San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
The Chronicle recommends: Endorsements in all statewide races and propositions
Ed Hernandez and Eleni Kounalakis, the two Democrats running for lieutenant governor, have similar positions on most of the big issues. Each is prochoice, an advocate for environmental protection and public education, and dedicated to closing the income and opportunity gaps.
Where they differ is how they came to be statewide candidates and what they plan to do with one of the lowerprofile constitutional offices.
Hernandez, a 60-year-old optometrist and state legislator for 12 years, is quick to highlight his blue-collar roots and decidedly challenged transition to adulthood. A father at 19, he worked 35 hours a week while attending community college, before transferring to Cal State Fullerton, a school he chose because it was “going against traffic” from the San Gabriel Valley. He ultimately went to optometry school at Indiana University; his parents took out a $40,000 second mortgage on their home.
“Her upbringing was much different than mine,” Hernandez said of his opponent.
Kounalakis, a 52-year-old former U.S. ambassador to Hungary, resents any characterization of her as a product of privilege — though her father, a wealthy Sacramento developer, has contributed about $5 million toward her campaign. She has a record of accomplishment of her own, including 18 years in the housing industry, working her way from project manager to president, and an array of Democratic Party and advisory positions. President Barack Obama appointed her to the ambassadorship in 2010.
It is neither illegal nor unseemly for a candidate to be propped up by family money — as long as there is no coordination between the two, which Kouna-
lakis insists there is not — but Californians should ask themselves whether this is the preferred route for a statewide officeholder’s first elected position.
Hernandez, for one, does not fault her.
“If I had the resources, I would do the same for my children,” he said.
Hernandez was elected to the state Assembly in 2006 and the Senate in 2010, having been re-elected in each. His work in the State Capitol has given him a voting and fundraising record for voters to scrutinize and his opponent to attack, but it also has provided him with accomplishments to cite and relationships to help advance his objectives as lieutenant governor. His successes included his role in legislation to increase the smoking age to 21 and to impose new transparency rules on drug prices.
Two of his priorities would be health care and education. Hernandez, chair of the Senate’s Health Committee, said as lieutenant governor he would want to use his professional and legislative experience to become the state’s point person on health care policy. Obviously, it’s unclear whether the next governor, whether Republican John Cox or Democrat Gavin Newsom, would delegate a signature issue to him.
Not surprisingly given the family business, Kounalakis said housing would be her No. 1 issue. She told our editorial board the state was due for a “new bold approach” to address the affordability crisis. What was disappointing was that the ideas she expressed were not nearly as specific or emphatic as might be expected for her top priority. When asked about the most aggressive housing issue in the last session — Sen. Scott Wiener’s SB827 to increase density along transit corridors — Kounalakis hedged in calling it “maybe a little too bold.”
In a race between two candidates just emerging at the statewide level, a contrast between experience and potential, we give the edge to experience. Ed Hernandez gets our endorsement for lieutenant governor.