Political Gumbo: We Have Not Endorsed a Candidate

A political mailer that hit mailboxes this week incorrectly listed Pasadena Now as endorsing a candidate in the mayoral race.

Pasadena Now has never endorsed a candidate in a local race, and, to date, we have not endorsed any state propositions or local measures.

We leave that to the voter.

We believe it is our job to provide voters with the information they need, including profiles of candidates and their positions, to make their own decisions.

And we have done everything possible to do just that, although it has not always been easy.

In the primary election, Publisher James Macpherson received a phone call from a local resident saying a challenger had received fewer paragraphs than an incumbent in a profile piece. 

Despite the fact that everyone was given the rules beforehand, we reworked the copy to allow the challenger more paragraphs in order be more equal. It’s the stuff local elections are made of.

And we get it.

Yes, the mayor’s race is extremely important this time around.  Incumbent Terry Tornek wants another term with the gavel, and Councilmember Victor Gordo thinks he is better suited to wield the civic hammer. 

One of them will help lead the city through its economic recovery and will have to lead the council when the bills come due, which is probably sooner than later. 

Have at it. 

Yep, I made endorsements along with PNow Copy Chief Kevin Uhrich for nearly 20 years at the Pasadena Weekly, and I was happy to do so each time. Frankly, that’s what people expected of that once great print product.

It’s not what people expect here, because long before I got here it had been decreed that PNow would take no such positions. 

We have run every endorsement piece from Tornek’s supporters, and we have received and published every one for Gordo.

A month or so ago, the candidates got roughly the same word count in side-by-side stories.

We have also run opinion pieces from each candidate and would be happy to run more.

But at no point did we print a piece claiming an endorsement for either, and the claim that we did an undercover endorsement is as ludicrous a claim as the ones made by critics that each candidate is in somebody’s pocket.

If we wanted to make an endorsement, we would make it our top story and tell you exactly why we made that pick.

In the end, we endorse voting. It’s your city and your choice.