Practice Democracy. Don't Forget to Vote Tomorrow!

Tomorrow, Tuesday, June 5 is the California state primary. Do you know where your polling place is? If not, you can quickly look it up here.

Local voters will be asked to weigh in on two state-wide propositions. Prop. 28 would impose limits on terms for California state politicians to 12 years. Currently legislators can serve 14 years in Sacramento, but some end up serving as much as 17 years because of a loophole that limits the number of years served but not the number of terms.

Prop. 29 would create an additional five cent tax on each cigarette distributed and an equivalent tax on other tobacco products to fund cancer research. If passed, it's estimated to raise $10 to $20 million each year for research.

Locally there's a lot at stake in this primary. Six candidates are vying replace Valerie Brown to represent the 1st district as a Sonoma County Supervisor, including three local names: current Sonoma Mayor and BOLT staffing owner Joanne Sanders, Gina Cuclis, a communications consultant and longtime Sonoma Valley resident and  Michael McClure, a Glen Ellen special education teacher at the Sonoma Development Center. 

However, two Santa Rosa council-members are winning the money game for District 1. John Sawyer has raised $107,278 for his race, taking in $45,041 since mid-March; Susan Gorin is close, having almost $90,000 at her disposal, including a $10,000 loan. 

Gina Cuclis come next in the fund-raising race, gathering over $50,000 including a $9,000 loan. Joanne Sanders drew controversy when she took out a $40,000 loan for her race; including the loan her year-to-date total is $63,572.

Sonoma voters will also weigh in on Measure J, a quarter-percent sales tax designated to help preserve public services and quality of live in Sonoma including police, fire, roads and medical facilities. The tax would be applicable for a period of 5 years.

Seven candidates are also competing to represent the 10th District in the California Assembly, including current Assemblymember Michael Allen and San Rafael Councilman Marc Levine.

But it's the Congressional race that gets more hearts thumping, with 12 candidates competing to replace Lynn Woolsey.

Click here to read more about the candidates and their platforms.

Sonoma Patch will be bringing you updates throughout the day and evening as results come pouring in, so make sure you check the site regularly.