Bee/Sun-Star endorsement: Here is the best choice to lead 27th District in state Assembly

The four candidates who competed in the June primary for Assembly District 27 have been whittled down to two — Democrat Esmeralda Soria and Republican Mark Pazin.

In the primary, The Bee Editorial Board recommended Soria, and she finished first with 40.1% of the votes despite having another Democratic opponent. Finishing second was Pazin, with 35%, who also had to contend with a challenger from his party.

The Editorial Board conducted a new interview with both candidates, and determined that little has changed since the spring. If anything, the differences between Soria and Pazin have grown sharper.

On abortion

One of the biggest issues on the fall ballot is Proposition 1, which would amend the state Constitution to guarantee women’s reproductive services, including abortion. Soria is for it. While Pazin does not oppose it, he does not endorse it, either.

“I do believe there is fundamental right to privacy that individuals deserve,” Soria said. “Women should have the freedom to choose in their own privacy, with their family and their doctor.”

“Whatever the voters decide. It is just like any other law,” said Pazin. “Whatever is the will of the people, that is where we will go.”

Similarly, Soria embraces the goal set by Gov. Gavin Newsom that by 2035, all new cars sold in the state will be electric, not gas powered. She tempers her support by explaining that working families in the San Joaquin Valley may need government help to afford such vehicles, which currently are more expensive than most conventional cars and trucks.

Asked if he backs Newsom’s plan, Pazin responds quickly: “Absolutely not.” He does not see evidence that the Democrat-led state government is developing a comprehensive strategy for achieving that first-in-the-nation goal.

The Editorial Board gave high marks to Soria in the spring for her record of backing new housing projects in her city council district in Fresno. She continues to favor creating strategies like trust funds to help first-time buyers and lower-income residents purchase homes.

Pazin, by contrast, wants to scale back the various regulations that home builders must meet to construct new housing. While a standard talking point for Republicans, there is new impetus in California today to relax standards so new housing can be built. How much that might reduce the cost of a home remains unknown.

One-party rule

In the interview, Pazin brought up an often-voiced GOP criticism of California today: Democrats holding supermajority control of state government.

“We have to get away from one-party rule and bring people to the table to negotiate something more reasonable regarding regulations,” Pazin said.

If the GOP’s proposals and candidates were more acceptable, Democrats would not have the dominance they enjoy in Sacramento today.

Instead, in the 27th District, Pazin is fighting uphill. Forty-three percent of voters are registered as Democrats, compared with the GOP’s 27% share. No-party preference is third with 22.5% of voters.

District 27 covers western Fresno County, most of Madera County and all of Merced County. The largest number of voters are in Merced County.

Bee Editorial Board’s view

Pazin formerly served as Merced County sheriff, then worked under Republican and Democratic governors as the head of the law enforcement branch of the state Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento. So he could likely legislate in a bipartisan way.

But while courteous and even-tempered, Pazin tends to answer in generalities. For example, he wants Valley farmers to have more water for their crops. But he offers no precise ideas on how to achieve that long-sought goal of agriculture.

Soria, by contrast, speaks in specifics and is a student of policy who is one of the best prepared Fresno council members.

As the daughter of farm workers, she has a life experience similar to many residents of the 27th District. Soria went to college and then got a law degree before becoming a councilmember.

She has enough sense of place that she won’t forget the Valley if voters send her to Sacramento. The Bee Editorial Board recommends her for the 27th District.