(April 2) Morongo Unified School District Board Member Karalee Hargrove is running for the California Assembly in the 42nd District, the sole Democratic candidate in a race that features Republicans Chad Mayes and Gary Jeandron.
“I saw that no Democrat and no woman was running and I thought, ‘Why give the seat away to someone who does not represent me?’ I am talking about the issues in the state of California – vocational education, water, economic opportunity  and the need to address how we are going to spend the money that will come available with the budget surplus we are now anticipating. How are we going to backfill the cuts we have made in recent years?  I think we need as a leader someone who has been in the shoes of employees who were furloughed or had to take an eight dollar an hour job because that was all they could get. That is why I thought I would run.”
The district includes a number of desert communities in both San Bernardino and Riverside counties. Included in the district are the cities and communities of Banning, Beaumont, Cabazon,    Calimesa, Cherry Valley, Hemet, Indian Wells, La Quinta, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, and Whitewater in Riverside County and Joshua Tree, Landers, Morongo Valley, Pioneertown, Twentynine Palms, Yucaipa and Yucca Valley in San Bernardino County.
A major issue facing the district, Hargrove said, is what development and regulatory standards are going to be applied to solar power projects in the desert.
“There are a lot of solar farms seeking out our valuable desert land,” she said. Other issues include “creating infrastructure and jobs where people can make prevailing wage, ensuring an adequate water supply and educating students for the workplace.”
“Why do we have so much grass in the desert,” she asked, indicating xeriscaping should be encouraged. “Seventy percent of our water goes to agriculture. We need to devote a larger share of our education to vocationalization. Eighty percent of our high school students do not go to college. How are we preparing those students for real life skills?”
Hargrove said, “The overall state issues I am concerned with are prison overcrowding, housing, water, vocationalizing education.  We invest a tremendous amount of money in educating students and when they hit the age of 18 and get their diploma we cut them loose. We need to focus on job training and not just college readiness. I also believe every child four years old should be put into a preschool setting,”
Hargrove said she understood that she was a Democrat in a district that is predominantly Republican. But she pointed out that sending a Republican to the statehouse to represent the 42nd District will not be beneficial politically, given the heavy majority of Democrats in the legislature. She said she is capable of voicing the concerns of her Republican constituents.
“I’m ready to listen and learn about the issue and take action that the people I will represent feel is important,” she said. “I think it is easier for fellow Democrats to engage with each other than with Republicans. If you send Republicans to Sacramento without bipartisan support you will end up with what we have had for the last several years, which is ineffective representation. We have not had a visible assemblyperson. If I am elected I will put an office into the Morongo Valley. We have had representatives who are very loyal to just those financing their campaign. The only people I have to answer to are the people of the 42nd District. With me, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m not taking money from big money donors. Once in office I will pursue campaign finance reform. We need to stop allowing special interests from buying our representatives’ seats. When we do that we will have fair representation at the state and national level and have people elected on what they can do for and bring to the district and not on how much money they have raised.”
Hargrove contrasted herself with Mayes, an avowed foe of legalized abortion. “When it comes to reproductive rights, women must be able to make decisions for themselves,” she said.
With regard to economic opportunity, she said, “A strong economy is not built completely at the local level. Big things require big involvement. When California borrows money it should not be squandered. Borrowing and tax revenues fluctuate with the highs and lows of economic cycles. When the economy is strong we should be planning to weather the next downturn. Long term planning is more effective than responding to repetitious crises. Government regulation should serve to establish ground rules for fair competition, health, and safety. Legislating preferences for one group over another abuses the role of government.”
She has been endorsed by the  State Democratic Party and the National Women’s Political Caucus of California
Hargrove grew up in Wilmington and obtained her high school diploma at Fayetteville Technical College in North Carolina. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from American University and has a minor in political science and a major in childhood and family development. She is married with five children between the ages of two and 12. She has lived in Twentyine Palms off and on since 2000. Her husband is employed by the Department of Defense and he works at the Twentyine Palms Naval Hospital on the Marine Base.

(April 2) 75-year-old retired truck driver Jerry Laws is running for the state assembly in the 33rd District.
