The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
The negativity I am seeing in our California Democratic Party as we head into the Convention is unnecessary and destructive.
This is, or should I say, should be our moment to use our successes in California as the template — instead, it sounds more like pettiness leading to self-destruction.
Given how the National Party is unraveling with a lack of focus, I believe Eric Bauman is the one who can pull us out of this spiral of short-sighted foolishness and am therefore strongly endorsing his campaign for Chair to lead us into a positive and unified future.
Now is the time to move together with vision and mutual respect, and I hope you’ll cast your important vote for Eric.
The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
When John Burton took over as Chair, there was $1.12 in the bank account. That’s not a joke, that’s the nightmare reality they faced.
Over the past eight years, John, Shawnda, Angie, Chris and our CDP staff rebuilt the internal backend operations and laid the groundwork for the next evolution of our Party. This is a shining example of the good kind of change.
This incredible Burton team created a solid infrastructure and now it’s time for us to decide which direction we want to go next.
But let’s be clear: one person alone cannot achieve great things. It takes a team. Our campaign’s vision includes greater participation, more diverse voices and more seats at the table.
Let’s never be afraid to grow and change. The hard truth of the matter is that if we aren’t moving forward together, then we aren’t really going anywhere at all.
Because at the end of the day, change is the only constant in life.
California Democrats – a change will do us good! Let’s do this – together!
The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
May 12, 2017
Contact: Dave Jacobson, (818) 943-2348
Maclen Zilber, (510) 508-9142
Jacobson & Zilber Strategies LOCAL UNIONS JOIN STATEWIDE AFFILIATES IN BACKING HERNANDEZ FOR LT. GOV
UNITE HERE Local 11, IBEW Local 180, Laborers Locals 300 and 1309 Join Statewide Counterparts in Endorsing Senator Ed Hernandez in Statewide Contest WEST COVINA, CA — Capping off a momentum-fueled week on the campaign trail, today State Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez’ campaign for California Lieutenant Governor garnered a slew of local labor union endorsements, including from:
UNITE HERE Local 11
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 180
Laborers (LiUNA) Local 300
Laborers (LiUNA) Local 1309
Previously Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez won endorsements from UNITE HERE, AFL-CIO, California State Association of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the California State Council of Laborers (LiUNA).
Upon receiving the endorsements, Senator Dr. Ed Hernandez released the following statement:
“As someone who has prioritized fighting for working men and women, for good jobs, livable wages, access to healthcare, protections for workers’ rights and working towards building up a thriving middle class economy, having the support of the these local unions from UNITE HERE to the Laborers and IBEW means a great deal to me. I’m honored to have their endorsement and look forward to joining forces with them on the campaign trail as we continue working to build a statewide movement across California.”
Significantly, recently, Senator Hernandez released a new online video, titled “A California Story,” which can be viewed by clicking on the screen image below:
Beyond today’s announcement, Senator Dr. Hernandez’ campaign has released the following list of over 300 endorsements, including:
Groups Representing Working Families
UNITE HERE International Union, AFL-CIO
UNITE HERE Local 11
California State Council of Laborers (LiUNA)
Laborers (LiUNA) Local 270
Laborers (LiUNA) Local 300
Laborers (LiUNA) Local 1309
Teamsters Joint Council 42
American Federation of Musicians (AMF) Local 47
California State Conference of Machinists
California State Association of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 11
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 441
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 180
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 595
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 2295
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 40
International Association of SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, Transportation) Local 105
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 1277
Professional Engineers in California Government (PECG)
United Steelworkers (USW) Los Angeles and Orange Counties
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 36
Association of California State Supervisors (ACSS)
Southern California Pipe Trades District Council 16
United Association (UA) Steamfitters and Refrigeration Local 250
United Association (UA) Local 78
United Association (UA) Local 114
United Association (UA) Local 230
United Association (UA) Local 345
United Association (UA) Local 364
United Association (UA) Local 398
United Association (UA) Local 403
United Association (UA) Local 460
United Association (UA) Local 484
United Association (UA) Local 582
United Association (UA) Local 709
United Association (UA) Local 761
United Industrial Workers of the Seafarers International Union, SIUNA, AFL-CIO
Organizations
Peace Officers Research Association of California (PORAC)
California Latino Legislative Caucus
California Reserve Peace Officers Association
Sacramento Police Officers Association
California Association for Nurse Practitioners
California Pharmacists Association (CPhA)
Pilipino American Los Angeles Democrats
California’s Attorneys, Administrative Law Judges, and Hearing Officers in State Employment (CASE)
Federal Elected Leaders
U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass
U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu
U.S. Congressman Lou Correa
U.S. Congresswoman Grace Napolitano
U.S. Congresswoman Salud Carbajal
U.S. Congresswoman Norma Torres
U.S. Congressman Juan Vargas
U.S. Congressman George Miller (Ret.)
