I’ve had a chance to talk to both candidates in this race and I, too, have come to the conclusion that Ms. Atkins is best equipped to serve the constituents of the 76th Assembly district.

While Mr. Denney seems to be a good man who is concerned with waste in the state bureaucracy, I don’t believe that he has a strong enough understanding of all of the factors affecting budget decisions at the state level. By his own admission in the comment above, he works full-time and doesn’t have a great deal of time to commit to running a campaign and to learning about the intricacies of administering and funding the state of California.

Ms. Atkins, on the other hand, has spent the past 10 years learning the ins and outs of public policy on the front lines of not just the LGBT community, but of the San Diego community at large. In conversations with her and in my own research, I have found her policy positions and her voting record to be consistently admirable. There have been two notable controversies surrounding her 8 years on the City Council, the most well-known of which has been addressed several times in the comments above. The project at 301 University would have brought jobs and housing to Hillcrest at a time when both were in demand. There was a groundswell of what I think George Carlin would call NIMBYism amongst those who lived nearby the proposed site of the project, which eventually sank a project that would have brought millions of dollars to businesses in the district. I believe that Ms. Atkins supported this project because she believed it to be in the best interest of her constituents.

The fact that the Publisher of this newspaper can overlook his many past disagreements with Ms. Atkins and so strongly endorse her over Mr. Denney only reinforces my belief that she is the right candidate for the job.

As a longtime Democrat, I, too, will be forced to vote Republican for our representative from the 76th Assembly. The San Diego Democratic party failed us by putting this candidate forward. I’ve given her my vote and money in the past, but I just can’t support Toni Atkins this time around.

She did not represent us well. Remember 301 University? She voted for it. Hillcrest had to sue the city to stop this development, and they won. Toni is definitely a developers politician, don’t let that sweet drawl fool you.

And then there’s the pension mess... don’t get me started.

Unless another blue party candidate (or an Independent one) steps up with a write-in campaign, I’ll be checking an “X” for Ralph Denney.

ABT=Anybody But Toni

Every candidate deserves fair consideration, and ultimately I agree with the publisher, that Toni’s service to the community is unmatched. Even better, I have noted Toni and Ralph interacting respectfully, and really doubt that the publisher’s message represents Toni’s own feelings or words at all.

I support Toni because I share her values and it is critical to have representatives that share our values in the legislature to ensure that, no matter what specific issues come along, my voice will be heard. Secondly, I worked with her when she was the Buget Committee Chair at the City of San Diego and found her to be thoughtful, pragmatic and analytical. She is a smart and sincere woman who will do her best to improve our state.

As a member of the gay community, I cannot support Atkins. Her role in that 301 University project, as the above commenter referred to, completely soured me on her as an elected official.

The community didn’t want it. Despite lobbying efforts by me and other members of the community, she still voted for it. That action told me and countless others that she’s in public service for the money. As long as special interests give her cash or if she personally profits from the project, she’ll vote on it.