A Republican competing against eight other Republicans and one Democrat, Laws insisted, “I am going to win in landslide. I only have twenty years left and so now is the time to put me in there. We have an attractive lady, a handsome guy and some others running for this office. None of them are as good as me. Vote for me now so you won’t have to vote for yourself.”
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Laws came with his family to Southern California as a youngster. He graduated from Redondo High School and spent one year at El Camino College, the most memorable part of which Laws said was his competing as a member of the water polo team.
In 1957, he joined the Marines. He looked forward to duty oversees and almost shipped out for the Middle East during the Lebanon Crisis, for which his unit was put on standby. He did not actually make it to Lebanon, but got some fulfillment when he did a tour of duty in Panama. He left the Marines but attempted to get back in during the Viet Nam conflict. By that point he was married with children and the Marines demanded that he first get clearance from his first wife, who refused to give it. At the age of 62, in 2001 after the September 11 attacks on Manhattan and the Pentagon, Laws tried to reenlist. The Marines rejected him on the basis of his age.
Laws carries with him the soldier’s commitment to his country, which informs his ambition toward elective office.
“I certainly believe in God, county, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Laws said. “I was a commercial truck driver with all of the qualifications. My last job was with  Westwood Building Material in Inglewood and Manhattan Beach. Early on I worked as a county lifeguard, including at Will Rogers Park.”
Laws  proudly proclaimed that he was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and  insisted that he embodied the elements of his faith.
“”For me, the promised land is the top of Canada to the bottom of South America,” he said. “I’m here and I am committed to defend my country my  way.  I’d like to see a flat tax rate in California. We can’t get the feds to do it.  I want the federal land in California turned back to the state. Right now the federal government will not let states drill or put pipelines in or anything along that line. The states made the government. The government did not make the states. There is a mine up in Calico. I asked our county  supervisor a while back why we could not use that mine for silver or borax. I said  we could use it to pay our bills and we could do it without messing with the ghost town around it, which is a historic site. Inyo County  was using its gold mines to pay their bills. The federal government should return most of what it took over back to the states. To join the United States the states, which were territories at the time, gave up a lot of land. My main goals are to protect the Constitution and the Second Amendment and the right to bear arms.  It is very simple. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights says the right to bear arms shall not be infringed. Get a dictionary and read what infringed means. Look at U.S. Code Title Ten Section 311. I don’t care who you are, the president of the United States or the governor or the legislature or the county sheriff or the mayor,  you are to pass no laws to restrict guns. I figure I’ve got 20 years left and let’s see if we can’t defend our states’ rights and the Second Amendment. I don’t have a lot of money behind me but I have the support of five or six gun clubs. They’ll help me out. I’m making this run in the largest county and in my first tour of duty I want to make it the most God fearing county in the country. This country is great and free because of the Constitution and the Second Amendment. No one has ever invaded this country. They attacked Hawaii but they didn’t come ashore because our citizens have weapons. We have good families and good people of all backgrounds living here. We have fought wars. Those soldiers did not fight for all this nonsense we have going on now. The federal government is too large. The size of our governments is opposite of what it should be. We need to get the federal government out of our pockets and out of our lives. The local government should be the largest.  The next largest should be the county government. The next largest should be the state government. The federal government should be real small.”
Laws took a deep breath and continued, “This is the Promised Land. I don’t think we need to bring  people into our state. They can stay in their own country. We need to get people working again. We can get people working again. We have plenty of land, plenty of resources. We need to get back to the basics. I am not going to make promises I can’t keep. Take the delta smelt. We are going to have a food shortage . We are short of water because of some little smelt The Lord gave us authority over the all of the creatures and animals of the earth. We are to use the land and water for ourselves. We own the land. We own the mines. We own the oil. The Constitution and Bill of Rights gives us the right to do what is best for ourselves. Enough is enough!”
Married twice, Laws has  nine adult children, 27 grandchildren and  25 great grandchildren  “I  want to leave them a legacy,” he said. “They think I am crazy for running. I tell them, ‘It takes a few years to make a good prophet. It took a few years to make a good Constitution. It’ll take me a few years to become a politician but you will be proud of my service.’ I tell them, ‘If the Savior doesn’t come back by the time I’m elected, you may want to study history.’”