State Elected Leaders
California Attorney General Xavier Becerra
California State Controller Betty Yee
State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
State Assembly Speaker Emeritus John A. Pérez
State Assembly Speaker Emeritus Fabian Nunez
California Lt. Governor (Ret.) and State Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (Ret.)
State Senate President pro Tempore Don Perata (Ret.)
State Senator and past Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins
State Senator Connie Leyva
State Senator Holly Mitchell
State Senator Anthony Portantino
State Senator Jerry Hill
State Senator Henry Stern
State Senator Jim Beall
State Senator Josh Newman
State Senator Bill Dodd
State Senator Scott Wiener
State Senator Richard Roth
State Senator Tony Mendoza
State Senator Ricardo Lara
State Senator Steven Bradford
State Senator Ben Hueso
State Senator Ben Allen
State Senator Cathleen Galgiani
State Senator Mike McGuire
State Senator Bill Monning
State Senator Mark Leno (Ret.)
State Senator Lois Wolk (Ret.)
State Senator Fran Pavley (Ret.)
State Senator Isadore Hall (Ret.)
State Senator Marty Block (Ret.)
State Assembly Speaker pro Tempore Kevin Mullin
State Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon
State Assembly Democratic Caucus Chair Mike Gipson
State Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez
State Assembly Member Miguel Santiago
State Assembly Member Chris Holden
State Assembly Member David Chiu
State Assembly Member Ed Chau
State Assembly Member Jim Wood
State Assembly Member Anna Caballero
State Assembly Member Bill Quirk
State Assembly Member Eloise Gomes Reyes
State Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia
State Assembly Member Jose Medina
State Assembly Member Rob Bonta
State Assembly Member Evan Low
State Assembly Member Reggie Jones-Sawyer
State Assembly Member Ash Kalra
State Assembly Member Ken Cooley
State Assembly Member Al Muratsuchi
State Assembly Member Tony Thurmond
State Assembly Member Todd Gloria
State Assembly Member Sharon Quirk-Silva
State Assembly Member Phil Ting
State Assembly Member Patrick O’Donnell
State Assembly Member Jim Cooper
State Assembly Member Rudy Salas
State Assembly Member Freddie Rodriguez
State Assembly Member Rich Gordon (Ret.)
State Assembly Member Bonnie Lowenthal (Ret.)
State Assembly Member Paul Fong (Ret.), President San Jose/Evergreen Federation of Teachers AFT 6157
State Assembly Member Susan Bonilla (Ret.)
State Assembly Member Betsy Butler (Ret.)
State Assembly Member Mike Allen (Ret.)
Local Elected Leaders
Sacramento Mayor and past State Senate President Pro-Tem Darrell Steinberg
Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia
Long Beach City Council Member Rex Richardson
Los Angeles County Supervisor and past U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis
Los Angeles County Assessor Jeffrey Prang
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer
Los Angeles City Council Member Curren Price
Los Angeles Community College District Trustee and past State Assembly Member Mike Eng
Los Angeles Community College District Trustee Mike Fong
Los Angeles Community College District Trustee Scott Svonkin
Kern County Supervisor Leticia Perez
Santa Barbara County Supervisor and former State Assembly Member Das Williams
Baldwin Park Mayor Manuel Lozano
Baldwin Park City Council Member Ricardo Pacheco
Baldwin Park City Council Member Monica Garcia
West Covina Mayor Corey Warshaw
West Covina City Council Member Lloyd Johnson
West Covina City Council Member James Toma
West Covina School Board Member Michael Flowers
Covina Mayor Pro Tem Jorge Marquez
Covina City Council Member Peggy A. Delach
La Puente Mayor Valerie Munoz
La Puente City Council Member Dan Holloway
La Puente Mayor Pro Tem Violeta Lewis
Azusa Mayor Joe Rocha
Azusa City Council Member Angel Carillo
Azusa City Council Member Robert Gonzales
Azusa Unified School District Board President Yolanda Rodriguez-Pena
Azusa Unified School District Board Member Paul Naccachian
Fresno City Council Member Luis Chavez
Duarte Mayor Samuel Kang
Duarte Unified School District Board President Reyna Diaz
Duarte Unified School District Board Member Kenneth Bell
Pomona Unified School Board Vice President Roberta Perlman
Pomona City Commissioner Debra Martin*
San Gabriel Mayor Chin Ho Liao
Upper San Gabriel Valley Water Board Director Bryan Urias
Rosemead Mayor Sandra Armenta
Rosemead City Council Member Polly Low
Monterey Park Mayor, Teresa Real Sebastian, J.D.
