The Valley Citizen

Valley Dems Survive Low Turnout: Speed Bumps Ahead

More than most anywhere else in the state, Valley Democrats depend on heavy turnouts to survive, especially during primaries, when crowded fields of candidates slice and dice votes so that outcomes often depend on hard-core voters whose loyalties tend deeply conservative and favor hard-right candidates. Even though turnouts for this year’s primaries rivaled all-time lows, outcomes were often surprising. In most races, Valley Democrats exceeded expectations, especially in the contest […]

Chad Condit, “not credible,” said Judge. We Agree

In 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Earl H Carroll ruled that Chad Condit’s testimony during a bankruptcy case was, “not credible.” Today, Condit’s claim to be a Democrat running for State Assembly is also not credible. Condit registered as a Democrat only a few short weeks ago. Shortly thereafter, an AstroTurf organization calling itself “Californians for Jobs and a Strong Economy” began a smear campaign against Jessica Self, the only […]

Homeless: Doubling Down on Double Standards

Tim Byrd’s response to our last essay deserves a more prominent position than in “Comments,” so we’re posting it below, along with our reply. For those who don’t know, Mr. Byrd is Stanislaus County Supervisor Terry Withrow’s campaign manager. He is also a resident of Wood Colony and a graduate of Berkeley’s Boalt School of Law. To get a better understanding of the context of our remarks, please read our previous […]

Hypocrisy? Double Standards? The Supervisor has you Covered

Twenty-five years ago, Tony Madrigal made crude remarks to a female police officer during a late-night ride-along. Around the same time, he was cited for driving while texting. At one point, he had enough such traffic violations that his license was suspended. At the time, Madrigal served as a Councilmember for the City of Santa Cruz. Fast forward to today, when Modesto City Councilmember Tony Madrigal is running for Stanislaus […]

Dueling High Schools? A Cow? District 22 has you Covered

Among the more amusing campaign tactics in the San Joaquin Valley, few are as enduring as the “outsider” trope, which reached its height of absurdity in 2018, when incumbent Congressman Jeff Denham tried to label Turlock-born Josh Harder with outsider status because he had graduated from Stanford and Harvard and done business in the Bay Area. No matter that Denham was from southern California, his own business was located in […]