NorCal Voters Turn Back Corporate-backed Campaigns

[villager]

Good news from redwood country...


NorCal Voters Turn Back Corporate-backed Campaigns
PHILO, Calif. -

Voters along California's eclectic north coast beat back two well-funded corporate campaigns, passing the nation's first ban on raising genetically engineered crops or animals and keeping a big-timber-fighting district attorney in office.

Counterculture residents hailed the results of Tuesday's election as vindication of their independent political stances.

The biotechnology industry lost the fight to stop Measure H in Mendocino County, despite spending $500,000 _ five times as much as their opponents.

"They had the money, we had the people," said Els Coopered, who led the fight for the ballot measure.

Biotech foes hope the measure will galvanize similar efforts from Vermont to Hawaii.

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Just north in Humboldt County, District Attorney Paul Gallegos survived a recall election financed mostly by Pacific Lumber Co., which spent more than $200,000 to recall him.

The campaign to unseat Gallegos came after he sued the timber giant, accusing it of falsifying data on landslide risks to get permission to harvest 100,000 redwood trees in a forest it sold to the government for $380 million.

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[twilight]

1. $ can't buy you votes here in no. calif!

Yippee!!! :bounce:

Gallegos survived the corporate recall efforts of big business evil timber companies! They just wasted 1/4 million $ on this effort.

TIMBER COMPANIES OUT OF HUMBOLDT COUNTY!!!!

:dem: :kick:

[Tempest]

3. You can buy votes in CA

The passing of the $15 billion bond measure proves that.

[shanti]

5. but not in ALL counties

i think that was the point.

[Tempest]

6. The bond measure passed in N. CA

He made a blanket statement about buying votes.

[hatrack]

2. All right, Gallegos!!!

This one's for you!

:beer:

[benfranklin1776]

8. I join the toast enthusiastically.

It is always good to see individual voters reject a blatant, attempted corporate hijack of the democratic process. Proof that money does not always buy elections and that voters are not always swayed by slick, snake-oil P.R. pitches.

:toast:

[shanti]

4. i live in the wrong california county

:-(...and would love to live around the folks in mendocino...good going, peeps!

[twilight]

7. voter turnout - the largest in the state!

The voter turnout in Humboldt county was the largest in the State - over 62%!

No RECALL Gallegos = 62%
Yes on the recall = 37%

This is a true victory for our county.

CYL Pacific Lumber!!!

:dem: :kick:

[villager]

9. turnout will be key...

everywhere, come November...