Submitted by San Juan County Our Revolution

The San Juan County branch of Our Revolution, formed in late 2016, endorses candidates that we determine represent a truly progressive platform. For this year’s general election, we have endorsed one candidate, Debra Lekanoff for state representative in the 40th District. Debra is a true progressive who brings a wealth of experience and a fresh perspective, and we heartily support her.

In judicial races, the progressive label is not always particularly relevant. However, based on our analysis of several races and candidates, we do have some recommendations for judge positions:

• State Supreme Court, Position 8 – Steve Gonzalez.

• State Court of Appeals – Cecily Hazelrigg-Hernandez.

• County District Court – Carolyn Jewett.

We also have recommendations on initiatives:

• I-1631 (clean energy) – Yes.

• I-1634 (prohibits taxing soda) – No.

• I-1639 (gun reform) – Yes.

• I-940 (law enforcement de-escalation training) – Yes.

• Advisory Vote 19 – Maintain.

The two county initiative campaigns, both for affordable housing and the Lopez solid waste levy, asked not to be endorsed by political organizations, so we honor their wishes.

In the race for county prosecuting attorney, challenger Nick Power has cast himself as a Democrat, even a Bernie Sanders Democrat. Nick was a delegate for Bernie at the county convention in 2016, but his actions are not progressive. He represents Glen Morgan in suing Democratic local organizations around the state for usually very minor violations of the Public Disclosure Commission. Morgan is trying to put the Democratic Party out of business in Washington, with Nick representing him in several cases. Nick also represents the far-right Freedom Foundation in a suit against the leftwing union SEIU No. 775. Finally, Nick has brought multiple suits against the county, often supporting rightwing property rights interests, and to suddenly have him switch sides to oversee the county’s legal dealings, in our opinion, would be a disaster. Nick Power is not a member of OR, and we do not recommend a vote for him.

The Our Revolution Steering Committee is comprised of Mark Mayer, Sharon Abreu, Learner Limbach, Natalie Menacho, Brad Brown, Linda Bannerman, Caitlin Leck, Keara Axelrod, David Turnoy