CA Voter Guide publishes candidate’s anti-Semitic remarks

By Reuven Taff, especially for CalMatters

This comment was originally posted by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

Guest Comment written by

I recently received a California in the mail Official Voter Information Guide. Before everyone elections of California secretary of state sends voters an official guide explaining measures to vote and run for statewide office. Most Californians accept that the information inside meets at least some minimum standard of decency and truth.

Apparently not.

In the most recent guidegubernatorial candidate filed a declaration packed with antisemitic conspiracy theorieslies about 9/11, demonization of Israel, and rhetoric portraying Jews as manipulative, murderous, and subhuman.

The applicant’s statement was not merely controversial or offensive; he repeats some of the oldest anti-Semitic tropes, including “The planes did NOT destroy the towers. Israel did” and “3,000 killed to create another ‘Pearl Harbor’ to justify waging wars for Israel.”

And the state of California printed it. Wrap it up. Stamped with the seal of an official government publication. He then mailed it to millions of voters at taxpayer expense.

Candidate statements are subject to only two limits: a 250-word limit and no mention of opponents. They are otherwise printed verbatim, without editing for grammar, spelling, or content.

In fact, among all the candidates who submitted voter guidance statements, only this candidate’s statement had a disclaimer: “The views and opinions expressed by the candidates are their own and do not represent the views and opinions of the Office of the Secretary of State.”

This clearly shows that the office recognized the extreme and inflammatory nature of the material.

When I first read the statement, I was stunned. How could this have gotten past California Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office without anyone stopping and saying that this should never appear in an official state voter guide?

So I wrote to Dr. Weber asking what review process exists for applicant statements, whether there are standards beyond word count and formatting, and whether

each evaluates obviously false or hateful material before it is mailed across the country.

Days later came the answer: a copy of Dr. Weber’s letter to Ron Galperin of the American Jewish Committee, who raised many of the same concerns.

Weber’s letter reads less like courageous leadership and more like legal damage control. It relies on procedural explanations and bureaucratic rationalizations while avoiding the larger problem.

The Secretary of State’s office said the current law leaves little room for rejecting applicants’ statements. Maybe that’s true. But leadership is not only measured by what the law allows. Leadership requires judgment to know right from wrong – and courage to draw the line.

Even more troubling was Weber’s claim that the public had an opportunity to challenge the statement during a brief review period before publication. This argument breaks down under common sense. Ordinary Californians don’t spend their days watching election review windows and legal memos. By the time many people found out about the announcement, voter guides had already been mailed out.

Some will argue that this is just the ranting of a fringe candidate with no real chance of getting elected. But that misses the point. The issue is not the candidate’s political viability. Rather, it is the decision of the state of California to package and distribute hate-filled material under the banner of an official government publication.

Anti-Semitism has jumped through California and throughout the country. Jewish students are harassed in colleges. Jewish companies and organizations are targeted. Synagogues like mine — and others across the country — now require armed guards.

Yet when anti-Semitic conspiracy theories surfaced in an official state publication, California’s response boiled down to “Our hands were tied.”

That answer should alarm every Californian, Jewish or not.

Freedom of speech is no excuse for government moral blindness. And protecting the First Amendment should not mean that the state becomes a delivery system for hateful rhetoric.

Weber indicated that her office and state lawmakers are discussing possible reforms. If so, these efforts should continue immediately and publicly.

Because what happened here was not just a bureaucratic failure. He was moral.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Secretary of State Shirley Weber told Calmmatters that condemns anti-Semitism but must uphold free speech rights and a state law that prevents it from rejecting candidates’ statements based on their content.

The candidate, Don Grundman, a retired chiropractor who lives in Santa Clara County, told CalMatters he stands by his statement. He is registered as having no qualified party preference.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.