Spease Science Statement - Republican Elk Grove District 3 candidate distances himself from Trump, party

In a single day where many voters received three mailers from Elk Grove District 3 Republican candidate Kevin Spease, two of which attempted to distance himself from the party leader, President Donald Trump. That message - used by many Democratic candidates across the nation - trust science, not the President's misinformation, when dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Spease is one of five candidates running for the seat being vacated by Steve Detrick and is the only Republican and three Democrats, and one independent. The district has a Democratic registration advantage, and in 2016 overwhelming voted for Hillary Clinton over Trump. 

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One of the mailers has a quote from Spease that says, "I'll rely on science and advice of health care professionals (their emphasis) as we work to re-open Elk Grove." Another mailer, which features Spease with a registered nurse, claims he has been "a leader on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic" and bullet points saying, "we need to use science to determine how we open our community and make testing easy and free."

Although Spease is the only Republican in the District 3 race and the entire ballot for Elk Grove offices, by distancing himself from Trump's unpopular anti-science rhetoric, he could peel some Democratic voters. Additionally, Spease could benefit from multiple Democratic candidates in the District 3 race. 

Among his partisan opponents, Democrat Maureen Craft has made her party affiliation a focal point of her campaign. Yesterday a Democratic voter shared a text message from another Democratic candidate in that race, Amandeep Singh.

Singh said he has been a lifelong Democrat in his text message. Craft has had several text messages from the county party mechanism sent to Democratic voters in the last two weeks.

In Spease's third mailer, there is one line mentioning science and COVID-19. That mailer highlights more typical candidate biographical information.

As of today, many national polls show Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden leading Trump by a significant margin. Many conservative Trump supporters like Sen. Ted Cruz (R - Texas) have expressed concern Trump's unpopularity could negatively affect down-ballot Republican candidates.

Appearing on CNBC's Squawkbox program last week, Cruz said, "I think it could be a terrible election. I think we could lose the White House and both houses of Congress, that it could be a bloodbath of Watergate proportions.”   

For Spease, who has the best financing of the five candidates, distancing himself from the unpopular and deadly COVID-19 policies of Trump and fellow conservatives Republicans in a heavily Democratic district might be the best strategy available.   

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