California Governor’s campaign heats up as Darling set to enter race

by David Abbott
Sonoma West Editor


Lowell Darling in Occidental
Lowell Darling recently kicked off his campaign for governor by borrowing his ex-wife’s truck and hauling all of his possessions from Southpoint Self Storage in Sebastopol to Gallery 16 in San Francisco.

‘I took everything and set it in the middle of the gallery,’ Darling said. ‘Forty boxes containing the history of how I became an artist.’

The exhibit is entitled ‘Full Disclosure,’ and the Camp Meeker resident is inviting potential voters to dig through the detritus of his life in order to show he has nothing to hide.

All of Darling’s personal possessions in the U.S. will be on display until March 31, including his first drawing as a child, documents from his 1978 run for governor, and IRS documents proving he is not an artist.

The IRS documents go back to his fight over an $850 deduction the IRS disallowed in the early 1970s because he wasn’t making enough money to be considered an artist. That battle went on for several years as the IRS followed Darling from place to place — he collected a stack of documents several inches high — and was finally resolved when the National Endowment for the Arts gave Darling a $3,000 grant.

‘The IRS was my biggest influence,’ Darling said. ‘I was a conventional artist up to that point, and then I became a conceptual artist.’

His career as a conceptual artist included his ill-fated run against Jerry Brown — who is expected to run again this year, although he has yet to enter the race — performances of ‘urban acupuncture’ to relieve problems in American cities, and stitching together the San Andreas fault to contain earthquakes.

In the ensuing 32 years, Darling has been married four times, fathered two daughters, and spent several years in Europe. His political experience includes a stint on the Salmon Creek school board in the 1990s in Occidental.

Darling believes that running the state isn’t nearly as tough as running a school board.

‘Until you’ve been on a school board, you don’t know politics,’ he said. ‘Lobbyists show up on the playground with their special interests in tow.’

Darling has until March 11 to raise about $3,600 — 2 percent of the governor’s salary — and gather 60 signatures, which worries him more than raising the money due to the scrutiny the signatures receive.

He’ll be his own treasurer and campaign manager, which will help him contain costs, and his campaign will focus on reducing the two-thirds majority rule on state budget issues to a more simple — and in his mind, a more democratic — simple majority.

Until the two-thirds rule is done away with, Darling believes it makes no difference who is governor of the state anyway. Keeping his campaign simple has other advantages for the 67-year-old artist-cum-politician.

‘I decided that whittling it down to one thing would make it easier for me to remember my campaign promises,’ he said. ‘Although I love to make promises. I don’t know how many wings of the governor’s mansion I’ve promised.’

He’s been back from Germany for about a year, and says he’s legally and officially homeless, although he likes not having a base to maintain.

The only reason he has health insurance is because of a stint in the Coast Guard, but he doesn’t see his financial situation as an impediment.

‘It’s just disgusting that government has turned into a business,’ Darling said. ‘The corporations and the government play off of each other. Politicians should be forced to wear logos’ ala NASCAR.

Republican candidate Meg Whitman spent $30 million of her own money on her campaign, according to Lowell, and he figures that if he spends $30, it will have about the same proportional impact on his finances. Therefore, his campaign will be very minimalist. He’ll drive everywhere, won’t go over 40 MPH and will avoid freeways.

‘I like the idea of being the antithesis,’ Darling said. ‘I hate the cost of campaigning.’

Darling admits that his campaign may be absurd, but he thinks that might be the role he’ll play in the election.

‘When I sound no more absurd than them, what does that say?’ he said.

Absurdity aside, Darling did do his stint on a school board, which in his mind makes him infinitely qualified.

Occidental resident Mary Szecsey was on the Salmon Creek school board after Darling but remembers his time there.

She agrees that school boards are very complex and finds the parallels to running the state to be interesting, although she said that school boards are ‘more personal.’

‘Lowell was a great board member and represented the interests of the parents,’ Szecsey said. ‘He’s an interesting guy.’

Full Disclosure will be on display at Gallery 16, 501 Third St., San Francisco, and Darling will be on hand to discuss his work, his campaign, and anything else anyone wants to talk about.

For information, call the gallery at 415-626-7495 or go to the Web site at www.gallery16.com. Darling can be reached at lowell5@sonic.net. For more information, go to lowelldarling.com.

Published in Sonoma West Times & News Wednesday, February 10, 2010 6:39 PM PST