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Politics & Government

Election 2012: A Confusing Year For Martinez

With a spate of new candidates and changes in the various district lines, next year's elections can be hard to follow.

Elections must be coming. Candidates who will be new to Martinez in next year's campaigns are beginning to appear.

State Sen. Lois Wolk, D-Davis, will appear Tue., Dec. 6 at a lunch sponsored by several community groups at the Campbell Theater, Martinez. Wolk is expected to be the leading candidate to succeed Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, in the Martinez area when his district shifts south and out of Martinez in 2013.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Napa, has at least two receptions scheduled on Sat., Dec. 10, one hosted by Mayor Rob Schroder and his wife, Suzanne. Thompson, a friend of current Martinez Rep. George Miller, D-Martinez, will add the Martinez area north of Highway 4 to his sprawing north coast district in 2013, when Miller's district moves south of the highway. After the election, Miller will continue to represent the south part of the city, as well as the sourrounding unincorporated area where he lives.

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The changes, including changes in district numbering as well as boundaries, are alrready causing considerable confusion among voters. For one thing, the people runnng in 2012 to represent the new districts beginning in 2013 will be overlapping the incumbents serving in the current districts during the campaigns.

All incumbents, at the Congressional, state Senate and Assembly, and county supervisor level, maintain their current seats through the November 2012, election.

Find out what's happening in Martinezwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Confusion has already set in. Lately, it was reported that Supervisor Gayle Uilkema of Lafayette, whose district includes Martinez, was said to have refused to give up her prize office in the County Administration Building on Pine Street to Federal Glover of Pittsburg, whose district in 2013 would include Martinez if he is re-elected. But Uilkema's term goes through 2012, and it seems logicial that she maintain her office for the duration.

There is also the question of whether Glover could have a government-paid office in Martinez during the year in which he is not representing the area. If he wants a presence in Martinez for the June 2013 election, he must open a campaign office in Martinez, but that cannot be financed with public funds or be in a government building.

The only office in which there is no change for Martinez is that of Assemblymember, now held by Susan Bonilla, D-Concord. This part of her district has not changed although the number will change, as it will in all the districts.

In the partisan elections, Democrats Wolk,Thompson , Miller and Bonilla will be heavily favored to be re-elected. Their current districts are heavily Democratic and they are all popular, as they are expected to be in heavily Democratic Martinez.

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