Monterey Park City Council Member Hans Liang
Monterey Park City Council Member Mitchell Ing
Monterey Park City Council Member Peter Chan
Monterey Park City Council Member Stephen Lam
Claremont Mayor Sam Pedroza
El Monte Mayor Andre Quintero
El Monte City Council Member Juventino “J” Gomez
El Monte Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Velasco
El Monte Union High School District President Carlos Salcedo
South El Monte City Council Member Hector Delgado
South El Monte City Council Member Angelica R. Garcia
South El Monte City Council Member Joseph J. Gonzales
Hacienda La Puente School Board Member Anthony Duarte
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Board Member Martin G. Medrano
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Board Member Penny Fraumeni
Hacienda La Puente Unified School District Board Vice President Gino Kwok
Yorba Linda City Council Member Beth Haney
Walnut City Council Member Mary Su
Duarte City Council Member Margaret Finlay
Duarte City Council Member John Fasana
Alhambra City Council Member Luis Ayala
Alhambra City Council Vice Mayor Stephen Sham
Three Valleys MWD Director Carlos Goytia
Charter Oak Unified School District Board President Brian R. Akers
Charter Oak Unified School District Board Vice President Joseph Probst
Charter Oak Unified School District Board Member Jeanette V. Flores
Charter Oak Unified School District Board Member Jane Bock
Citrus Community College District President Dr. Barbara R Dickerson
Alhambra Unified School District Board Member Robert L. Gin
Temple City Mayor Pro Tem Cynthia Sternquist
Temple City Council Member Tom Chavez
Mountain View School District President Adam Carranza
Malibu Mayor Lou La Monte
Artesia Mayor Ali Sajjad Taj
South Gate City Council Member Jorge Morales
Walnut City Council Member Andrew Rodriguez
Walnut City Council Member Bob Pacheco
San Gabriel Valley Water Board President Thomas Wong
San Gabriel Valley Water Board Treasurer Raul Romero
Valley County Water Board Vice President Paul C. Hernandez,
Valley County Water Board Director Lenet Pacheco
Garvey Unified School District Board Member Henry Lo
Florin County Water District Elected Director Larry S. Tract, J.D.
Valley County Water Board Director Margarita Vargas
San Fernando Vice Mayor Joel Fajardo
Berkley City Council Member Ben Bartlett
Alum Rock Union Elementry School District Board Vice-President Andres Quintero
Santa Clarita Mayor and former State Assembly Member Cameron Smyth
Hermosa Beach City Council Member Stacy Armato
Miles Rosedale, CEO Monrovia Growers*
Susan Keith, Citrus Trustee*
Democratic Party, Labor, Healthcare and Community Leaders
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Vice Chair, UNITE HERE General Vice President for Immigration, Civil Rights, and Diversity and former Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO, Maria Durazo
California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres (Ret.)
