A forum on the general elections to be held on Tuesday, Nov. 4 was held in Raef Hall.
“Gearing up for the General Election” was put on by political science professors Tressa Tabares, Alana Jeydel, and Cynthia Unmack.
Tabares began by discussing which offices are up for election this November, which include all statewide offices including Governor, all State Assembly offices, half of State Senate offices, and the office of U.S. Representative in the House of Representatives.
Prospective voters must register to vote by Oct. 20. In order to register to vote in California, one must be at least 18 years old by the time of the election, a resident of California, not in prison, on parole, or probation for a felony conviction, and not be judged by a court to be mentally incompetent to register to vote.
Voters can vote either in person at a designated polling place, or via mail.
Professor Alana Jeydel discussed tight races around the country, including the race in the seventh congressional district – which covers most of Sacramento county – between congressman Ami Bera, D-Elk Grove, and former congressman Doug Ose, R-Sacramento.
Bera only won the last election by 9,000 votes.
“The district is very evenly split in terms of Republicans versus Democrats,” Jeydel said. “This is an exciting House race. It’s essentially a tie and to be honest it will come to turnout and the weather.”
“If you have any free time in the next month, both of these campaigns are looking for volunteers and interns. I know actually that the Doug Ose campaign contacted me and they’re paying for people to come in in November and do get-out-the-vote work,” she added.
Jeydel said that if Ose could pull out a win, it would benefit “moderate Republicans” around the country.
“Doug Ose is a moderate Republican,” she said. “This sends a message to moderate Republicans that they can win races.”
Jeydel said that the gubernatorial race between Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Oakland, and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Neel Kashkari, R-Laguna Beach, is going to end in a landslide for Gov. Brown.
Cynthia Unmack had predictions for how the election will turn out.
“Voter turnout will be low. Really low,” read a slide she presented.
“If it goes above 40 percent of eligible voters, I told my class I’ll bring cookies,” she said. “I don’t think it will go above 35 percent. There are some people who need a reason to vote.”
Unmack also predicted that the Democrats will sweep the statewide offices.
“There are things that are going to change in California, and it’s going to be interesting – there’s enough on the ballot that you should vote,” she said.