Gubernatorial candidate John Cox showed up at the Long Beach DMV Monday afternoon, Aug. 13, handing out water bottles – and giving both long-time and would-be motorists the chance to vent their frustrations about the eternal wait times.

Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, right, visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to people waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)

Gubernatorial candidate John Cox visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to people waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)

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Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, left, visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to people waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)

Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, right, visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to people waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)

Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, left, visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to Mary Clark of Long Beach waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)



Gubernatorial candidate John Cox, right, visits the Long Beach DMV and talks to people waiting in line at the Willow Street office in Long Beach, Calif. Aug. 13, 2018. (Photo by Leo Jarzomb)

Cox, a Republican businessman going up against Democratic stalwart Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom in the November election, spent about 30 minutes at the Department of Motor Vehicles on Willow Street, chatting with potential voters about how the long lines there are emblematic of, he said, a government that doesn’t work for the people.

In the June primary to succeed Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown, Cox came in second, with 26 percent of the vote to Newsom’s 34, beating the better-known former mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa.

Though an underdog against Newsom come November, Cox said he thinks voters are fed up with the current elected officials, including in deep-blue Long Beach, where popular Mayor Robert Garcia has already endorsed his opponent.

“This is where the forgotten voters live,” Cox said. “They get up, go to work and try to put food on the table. Then they get hit with the gas tax.”

As he walked around, Cox shook hands with folks who took water from him, both inside and on line under the hot sun outside, and sympathized with their plight – some of whom had been at the DMV for four hours.

“You’re in very good humor,” Cox said to Nicola Kerr, who lives near the DMV and had been there for several hours. “If I were here all day, steam would be coming out of my ears.”

Kerr said Cox seemed “optimistic and light in spirit,” but noted she is generally liberal and needs to do more research on both candidates before deciding who to vote for.

Erika Ramadan, meanwhile, vented her frustration on Cox.

Ramadan had just gotten married and was at the DMV for what she said should be a simple process: changing her name. Instead, she waited four hours before getting helped. She told Cox the DMV’s long wait lines are the types of issues that upset people, including her.

“I was angry and frustrated,” she said about her interaction with Cox. (But) I’ve never seen a politician at the DMV.”

Ramadan is also liberal and said she needs to do more research on the candidates.

Cox, for his part, said he does not have a comprehensive plan for fixing the DMV. But he did say he would get the department away from a paper-reliant system.

“I’m not in government yet,” he said. “But I’d employ a lot more technology.

“You can boil a frog only so long,” he added, about what he said are the frustrations of voters.