Dick Spotswood: Marin’s March primary election promises to be interesting

This year the California presidential primary election combined with state and local elections is set for March 5 rather than the traditional June date. State legislators moved it to enable the Golden State to play a meaningful role in the presidential nomination process, as a June primary would be at a time when the major party nominations will be a done deal.

Given that at this time President Joe Biden and former President Donlad Trump appear to have a lock on their parties’ nomination, the effort to make California relevant will likely be futile.

Nominating papers for posts on the March 5 primary ballot must be filed by 5 p.m. on Dec. 8. An extension is granted to Dec. 13 if an incumbent officeholder doesn’t file. That will occur in the race to fill the open District 2 supervisor post representing Ross Valley, Larkspur, Kentfield and western San Rafael. For now, it is held by Supervisor Katie Rice, who is retiring.

Statewide, the marquee race is to fill the U.S. Senate seat long held by Dianne Feinstein. The major candidates include three Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives: Adam Schiff, Katie Porter and Barbara Lee. The leading Republican is Steve Garvey, a baseball star who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Diego Padres.

Here in the “deep blue” North Bay, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman is running for reelection. The San Rafael Democrat will be hard to beat in a district that consistently supports Democratic candidates. The GOP side sees two very different Republicans: Chris Coulombe of Sebastopol and Tief Gibbs of Novato.

Coulombe ran for Congress two years ago as a mainstream Republican. He lost to Huffman in 2022. His principal campaign issue is water policy. He’s endorsed by the Marin and Sonoma Republican central committees. Coulombe’s campaign is more about economic policy than hot button social issues. Gibbs ran and lost for Novato school board in 2022. She’s a populist who doubts the legitimacy of elections and is deep into divisive social issues.

Freshman Assemblymember Damon Connolly is running for a second two-year term in the Marin-Sonoma 12th Assembly District. He’ll be opposed by Republican Andy Podshadley. A vintner and retailer, Podshadley ran a credible campaign last year for Novato City Council but narrowly lost.

It appears that barring a last-minute entry in Southern Marin’s Third Supervisorial District, former Mill Valley mayor Stephanie Moulton-Peters will be unopposed. She’s been a no-drama supervisor focusing on the needs of her district.

In the race for District 4 supervisor representing West Marin and West Novato, the incumbent, Point Reyes Station’s Dennis Rodoni, will be opposed by Novato’s Francis Drouillard. The latter is a member of the Marin Republican Central Committee’s “Election Integrity Commission.” These folks doubt the legitimacy of election from the presidency down to Marin County elections. They oppose voting by mail, which if Drouillard’s followers avoid, could be a problem for him since most in Marin cast their ballot by Marin’s highly reliable vote-by-mail system.

The Ross Town Council sees an election for three seats. The four-year terms of Mayor Elizabeth Brekhus, Mayor Pro Tem Bill Kircher Jr. and Councilmember Beach Kuhl are expiring. Larkspur residents will cast ballots to fill the last two years of the unexpired term of Councilmember Kevin Haroff, who moved to Novato.

In an election mostly followed by political insiders, seats in all five supervisorial districts on both the Marin Republican and Democratic central committees are on March’s ballot. The Democrats’ contest should be a ho hum affair. The GOP races are expected to be more contentious. Expect opposing slates of candidates offered by mainstream Republicans and those on the populist side of the right. I plan will investigate the central committee elections once filing closes.

Columnist Dick Spotswood of Mill Valley writes on local issues Sundays and Wednesdays. Email him at spotswood@comcast.net.