Limón- Santa Barbara
• Shirley Weber- San Diego
• Tony Thurmond- Berkely, Oakland, Richmond, Pinole, El Cerrito, Albany
• Eloise Gómez Reyes- San Bernardino, Fontana, Colton
• Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher- Chula Vista, San Diego, National City
• Phil Ting- San Francisco, San Mateo
• Reggie Jones-Sawyer- South Central L.A.

And these are the best-scoring state Senators:

• Holly Mitchell- Culver City, Crenshaw
• Connie Leyva- Pomona, Chino, Ontario
• Jerry Hill- San Mateo, Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View
• Jim Beall- Cupertino, Los Gatos, San Jose, Saratoga
• Toni Atkins- San Diego, Del Mar, Solana Beach

These are the Democrats who would be called Blue Dogs or New Dems if they were in Congress. They like to call themselves "the Mod Squad," because "moderate" is such an admired word but not one of them is a moderate. Every one of them is a right-wing imbecile who is an opportunistic Democrat but who is really just a Republican in disguise. Assembly first. Each of these was rated "F," just like the Republicans. They're ordered from worst to less worse:

• Jim Frazier- Vacaville, Fairfield, Antioch, Pittsburg
• Adam Gray- Merced, Modesto
• Jim Cooper- Sacramento, Lodi
• Sabrina Cervantes- Riverside, Norco, Corona
• Sharon Quirk-Silva- Anaheim, Garden Grove, Fullerton
• Joaquin Arambula- Fresno
• Ken Cooley- Carmichael, Citrus Heights, Rosemont
• Rudy Salas- Bakersfield, Delano, Hanford
• Tim Grayson- Concord, Martinez, Walnut Creek, Vallejo
• Anna Caballero- San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga
• Tim Daly- Santa Ana, Orange
• Freddie Rodriguez- Pomona, Ontario, Chino
• Al Muratuchi- Gardena, Torrance, Rancho Palos Verdes, Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach
• Jacqui Irwin- Westlake Village, Moorpark, Oxnard, Thousand Oaks, Camarillo

That's the list of horrible assemblymembers. Frazier, Gray, Cooper and Cervantes are so bad that I can't understand how they don't have primaries. But they're all just terrible excuses for Democrats. These are the state senators in the same category, again, listed from worst to less worse. But each was graded "F."

• Steve Glazer- Contra Costa, Dublin, Livermore
• Josh Newman- Diamond Bar, West Covina, Anaheim, Brea, La Habra, Yorba Linda
• Richard Roth- Riverside, Corona, Norco, Perris, Moreno Valley, Jurupa Valley

From the folks at the Courage Campaign: "[W]hen Corporate Democrats get elected from deep blue districts simply because of their party affiliation, they block the progress that our state must achieve for the good of the country. Progressives will never build the power we need to pass health care for all, end the failed War on Drugs, or address our historic housing crisis unless elected officials are truly held accountable to the needs of the people in the nation's most populous state. That’s why, for the first time in 2018, Courage Campaign will endorse progressive candidates in primary elections in key races. By endorsing progressive candidates in primary races using Courage Scores as our guiding light, we can strengthen the rewards for courageous service to a legislator's constituents-- and also the consequences for bowing to special interests. Put simply: when legislators represent their districts well, we’ll celebrate them. And when they fail to represent their districts, we won’t just put them in the Hall of Shame-- we’ll work to defeat them... We’ve built a “Hall of Shame” to feature the worst of the worst-- the legislators who represent deep blue, progressive districts, but are throwing their constituents under the bus. They kill vital legislation that supports clean air and water, economic opportunity for all, and racial justice, while gobbling up contributions from corporate lobbyists."

We're with 'em on that.