By Mary O’KEEFE

Get ready – we are quickly approaching election season 2024. Although campaigning has already begun there is a process that must be followed before a person can be declared an official candidate; simply stating they are running for office is not enough.

Candidates are required to file completed paperwork at the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk headquarters on or before 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 8.

Becoming a candidate is a process that includes creating a candidate statement that is truthful and not misleading; candidates must submit nomination papers and must have a number of signatures from registered voters. The necessary number of signatures depends on the office for which the candidate is declaring. The candidate must also be a registered voter at the time of nomination.

The interest in this coming election is expected to be high not simply because it is a Presidential year but because the division in America is high – not just between parties but also within parties. However, it does appear that although among voters there is interest there is also burnout.

According to an October survey from the Pew Research Center, two-thirds of Americans say politics are “exhausting.” This survey polled over 13,000 Americans in June and July.

Locally almost all races will be watched closely because there are many incumbents who have chosen not to run again while familiar representatives are running for new offices. Congressman Adam Schiff is running for the Senate seat that was long held by the late Diane Feinstein, which opens up his District 30 Congressional seat where familiar faces like State Senator Anthony Portantino and Assemblymember Laura Friedman are bidding to take his Congressional place. This in turn opens up Portantino’s State Senate District seat and Friedman’s Assembly 44 seat. Both of those seats will be hotly contested.

About our coverage: CVW will begin its election coverage next week and will continue to the March 2024 primary election and on to the November 2024 general election. CVW takes a different approach to interviewing candidates; we do not report on hate speech or candidates’ opinions of their opponents. We think there is enough of that back and forth rhetoric on the campaign trail. We think our readers want to know what candidates plan to do if elected. How will they add to the growth and integrity of the office they are campaigning for? How will they help not just the larger community they would represent but local communities as well? We will ask the interviewees fact-based questions and we expect fact-based answers. We believe in the intelligence of our readers – once they get the factual information they can make up their own minds as to who they will vote for. We do believe that in this sometimes hostile climate anyone who is running for any office deserves respect.