First there was the one now being referred to by some as “Nicky-gate.” The scandal centers around Whitman’s former housekeeper, Nicky Diaz Santillan, and whether or not Whitman knew she was an illegal immigrant.

Whitman’s ex-housekeeper is being represented in a lawsuit by infamous lawyer Gloria Allred, who has seemingly overnight managed to get every major national and local news organization talking about the scandal. Allred is alleging that Whitman knew full well that her housekeeper was illegal, and only fired her when she decided to run for governor. Allred is also making sure that people don’t stop talking, with continued press conferences featuring a sad-looking, crying Diaz Santillan talking about how she was economically and emotionally abused by Whitman.

Whitman has repeatedly accused her opponent Jerry Brown of being behind the scandal, and launching a “smear campaign” against her. She points out that Allred is a well-known Democrat who, in the past, has donated to Brown’s campaigns.

Allred also has a history with lawsuits against Republican gubernatorial candidates right before an election. In 2003, she represented a woman who claimed Arnold Schwarzenegger sexually harassed her, and conveniently filed charges right before the election. The lawsuit was later dismissed.

Brown has been able to use this scandal to his advantage, claiming this proves Whitman does not practice what she preaches, and can’t take accountability for her own actions.

But now he is also the target of a juicy scandal. Reports are coming out that Brown violated U.S. sanction law during a trip to Cuba by using a C.I.A. turncoat as a travel agent. Perhaps tired of dealing with all these different scandals - they gave no formal reasons- both candidates opted out of a planned debate Tuesday.

Now, if California was running smoothly, had a great looking budget for the next fiscal year – really, even any budget, at this point—and had no major problems, maybe the major news media would be justified in completely throwing out every other main issue facing the state and focusing on these scandals. But that’s not the case.

As I have written about previously, the most important issue that this election should be decided on is which candidate can craft a reasonable budget for California. Our state has gone without a budget for a record long amount of time, and even if the budget proposed Wednesday is passed, our financial woes will not being even close to over—not to mention the other major issues facing the state right now, like education and illegal immigration.

News outlets are being unfair to the California voters by primarily focusing on these scandals, and not on the real crises that make this election so important. This needs to be one election that isn’t sidetracked by smear campaigns, juicy scandals and exaggerations.

Our state’s future hangs in the balance, and whoever is elected is going to have the daunting task of trying to solve these difficult problems. So I urge California voters to not focus on whatever scandal pops up today, tomorrow or next week, and decide for themselves which candidate they feel is the best suited for the job. California depends on it.

Reach reporter Stephanie McNeal here.

Follow her on Twitter here.

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