To the extent Santa Barbara ever had a monolithic Democratic Party “machine” remains open to debate; what’s becoming clearer by the day, however, is the extent to which the local Democratic Party is riven by many of the same generational and ideological fissures that define its national counterpart. This became obvious with the outpouring of filing statements submitted by candidates running for three of the county supervisorial seats in this March’s election, not to mention the packed house vying for the South Coast’s soon-to-be vacant seat in the State Assembly.
Most obvious is the intraparty food fight now picking up steam for 1st District supervisor between incumbent Das Williams and challenger Laura Capps, both card-carrying progressive Democrats. Where Williams enjoys stronger ties within the party establishment and the unions, Capps — a member of the Santa Barbara school board — has long enjoyed strong support from the local women’s movement.
The putative pinch point that propelled Capps into this race is cannabis and the extent to which — she claims — Williams and the county supervisors opened their arms too wide and too fast to a new industry that has yet to get its odor issues in check. Capps is pushing to place new limits on campaign donations, charging that such contributions give special interests undue access and influence.