This is part 4 of my series discussing the progressive electoral failure of the Democratic Party over the last six years. There’s other stuff I’d like to talk about, so I think I’ll wrap this discussion up (for the time being) in today’s column. I’ve said before in this space that the most defining characteristic […]
Matt Talbot: Yet more about the 2016 election
In this series, I’m attempting to analyze the source of the decline of the Democratic Party — and not just Hillary Clinton’s defeat last month, but the broader and more comprehensive decline experienced by the Democratic Party that began in 2010 and that has gotten steadily worse since then – and lay out a roadmap […]
Matt Talbot: More thoughts on the 2016 election
In last week’s column, I said that the Democratic Party has been losing elections because it is not doing enough for working class voters: “Notice I didn’t say, white working class. I said working class, period – of every ethnicity. Let me define what I mean by working class: ‘people living the usual situation of […]
New city councilmembers sworn in at Tuesday’s meeting
At the second part of its two-part meeting Tuesday, the city council swore in its newly-elected members, heard brief acceptance speeches and approved its meeting calendar for 2017. Mayor Elizabeth Patterson also announced that the meeting would be adjourned in memory of Benicia artist and musician Travis Hough, who perished in the recent Ghost Ship […]
Incoming, outgoing elected official reception preceded two-part council meeting Tuesday
The city council hosted a reception Tuesday to allow the public an opportunity to meet and greet incoming and outgoing elected officials. The regularly scheduled city council meeting, held in two parts, immediately followed the reception. The 7 p.m. meeting began with a dedication by Mayor Elizabeth Patterson to the victims of the recent […]
Mark Hughes: Reflections from a grateful candidate
By Mark Hughes Special to the Herald It now appears that most of the votes have been counted for the Benicia mayoral election, and unfortunately for me, the results were not what I had hoped. Losing such a close election stings a bit, but I am so proud of the campaign that I ran. I […]
Poetry Corner: Peter Bray “After the election…”
After the election, I grieved like a puppy that had lost its tail, heard the acceptance and concession speeches and went on my way to see a customer, scheduled new work and then headed to Nation’s for breakfast. Good luck, World and America, your new boy thinks Global Warming is a hoax, his majority colleagues […]
Monica Brown defeats Ioakimedes for county supervisor seat, Rep. Thompson steadily re-elected, and other races
Mike Ioakimedes, a former Benicia planning commissioner and city councilmember, lost his bid to serve on the Board of Supervisors for Solano County’s second district. Instead, that seat will go to Solano Community College board Trustee Monica Brown, who received 53 percent of the vote to Ioakimedes’ 45 percent. In other races affecting Benicia, the […]
BREAKING: Elizabeth Patterson narrowly elected to third term as mayor of Benicia
Steve Young elected to council; Tom Campbell to serve fourth term; Christina Strawbridge defeated for re-election After what turned out to be a very tight race, mayoral candidate Mark Hughes conceded the election Wednesday to Mayor Elizabeth Patterson, who will serve her third term through 2020. Patterson said the call was very gracious, and “he […]
With all precincts reporting, Elizabeth Patterson maintains slight lead in mayoral race
Steve Young and Tom Campbell leading in city council race As of Wednesday morning with all precincts reporting, Mayor Elizabeth Patterson has a slight lead over her opponent Mark Hughes. Patterson currently possesses 50.37 percent of the vote to Hughes’ 49.33 percent. The Solano County Registrar of Voters has identified one overvote and 528 undervotes. […]