San Anselmo - Fairfax 2012 Election Guide

As we look ahead to November’s elections, San Anselmo-Fairfax Patch is devoted to bringing you the information you need about every race in town. In some ways it's a light election, with no City Council or Ross Valley School District board of trustees seats up for election.

There is, however, the race to fill the big shoes of the retiring Rep. Lynn Woolsey and represent Marin and much of the North Bay in the 2nd District in U.S. Congress.

Here's our start on the candidates and issues we'll be covering as November draws near. Bookmark this page for updates.

Jared Huffman: The San Rafael Democrat will be running against Dan Roberts for  of the U.S. House of Representatives. Huffman came in first place in the June 5 primary and his top issues he'd like to pursue if elected are job creation and economic growth, healthcare reform and education.

Read more about Jared Huffman.

Previous coverage:

Huffman Top Vote-Getter for Woolsey's Seat

Dan Roberts: A Republican from Tiburon, Roberts won second place in the primary and will be going up against Huffman for Woolsey's seat. Roberts' key issues are cutting federal spending to balance the budget and less federal government involvement.

Previous coverage:

Michael Allen: This Democrat won the top spot for a seat in the 10th District in the California State Assembly. Allen recently moved to San Rafael when his district, which included Napa County as well as parts of Sonoma and Solano counties, was split by a state commission. His top issues he's like to pursue if he is elected are solving California's budget deficit, creating great public schools, supporting higher education and protecting the environment.

Marc Levine: The San Rafael City Council member and Democrat won the second spot in the June 5 election for the Assembly. Levine joined the San Rafael City Council in 2009 and has voted on several hot button issues including , the and . The main issues he would like to focus on if elected are fixing the budget, creating job opportunities, the environment, education and reducing the influence of special interests in Sacramento.

Previous coverage:

Proposition 28: This proposition, which passed with 61 percent of the vote in the primary, reduces the total amount of time a person may serve in the state legislature from 14 years to 12 years. It allows a person to serve a total of 12 years either in the Assembly, the Senate or a combination of both and applies only to legislators first elected after the measure is passed. Some say that the current term limit law places a barrier to change in the government's representative body, while others say Prop 28 is the work of special interests to trick voters into weakening term limits.

Read more about Prop 28

Marin Healthcare District - Two seats for the board that oversees the nonprofit entity that owns Marin General Hospital are up for election in the fall.

Marin Municipal Water District -  Two MMWD seats are open this fall, including that of District 5, currently held by Larry Russell, which includes parts of Larkspur and Corte Madera, Tiburon, Belvedere, Mill Valley, Sausalito and Marin City. The seat for District 2, which is currently represented by Armando Quintero and includes much of San Rafael, is also up for election in the fall.