Voting for or against? Valley voters pick sides as ballots arrive
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (KESQ) Ballots for the Nov. 3 election began arriving in Coachella Valley mailboxes this week, and polling shows many voters plan to use them against a candidate rather than for one.
A national NPR/PBS News/Marist poll conducted Sept. 14-15 found 45% of registered voters say their vote for Congress is a vote against President Donald Trump. About a quarter said their vote is in support of the president. The survey of 1,280 adults has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.
In California, a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll conducted Sept. 15-20 found 37% of likely voters list fighting Trump administration policies as a top issue, second only to the cost of living at 44%. Among supporters of Democratic gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, it was the top issue, at 59%. Supporters of Republican Steve Hilton most often cited reducing taxes, at 62%. The poll of 4,512 likely voters, funded in part by the Los Angeles Times, has a margin of error of about 2 percentage points.
Elle Kurpiewski of the Democratic Headquarters of the Desert said she is not surprised, pointing to gas prices, grocery prices and the war with Iran.
"I think people are voting against a party, and they're voting against the Republican Party, because the leadership of the Republican Party has let the American people down," Kurpiewski said.
Joy Miedecke of the East Valley Republican Women Patriots said the election should be about process, not vengeance.
"You hate Trump and so you're going to slit your own throat. That's what's happening," Miedecke said. She said Republicans are voting for their candidates, including Hilton for governor and Herb Morgan for state controller.
Not everyone is voting against. A woman who stopped by Democratic headquarters for a Raul Ruiz yard sign said she supports the congressman because of his record.
"I think he's very sensible. He knows a lot about health. He knows a lot about the environment," she said. "And I think he is far from corrupt."
Ruiz, a Democrat, represents the 25th Congressional District and faces Republican Joe Males in November.
The president added to the debate Monday at a campaign rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, where he argued high gas prices are the cost of the war with Iran.
"It's a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping our country safe. They can take out a city. ... Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego. This is a very small price to pay, and it's going to be over very soon," Trump said.
The White House said the president was misunderstood and was making the case for stopping Iran from ever being able to attack U.S. cities with a nuclear weapon.
Republican Jim Desmond and Democrat Marni von Wilpert, the candidates in the 48th Congressional District, which now includes Palm Springs, both criticized the remark. Desmond, a Navy veteran, said on social media he served to protect Americans, not to write off cities as a cost of war.
Kurpiewski also urged voters to skip the mail.
"The post office is a wonderful place. But with this election, we're asking, urging, pleading. Go to a drop box," she said.
Under a U.S. Postal Service rule that took effect Dec. 24, a postmark does not necessarily reflect the day mail was dropped off. California counts a mailed ballot if it is postmarked by Nov. 3 and received by Nov. 10. The secretary of state advises anyone mailing a ballot on Election Day to get a hand-stamped postmark from a clerk inside a post office.
Riverside County's ballot drop-off sites opened Oct. 5 at city halls, libraries and community centers across the valley. City hall sites are open during regular business hours. Most others are open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All sites are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.
