Dirk Langer
for Governor
… for a future we all deserve !
California is the most successful state in the Union and the 4th largest economy in the world.
We have a vibrant economy.
Our world-class education is coveted.
We are a driver of worldwide technical innovation.
Our diverse immigrant communities are enabling our leadership position in the world like no other place.
At the same time we are at the cusp of fundamental changes in the way we work, to our environment, and in society and politics, all of which require forward-looking thinking and that we address head-on the challenges we are facing. We cannot rest on our laurels but must constantly strive to do better.
I strongly believe in the important role of government, within limits that guarantee our individual freedoms and privacy.
What keeps us together as a society is a government that sets the rules within which individuals, businesses, and government, work together to create opportunities and a fair and level playing field.
Government exists not for its own purpose, but to take on those tasks that cannot be done by the individual or a business.
California’s population has grown from about 6 million people in the 1960s to over 40 million today. Both government bureaucracy and regulations h ave grown with it, to the point of preventing the efficient and cost-effective administration of goverment. It often takes years, with many cost overruns, before anything can get done. This can only be changed by keeping taxes steady and predictable. The solution is not always more spending and bigger government.
As governor, my focus will be on housing, education, healthcare, taxation, and criminal justice reform. I will work as a Servant of the People, with everyone, and “across the aisle”, as they say, with all lawmakers.
Vote on June 2nd, 2026
My
6-point plan
for California
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Our current tax system needs to be reformed. It gives privileges to a few, burdens many and does not provide predictable year over year income on which to consistently plan a state budget.
Property taxes are too high. They should reflect the cost of services provided by municipalities to households and not be based on an arbitrary property value.
Public Schools need to be well funded in each community and should rely on a stable tax base. There are complex issues that need to be addressed to break up encrusted structures.
I would push for a tax reform plan under the advice of a panel of international economists and experts that ensures a sustainable tax burden for individuals, encourages business investments while sustaining our education system and government services.
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Housing costs in California have always been expensive, but have skyrocketed in the last decade for both, home owners and renters. The reasons are many and it is an issue where government can stimulate the housing market through regulatory and tax reform.
Specifically we need to ensure the availability of affordable housing in each community.
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We are the most advanced country in the world with high class medical knowledge and technology. Yet we fail to deliver affordable health care to the majority of the population. Our health care costs are several times higher than that of other industrialized nations. Unaffordable health care is the same as no health care. Access to affordable health care is not a privilege, but a fundamental necessity for a healthy population and something that affects everyone.
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We hear the constant drum beat of tough on crime, public safety and national security as an excuse for ever more government intrusion into our lives that has done very little to address the underlying issues. A punitive 2-tier justice system that is fundamentally broken, in conjunction with bad laws, leads to a ballooning prison population that feeds a for-profit private industrial prison complex. These are the wrong incentives !
This must change and the management of California prisons must be taken away from for-profit corporations.
The goal must be to keep people out of prison, not put more and more people into prison. Violations of the law must be punished, of course, and law enforcement needs to be equipped accordingly. But arrest and prison is not always the answer. Especially for non-violent low level offenders there are other methods available. We have a prison population per capita that is similar to Russia, but our system is totally ineffective in reducing crime and ensuring that people do not relapse once they come out.It also cannot be that prisons are used to house people with mental health issues instead of providing proper treatment plans.
» READ MORE ABOUT MY IDEAS: CRIMINAL JUSTICE & PRISON SYSTEM REFORM
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A top class education system is a fundamental necessity for a vibrant successful economy and quality of life. There is room for improvement in California to provide an excellent basic education for every child with later opportunities in secondary education, be it college, trade school or university. The children are our future and our teachers are the basis and key stone of the education system. Far too often, teacher compensation is disproportionately low and this needs to be adjusted.
Furthermore, Schools have to be held accountable for performance.
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We are the most industrialized country, yet, we are the only one that does not have any high speed trains, which provide a fast, economical and environmentally friendly mode of transportation.
California has been trying without much success so far. In the last ten years, China has built over 15,000 miles of high speed rail. We have not completed a single operational mile since high speed rail was approved by voters in 2008.
Just for comparison, from San Francisco to Los Angeles, the current fastest Amtrak train takes 9h 35m, by car it is about 6h, by high speed train it would be 2h 40m, by plane 1h 30m.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 1
Tax reform
1.
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California taxes are too high
Ensure a sustainable tax base for budgetary planning that provides fundamental government services and education.
Property tax reform including commercial property taxes
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Fair taxation across all income and wealth levels is a necessity. At the same time you need to ensure to keep a tax environment that encourages job creation and business investments.
Property taxes in California are driven by Prop 13. However, due to flaws in the law, specifically the stipulation that property values reset to the current market value when a property is sold has led to a wildly distorted tax base, which burdens prospective private home buyers and discourages real estate transactions. Specifically many commercial properties have not seen reassessments in decades, enjoying a tax benefit that is elusive for private home owners.
My plan is to implement an across the board reassessment of all private and commercial properties and from that create a new base value that ensures the correct relative value between all properties. The base value would be calculated as a percentage factor of the current assessed market value.
A further stipulation would be that the total property tax revenue in a county needs to be within a ± 1% margin of the current revenue.
A reassessment should be done every 5 years for adjusting the relative base values.