California Democratic Party Vice Chair and L.A. County Democratic Party Chair Eric C. Bauman
California Democratic Party First Vice Chair Alex Rooker
Democratic National Committee (DNC) Member and former San Diego Democratic Party Chair Jesse Durfee
South County Labor Chair Ray Cordova*
California Democratic Party Region 15 Director and California Democratic Party API Caucus Chair Clark Lee*
California Democratic Party Region 8 Director Doug Kessler*
California Democratic Party Region 9 Director Diana Love*
California Democratic Party Region 7 Director Omar Torres*, Governing Board Member, Franklin-McKinley School Board*
California Democratic Party Former Region 10 Director and California Democratic Party LGBT Caucus Secretary Debra Broner*
California Democratic Party Chicano Latino Caucus Chair Carlos Alcala*
Los Angeles County Democratic Party Vice Chair Mark Gonzalez*
Fresno County Democratic Central Committee Chair Michael Evans*
Kern County Democratic Central Committee Chair Cathee Romley*
Kings County Democratic Central Committee Chair Holly Andrade-Blair*
Inyo County Democratic Central Committee Chair Nina Weisman*
Tulare Democratic Central Committee Chair Ruth McKee*
California Democratic Party Women’s Caucus Secretary, Democratic Party of Orange County Secretary, Anita Narayana*
California Democratic Party Delegate Clint Weirick (DSCC San Luis Obispo County Democratic Party Central Committee)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Katarina Garcia (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Cesar Garcia (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Peggy Morgan (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Kristin McGuire (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Veronica Marquez (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Robert Cruz (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Deborah Quintero (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Ricardo Pacheco (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate James Toma (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Lloyd Johnson (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Eileen Jimenez (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Jeanette Flores (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Barbara Dickerson (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Robert Gin (AD 49)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Chin Ho Lia (AD 49)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Polly Low (AD 49)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Calvin Sung (AD 55)*
California Democratic Party Delegate Lawrence Shih (AD 48)*
California Democratic Party Children’s Caucus Chair and President of the Helen Doherty Democratic Club Judy Jacobs
California Democratic Party Region 14 Director Miguel Martinez
Progressive Democrats of Santa Monica Mountains President Dorothy Reik
Los Angeles County Democratic Party Country Central Committee Corresponding Secretary Carolyn Fowler
Los Angeles County Democratic Party AD-49 Delegation Chair Marcella Cortez
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate (AD-26) and Latino Democrats of Tulare County President & Founder Ruben Macareno
Santa Clara County Democratic Central Committee Member (AD-28) Ruben Navarro
California Democratic Party E-Board Delegate for AD-28 Olivia Navarro
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Uli Sanchez (AD-53)
Fresno County Democratic Party Member Esperanza Avalos
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate (AD-21) and Stanislaus County Democratic Central Committee Member Tom Hallinan
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Adrian Vazquez (AD 51)
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Maria Unzueta (AD 63)
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Sarah Palacios (AD 7)
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Van Tomom (AD 39)
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Frine Medrano (AD 58)
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Ken Trumkul (AD 49)
Liliana T. Perez, Deputy Director for Southern California, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon*
Hector Elizalde, Community Leader
Jacobo Jauregui, Community Leader
Oscar Valladares, SEIU Local 721 member
California Democratic Party DSCC Delegate Chris Kakimi (AD 57)
Los Angeles County Democratic Party Member and Member of Laborers (LiUNA) Local 300 Victor Castellano
Shannon Bell, NP, California Association of Nurse Practitioners
Arthur Friedman, O.D.
Bruce Mebine, O.D., Past President COA
Javier Avila Garcia, Community Leader
Ryan Baskharoon, Community Leader
Mirna de Lire Lopez, Community Leader
Wendy Mora, O.D.
Dr. Efrain Castellanos
Natalie Reyes, Community Organizer
Komal Patel, Community Leader
John Potter, Community Leader
Harvey Goldstone, O.D.
Willa Hisle, O.D.
Jeanette Hochstatter, O.D.
Charles Richards, O.D.
Lee Dodge, O.D., Visual Eyes Optometry
Kenneth Wiener, O.D.
Rupert C Chowins, O.D.
Ronald Short O.D., California Air National Guard*
Thomas Rippner, Community Leader
Susy Yu, Community Leader
Ronald Goldstein, Community Leader
Elizabeth Torres Chowins, O.D.
Dr.David Turetsky, Advanced Eyecare, A Professional Optometric Group
Michael Young, Community Leader
Carolyn Wong, O.D.
Kathleen Low, Community Leader
Thomas Brenner, O.D.
Valerie Quan, Community Leader
Dr. Craig Steinberg
Dr. Jennifer Lin, San Mateo Optometry society
Sasha Penn, O.D., Chief of Optometry, Kaiser Permanente- South San Francisco
James Cohen, O.D., Buena Park Eyecare
Milton Hom O.D.
James Creech O.D.
Dr. Marcie Arnesty
Robert Theaker, O.D. Hollister Vision Center
Marc Shaw, COA
Jennifer Buell, O.D.
