Voters aren't showing much excitement over the June 3 election, apart
from a race to replace Supervisor Yvonne B. Burke in Los Angeles
County's 2nd District. Turnout is expected to be light. Many who do
vote will do so by mail, beginning today. It is a stealth election,
providing an opportunity to a dangerous candidate with a small but
dedicated following of people who make it a point to vote when others
don't bother.
This year it's more serious. Los Angeles voters, if they don't pay
attention, could hand judicial robes to a racial separatist who called for
restricting U.S. citizenship to persons "of the European race" and
deporting blacks, Asians, Latinos and others who don't meet his racial
criteria.
The candidate is Bill Johnson. Under the name James O. Pace, he wrote the
racial exclusion as a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution and a 1985
book supporting it. Under the name Daniel Johnson, he ran a losing race for
Congress in Wyoming in 1989 with a Ku Klux Klan organizer as his campaign
manager. As William Johnson, he ran a losing race for Congress in Arizona in
2006. He now may have found a race he can win, unless voters here find out who
he is.
The Times on April 21 endorsed Johnson's opponent, Los Angeles Superior Court
Commissioner James Bianco, because Bianco is experienced and impressive and
because Johnson was secretive about his past and about his role in a
questionable campaign to remove six Latino judges from the court. Now the Metropolitan News-Enterprise, a newspaper that reports on courts and the legal
community, has put together the rest of the pieces on Johnson.
Johnson has been active in the Ron Paul for president campaign (he says his
views on race now are identical to Paul's) and is relying on Paul supporters to
rally for him. They just might do it, making it more important than ever for
voters to act -- and to choose Bianco.
Here is a direct link to the Met News round-up on Johnson's record: "White Supremacist Is in Contest With Court Commissioner." Scroll down for the section on Johnson.
