06/13/2026
Happy Saturday Morning and THANK YOU! I awakened this morning in God's country, and decided to take a moment under this magnificent oak tree to write a message of thanks! After yesterday's update on the vote count, plus the fact that there are virtually no votes left to count, it is obvious that I am going to fall short of my goal to become your next Treasurer. I missed it by less than 1% of the vote. Just a couple hundred votes short out of 45,000 votes cast by Torrance residents. I know a lot of you are disappointed, as I am. I did want to continue my service to the City as your Treasurer. But my alternate plan isn't so bad... To have more free time for fun and adventure (and pickleball!).
I will continue to serve our community as a volunteer board member for the Torrance-South Bay YMCA as well as the Salvation Army Torrance Corps. I also look forward to my newest effort as an advisory board member of the Western Museum of Flight. I continue to serve the City as a Commissioner on the Historic Preservation Commission, and as member of the wonderful Torrance Sister City Association (not to be confused with the Friendship City program I do NOT support). And I will continue to fight the State via my group California Cities For Local Control. The over-reaching housing bills that are negatively affecting all our communities are not the way to solve the affordable housing crisis! As you can see, service to the community for me doesn't end when the campaign is over!
And most importantly, I must THANK all the wonderful people who did support me in this effort. All the financial contributions (I'm honored that I had the highest percentage of money raised from Torrance Residents of ANY candidate in all the Torrance races), all the volunteer precinct walkers, and those who did their own outreach to others in my support. I had my own wonderful cheerleading squad of great people rooting for me! How lucky am I?!
I could second guess who or what to blame for coming up short. Would more money have done it? Would a better position on the ballot have made the difference? What would have happened if Torrance had runoffs between the top 2 finishers? But none of that will change the outcome now. We live with the cards we are dealt. Politics can be rough. As we all know, we don't always get what we want.
The campaign for me was so enjoyable - to receive all the support from so many in the community is so heartwarming. No outcome can ever take that feeling away. I have made so many friends along the way. What a wonderful life! What a wonderful community!
I look forward to continue to see you all again soon! THANK YOU!
Now, my good friend has a boat on the lake waiting for me.... See you soon!
With much gratitude! Mike