On June 5th the score card on who will be the contenders for the gubernatorial race in California will be set in print. While there are 27 candidates vying for this coveted role, only 2 will be chosen by voters. All recent polls indicate that Lt. Governor. Gavin Newsom will be one of those candidates.

As California works on a jungle primary system, the runoff can technically result in a race between two candidates from the same party. Political observers who have been watching this primary closely, believe that should the Republican John Cox edge past the primary, it will take a miracle for him to beat the staunch anti-Trump Gavin Newsom in a heavily democratic State. If the former ​ ​Los Angeles mayor, Antonio Villarigosa prevails in today’s primary, we can anticipate a battle between the two democrats, Gavin Newsom and Antonio Villaraigosa.

As far as their views on education, Newsom has emphasized a campaign promise to work toward universal preschool in the state, and wants a greater focus on investing in early childhood education and care for the first three years of a child’s life. He also wants to launch college savings accounts for all incoming kindergarten students in the state. Newsom would also guarantee two free years of community college tuition for California students, and says he would work toward reducing the cost of higher education to relieve student debt.

Villaraigosa has also made education a central plank of his campaign platform. A proponent of charter schools, Villaraigosa’s bid for governor has been richly supported by millions of dollars from advocates of such campuses. The former L.A. mayor, who famously took on teachers’ unions while in office, would move to increase funding and access to charter schools for low-income students.

Both candidates are going to have to face the issue of more affordable housing. Newsom wants developers to build 3.5 million homes from when he takes office through 2025, which would be an unprecedented building boom compared with modern California history. This would greatly benefit the Jewish population which is growing at a more rapid rate. He wants a fivefold increase in a state tax credit to finance low-income housing, bringing the state budget cost to $500 million a year. And Newsom supports eliminating regulations that he contends make it difficult for developers to produce middle-income homes. Newsom is against the potential rent control ballot measure and believes that the Costa-Hawkins law should be changed to add more renter protections.

Like Newsom, Villaraigosa calls for building 3.5 million new homes through 2025. He wants to create a new version of a program that allows cities and counties to set aside some property tax dollars to help finance low-income housing. And he plans to set up a $10-billion revolving loan fund to help homeowners convert garages into separate houses or build stand-alone second units in their backyards.

Villaraigosa is against the potential rent control ballot measure and says that he would use potential changes to Costa-Hawkins as a bargaining chip in a larger package of policies to address housing affordability.

Philanthropist S​c​hlomo Rekni​tz has met with Lt. Governor Newsom and is clearly a staunch supporter. As the President of the largest Jewish day school in Los Angeles and one of the most influential members of the Orthodox Jewish community, his support should heavily impact the orthodox Jewish vote in Los Angeles County but would have no bearing in Northern California.

We should utilize our ability to select our representatives in Government. “It’s easy to complain when the politicians are on the other side of issues that matter to our communities” says Stanley Treitel, Director of FSCHI a Los Angeles based political activist think tank, “today is your opportunity to have your voice heard, your choices will impact the future leaders in our wonderful State. The most important thing is to just get out and vote”.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)