General election endorsements

Tuesday, Nov. 8, is perhaps the most important election of our lifetime. We all are aware of its significance on a national level, but it’s also a big deal locally and around the state. CN&R made some tough calls this year. The easiest one was for Hillary Clinton for president. It’s clear to us that a Donald Trump administration would be disastrous for our nation.

Some of the local candidates and the many state propositions before us were harder to sort through. We announced our endorsements over the last two weeks but are reprinting them here for voters’ convenience. We don’t expect readers to agree with us on everything, nor did we make an endorsement for everything on the ballot. Therefore, we encourage you to do independent research by reading your official Voter Information Guide and seeking unbiased analysis. CN&R suggests checking out the website of the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Butte County, www.lwvbuttecounty.org.

President of the United States: Hillary Clinton

U.S. Senate: Kamala Harris

Congressional District 1: Jim Reed

Assembly, District 3: Ed Ritchie

Prop. 51 (school bonds): No

Prop. 52 (Medi-Cal hospital fees): Yes

Prop. 53 (voter approval for revenue bonds): No

Prop. 54 (transparency in the Legislature): Yes

Prop. 55 (income tax extension): No

Prop. 56 (cigarette tax): Yes

Prop. 57 (sentencing/parole): Yes

Prop. 58 (bilingual education): Yes

Prop. 59 (constitutional amendment on Citizens United): Yes

Prop. 60 (condoms in porn): No

Prop. 61 (prescription drugs): No

Prop. 62 (death penalty repeal): Yes

Prop. 63 (gun laws): Yes

Prop. 64 (marijuana legalization): Yes

Prop. 65 (bag fees): No

Prop. 66 (speed up executions): No

Prop. 67 (plastic bag ban): Yes

Background: Don’t fall for the false narrative that the conservatives on the Chico City Council are the ones who reined in the city budget following the Great Recession. The conservatives didn’t gain the majority of seats until 2014. In fact, it was a liberal majority back in 2011 and 2012 that made the cuts to city staffing and services, and established a plan to stabilize the coffers.

What Chico needs now are experienced leaders who will not cave to the special interests, people who haven’t bought their way to the dais, representatives who have the political will to address homelessness in a meaningful way.

Chico City Council: Karl Ory, Tami Ritter, Ann Schwab and Randall Stone

Butte County Supervisorial District 5: Doug Teeter

Measure J (Butte College’s $190 million facilities bond): Yes

Measure K (Chico Unified’s $152 million facilities bond): Yes

Measure L (commercializing medical cannabis in the county): Yes