For property owners age 55 and older on a fixed income, the property is capped at a maximum percentage of income (to be determined).
This policy ensures a fair distribution of property tax across all property owners, while protecting property owners on fixed incomes from skyrocketing tax payments.Further Reading:
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Tax reform is a complex topic that most people do not want to address.
I will push for a comprehensive tax reform that benefits all and not just a few.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 2
Affordable Housing
2.
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High cost of housing
Limited supply of affordable housing
New construction faces regulatory obstacles and high permitting costs
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In recent years efforts were made to stimulate additional housing construction through increased permitting of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). While this is a worthwhile effort, California’s housing crisis cannot be solved by building more garden cottages.
Overall, zoning laws have to be modified to allow for more mixed use, commercial/residential, and multistory, multifamily homes.
Other factors contributing to high construction costs need to be reviewed and deregulated where feasible.
The situation in California where people work in communities where they cannot afford to live and have to commute for hours each day is not sustainable.
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My focus will be on changing zoning regulations to allow for mixed-use while still protecting historic spaces and nature.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 3
Health Care
3.
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Health Care is facing skyrocketing costs, making it essentially unaffordable unless you are on a company health care plan
Many people are still not covered by health insurance
Uninsured people are forced to use Emergency Room services which is the most expensive healthcare and already paid by the tax payer
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Single Payer Universal Healthcare is still the best solution to provide basic health care coverage for all people.
A broad base of contributors keeps the overall costs down.
The arguments against single payer say that it limits choice, but in the current system we also have limited choice between in-network and out-of-network providers.
Another argument against is that it would stifle innovation due to costs caps. However, this is a false argument because innovative research can be financed on a separate track. -
Our health care system issues are cost and insurance.
I will not hesitate to take on the health insurance companies to provide affordable health care, cut administrative costs and create efficiencies to match world standards.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 4
Criminal Justice and Prison System Reform
4.
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California’s prison system is run by for-profit, private corporations which are incentivized to maximize the number of incarcerated people and minimize costs
Focus is still on punishment, which leads to more crime, rather than rehabilitation.
Too much focus is put on arrests rather than crime-prevention.
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The for-profit incentive to increase the prison population is a high burden on the tax payer, on society and does not promote public safety.
A first step would be to phase out the operation of California’s prisons by private, for-profit corporations and revert back to California’s Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation within one year. Even though there will be considerable push-back, this can be done by taking on corporate employees as government employees, and over time reduce the workforce through early retirement and attrition.
We also have to ask ourselves why there are some many people, and nowadays specifically so many old people in prison. Is this really necessary for non-violent offenders? Modern technologies are available to monitor offenders and restrict their movements. Ankle monitors are a lot less expensive than keeping a person in prison for months and years. Every person of working age in prison is also a taxpayer that does not contribute to society, but instead requires taxpayer funding that drains resources.
Law enforcement needs to be given the incentive and the funding to shift to a more crime prevention approach instead of detention for any odd misdemeanor or infraction. Unwarranted detentions create havoc in people’s lives, specifically when it is unlikely that a case will ever go to court or trial.
There are too many bad laws on the books from the country’s racist past that serve no purpose and specifically do not contribute to any improvement of public safety. I will ask lawmakers to review California’s Penal Code and propose adjustments to in fact improve our public safety. There needs to be a serious debate on this.
Further Reading:
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I have no qualms about taking on powerful lobby groups that have created the current mess and push for a serious public debate on this issue.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 5
Education
5.
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California’s educational system is struggling due to limited funding and funding cuts
Teachers are not paid a salary that is in line with their effort and the importance of the job.
Schools and universities should be safe spaces for learning, yet we traumatize our children by installing metal detectors and permitting immigration enforcement.
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Current school funding is too volatile due to the mix of funding sources from income tax, property tax and federal funds. Furthermore, currently, allocated funding depends not just on enrollment, but on attendance.
First of all, in order to guarantee a good education for every child, every effort needs to be made to improve attendance. This also implies that school funding needs to solely be determined by enrollment and not any other factors.Local communities typically know best what is needed for their specific district. They should retain a large part of their tax income with some amount of State funding to guarantee that minimum education costs per student in each district are covered.
In this context I also refer back to tax reform, specifically a necessary reform of Proposition 13 to stabilize and equalize the tax base.
Further background information for the interested reader:
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I will not hesitate to take on a complex taxation and funding issue to improve the educational outcomes of our children.
My 6-point plan for California - No. 6
High Speed Trains
6.
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High Speed Rail approved by voters in 2008
Not a single operational mile built since then
Cost overruns and no clear path towards completing the project
Right of way issues have not been resolved completely.
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Stop the current project and start fresh
Resolve the right of way issues and start building the line from either end outwards, either San Francisco or Los Angeles. Not in the Central Valley.
Competitive bidding process for construction and minimize regulatory constraints.
Use existing right of ways where possible and eminent domain where necessary.
Further reading:
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High Speed Rail is one of the most environmentally friendly and efficient transportation modes available and can significantly improve people’s mobility in conjunction with efficient local transportation and economical taxi services at the station hubs.
I am a strong believer in High Speed Rail, and it is a necessary element of state of the art future transportation.
live. love. california
Democracy lives by the people
Go Vote !!!
Tuesday June 2nd, 2026
Ballot Write-In: Dirk Langer
Contact Dirk
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