A second Democrat has qualified as a possible contender to state Sen. Jeff Stone in the November mid-term elections.
Anna Nevenic
Her name is a familiar one. It is Anna Nevenic.
The Palm Springs resident is a registered nurse, author, community activist and is no stranger to the election cycle.
Nevenic ran unsuccessfully for state Senate District 40 in a 2013 special election.
In 2014, Nevenic was a Democratic candidate for state Senate District 28 of the California State Senate. She was defeated by Bonnie Garcia (R) and Jeff Stone (R) in the blanket primary on June 3.
Nevenic then became a candidate for the Trustee Area 3 seat on the Palm Springs Unified School District Board of Education. She lost the general election on November 4, 2014.
“I run for the same seat in 2014 and I performed well, although I had no endorsements from politicians, party nor unions and I spend only several thousands of my own money,” Nevenic said in an email response. ” I have a better chance of winning in November than Joy (Silver). Money alone will not do it. I’m a registered nurse and the public at large value nurses. I’m receiving warm reception and people promise to vote for me. I’m working much. much harder this time and I plan to spend more money on advertisement, which I did not do last time. I run twice and the opponents from my party never won in the general election.”
According to her biography on her campaign website, Nevenic is the founder of a non-profit organization – United Children’s Network, author of four non-fiction books, and a life-long community activist supporting organizations that are concerned with children, education, environmental justice and health care reform.
Nevenic is one of three candidates vying for the seat now held by Jeff Stone.
A political newcomer, Joy Silver has already locked down the coveted endorsements of U.S. Democratic Congressman Dr. Raul Ruiz, former Democratic U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, Palm Springs City Councilmember Lisa Middleton, Palm Springs City Councilmember Geoff Kors and scores of others.
And, in what some said could not be done for a political newcomer, Silver, a Democrat, collected nearly $160,000 for her state Senate campaign in the last six months of 2017, outraising Stone by a 3-to-1 margin.
Stone, a Republican, was first elected to the state Senate in 2014. He was a 2016 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. House to represent the 36th Congressional District of California. He lost to Ruiz.
The vast 28th District, which is entirely in Riverside County, stretches from the vineyards of the Temecula Valley to the Colorado River and includes the cities of Blythe, Canyon Lake, Cathedral City, Coachella, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, Lake Elsinore, La Quinta, Murrieta, Temecula, Palm Springs, Rancho Mirage, and Wildomar.
