Thanksgiving for Two Democrats Who Didn’t Make It: Congressional Candidate Charlie Brown and State Senate Contender Hannah-Beth Jackson

There are two Democrats who came close—oh so close—but didn’t make it and who deserve special recognition and thanks. There are others—including those who got blown out in election returns but who gave it their best shot to get elected. There are a number of Democrats who came closer to winning than anyone would have thought possible just a few weeks before the election.

Former Democratic Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson has conceded in her Senate race in Santa Barbara, Ventura, and Los Angeles County where Republican Tony Strickland is the winner. The totals from the counties as of late yesterday show she received 206,842 votes to Strickland’s 207,745—903 votes ahead—with 49.5% of the vote to Jackson’s 49.3%.

There will be time for an analysis of the race in this district held by Republican Tom McClintock for two terms. This was a hard fought race, one that a lot of Democrats worked hard in the hopes of electing Jackson, registering voters to close a prohibitive advantage the Republicans had early on and to make this one a cliffhanger. Hannah-Beth gave her all to win this seat and had a great campaign consultant in Parke Skelton.

But on Thanksgiving Day, I want to give Ms. Jackson a hug—and huge thanks for the many articles she wrote that we carried on these pages. When the California Progress Report was only a gleam in my eye, she extended a helping hand and gave freely of her advice and what she had learned from her website Speak Out California. She was one of my favorite legislators, one of only three Members of the State Assembly to have the courage to vote against SB 899 of 2004, the train wreck that became the destruction of the California workers’ compensation system. She has always been true to her convictions. I am sure we have not heard the last from her and that she has much more to contribute to California public policy.

I also want to thank Charlie Brown who came close to winning in one of the reddest Congressional districts in California and who has lost in another razor thin photo finish. He has not conceded yet, but the latest results show Republican Tom McClintock with 185,615 votes to Brown’s 183,840—a lead of 1,775 votes that is just about complete. According to the McClintock campaign, only a handful of votes in El Dorado County—which is not one of Brown’s strongholds-- remain to be counted. According to McClintock this lead puts him “well outside the possibility of a recount changing the outcome.”

Brown also ran a spirited campaign and can hold his head high. He received the votes of many Republicans and independents in a district where Republicans hold a 46% to 31% registration edge.

Let none of what Jackson, Brown, and other unsung heroes have accomplished, even in losing races, be forgotten. For all they have stood for in life, a special thanks on this Thanksgiving. They have traveled the difficult road--that which those of us in strong Democratic areas of the state should reflect on and appreciate today.