Sonoma County Supervisor Valerie Brown has endorsed John Sawyer in his bid to become her replacement on the county board. Sawyer earned the endorsement over Susan Gorin, who also is seeking the supervisor’s seat for the First District, which encompasses east Santa Rosa and Sonoma Valley. Both Sawyer and Gorin serve on the Santa Rosa City Council.

Rep. Lynn Woolsey of Petaluma, who is retiring in 2012 after 20 years in Congress, has no plans to endorse a candidate for the new 2nd Congressional District stretching from Marin County to the Oregon border. But Mike Thompson, a fellow Democrat from St. Helena who represents the neighboring congressional district, stepped into the fray last week and endorsed one of the six Democrats vying for her job.

For the inaugural year of WatchSonomaCounty.com, readers weighed in on hundreds of topics. Many revolved around the primary and general elections, but the usual stream of news surrounding local public policy also provided plenty of fodder.

Here is a list of PD recommendations for Tuesday’s election and links to the full endorsement editorials, where the WSC community is discussing the pros and cons of the Editorial Board’s decisions.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board made its endorsements for state constitutional offices: Larry Aceves for superintendent of public instruction, Abel Maldonado for lieutenant governor, Steve Cooley for attorney general, Bill Lockyer for treasurer, John Chiang for controller, Debra Bowen for secretary of state, David Jones for insurance commissioner and Betty Yee for Board of Equalization. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right picks? Disagree with the choices? Discuss the endorsements here.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorsed Wes Chesbro and Jared Huffman in their Assembly races but declined to recommend any of the candidates in the 2nd Senate District and 7th Assembly District races. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right picks? Disagree with the choices? Discuss the endorsements here.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorsed Sarah Glade Gurney, Patrick Slayter and Maureen Shea in the Sebastopol City Council race. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right picks? Disagree with the choices? Discuss the endorsements here.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorsed Pat Gilardi and Mark Landman in the Cotati City Council race. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right picks? Disagree with the choices? Discuss the endorsements here.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorses Democrat Jerry Brown in the California governor’s race. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right pick? Disagree with the choice? Discuss the endorsement here.

The Press Democrat Editorial Board endorsed four local school bond measures – Measures A, I, K and M – that would raise money for school districts in west Sonoma County, Forestville, Sebastopol and Calistoga. Did the PD Editorial Board make the right picks? Disagree with the choices? Discuss the endorsements here.