Cabaldon Earns Support From 30 Years of Assembly Leaders in 8th District

Thursday afternoon in Suisun City, West Sacramento Mayor Christopher Cabaldon who is a candidate for the Democratic Nomination for the 8th Assembly District stood with his three predecessors who served in the California State Assembly--Tom Hannigan, Helen Thomson and Lois Wolk--each who have now endorsed his candidacy for the position they served collectively over the last 30 years since 1978 when Tom Hannigan served the first of 9 terms on the California legislature.

Christopher Cabaldon earned the California Democratic Party's official endorsement on Sunday after garnering 69% of the vote at the 8th Assembly District caucus Saturday evening. Attempts to have the result pulled off the consent calendar were unsuccessful on Saturday night as Mariko Yamada supporters failed to garner the necessary 300 signatures, they were not even close, and thus did not turn the petitions in.

Former Assemblyman Tom Hannigan spoke first to the small crowd that included Solano County Supervisor Jim Spering, Suisun City Mayor Pete Sanchez, and Benicia Mayor Elizabeth Patterson along with several other county, city, college, and school elected officials.

“I have always known that Christopher was a bright, hard worker for his community when he ran six years ago. Now, I didn’t even have to think about it for this race. Christopher easily has my full support and I will do whatever I can to help him.”

Current Yolo County Supervisor and past Assemblywoman Helen Thomson:

“Christopher is a perfect fit for the district and is the best person who will get the job done for Solano and Yolo and will continue take on the fight for our progressive values. That’s why he’s earned the official endorsement of the Democratic Party.”

Assemblywoman Lois Wolk who is termed out of the 8th Assembly District Seat and now is running for the State Senate reminded the crowd:

"I was one of those who did not endorse Christopher Cabaldon in 2002."

She continued:

"The reason I am here today is to announce my strong and enthusiastic support for Christopher Cabaldon."

She then talked about her own process for making the decision to endorse Cabaldon.

"I don't feel compelled to offer endorsements in every race in the region and often I don't endorse in local races. But I do feel an obligation in this instance to offer my assistance and benefits from five years in the office and just as my predecessors Helen and Tom offered their advice as to who such succeed them, I thought I ought to do the same. I also wanted to mention that I know both Democratic contenders for the Democratic nomination very very well. I consider them close friends and I have worked with both of them. Whatever the voters ultimately decided, the 8th Assembly District will be ably represented.

Many have asked me what I thought for many months about this race and choosing between two friends was not a choice that I was very eager to make. I decided to wait and see which candidate would earn the broad support in the district among the elected local officials in the community and among the activists in the Democratic Party. I have found through my local experience that the local support of local officials is absolutely critical to being an effective legislator. It has been true in all of the major efforts that I have gone for... And frankly none of those efforts would have been successful in Sacramento without the strong support of the locally elected officials, many of them are here today.

Christopher Cabaldon has earned the support of the local leaders throughout the district. Every county supervisor, mayor, and state senator that has taken a position in this race is in full support as well as many city and school officials. Along with these elected schools and city officials, Christopher has won the Democratic Party Endorsement, not easy, demonstrating the support of activists that will serve him well in the election and also in the legislative arena."

Finally the Assemblywoman talked about Christopher Cabaldon record.

“Christopher Cabaldon brings his own strong track record of results on the issues that are most important to this district. His work on economic redevelopment in West Sacramento, his involvement in flood protection, Delta restoration, regional transportation planning, public safety, and growth management, are all vitally important to this district. I know both candidates well. But not only does Christopher have the experience, he has the skill set, the ability to negotiate, navigate the political minefield, and find workable solutions. He has intimate knowledge of the legislative process and will hit the ground running next January.”

Christopher Cabaldon then addressed the crowd himself.

“For three decades , California’s finest and most effective legislators have come from our district and I am deeply honored by the strong vote of confidence from Lois Wolk, Helen Thomson, and Tom Hannigan. We have worked together on the issues that matter in Solano and Yolo counties, it is gratifying that the leaders who local residents and I admire so greatly are solidly behind my candidacy for the Assembly. I look forward to working in close partnership with Lois Wolk as she moves to the Senate on saving the Delta, fighting to protect our funds for transportation and our water from ripoffs by Southern California interests, and securing the support to deliver quality healthcare and great schools for the people of our communities and our state.”

This was a very impressive event along the waterfront in Suisun City. The Vanguard will continue closely covering this race.

---Doug Paul Davis reporting