Jay Schlanger, O.D., COA
Dr. Claude Valenti, Optometric Vision Development Center
Elizabeth Hoppe, Founding Dean, College of Optometry at Western University of Health Sciences
Robert Wayda, O.D., Central California Optometric Society
Christine Ng, Community Leader
Vin Dang, Community Leader
Fadl Fares, Community Leader
Michael Cousineau, Community Leader
Rita Spitzer, Dr. Michael Spitzer Optometry
Ron Lozarno, Community Leader
A husband, father, grandfather, practicing optometrist, and local businessman, “Dr. Ed” (as he is known to his patients) has spent his life bringing quality eye care to predominantly low-income communities. As a health care provider, the need to improve access to health care for all Californians is what first drove him to run for office.
Since being elected to the Assembly in 2006 and the Senate in 2010, Dr. Ed Hernandez has been a leader on the implementation of federal health care reform – helping expand access to affordable health care, control costs, and improve the network of providers so people can actually get quality care when they need it. Dr. Ed has been a champion by expanding educational opportunity to qualified students overlooked by our public schools and universities, as well as a major proponent for government reform, including fixing a broken initiative system too often hijacked by billionaires and wealthy corporations. Dr. Ed Hernandez is running to take this experience, leadership, and vision to the next level by serving the people of California as their Lieutenant Governor.
For more information, please visit www.edhernandez4ca.com.
The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
“Now, more than ever, we, as Democrats, need proven leadership to weather the storm that is upon us from the Administration. California has endured xenophobic and hateful anti-immigrant, anti-women, anti-labor, anti-LGBT initiatives, and throughout his career, Eric Bauman has been a partner and a champion to help defeat these draconian efforts — all the while keeping California blue and protecting our most vulnerable constituents.” — Maria Elena Durazo, UNITE HERE General Vice President for Immigration, Civil Rights, and DiversityWe’re Supporting Eric for CDP Chair!
UNITE HERE!, AFL-CIO
UNITE HERE Local 2
UNITE HERE Local 11
UNITE HERE Local 19
UNITE HERE Local 30
UNITE HERE Local 49
UNITE HERE Local 483
UNITE HERE Local 2850
We can’t wait to see everyone at the Convention, at a union hotel and conference center. Under Eric’s leadership, the Democratic Party will honor labor and only use union facilities.
And DON’T FORGET to thank and tip your hotel workers!
The Surprising Race for California Democratic Party Chair Will Be a Test for Effective Democratic Socialism
There is a remarkable and underreported story in the California Democratic Party that is still waiting to be told. The story is not yet finished, and the outcome could have profound consequences for the future of the Democratic Party and of the attempt to inject democratic socialism into the Party’s establishment.
The California Democratic Party is holding its convention between May 19th and May 21st. Among the many issues to be decided there is the party’s leadership, including and especially its next Chair. Chairman John Burton is retiring after eight years, leaving an open seat. The two main candidates vying to replace him are Eric Bauman, a Jewish and openly gay male nurse, Male Vice Chair of the state party, Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party and long-time progressive activist for marriage equality, single payer healthcare and similar causes; and Kimberly Ellis, an African-American and former Executive Director of Emerge California, an organization dedicated to recruiting female candidates for public office. Both Bauman and Ellis backed Hillary Clinton in the presidential primary, and Keith Ellison for DNC Chair.
Here’s where things get interesting. Despite the hard-pushed national narrative in some center-left quarters that Bernie Sanders supporters are just a bunch of racist and sexist young “brocialists,” the California Democratic Party is proving otherwise. Sanders Democrats got elected in a massive wave to the California Democratic Party via the January 2017 Assembly Delegate Caucuses held throughout the state, most of them young women and people of color.
Most of those Sanders delegates (and Our Revolution itself) have thrown their weight behind Kimberly Ellis. Although she was a Clinton supporter in the Democratic primary, she is seen as an outsider against Eric Bauman’s insider. (The third candidate for Chair, an attorney named Lenore Albert, is running a dark horse campaign as the authentic Berniecrat in the race since both of the principal candidates backed Clinton.) Ellis is also running on a platform of changes to the Party to ostensibly provide greater transparency. It’s worth noting that CDP Secretary Daraka Larimore-Hall, an African-American man and Sanders supporter, is the frontrunner for Bauman’s current Male Vice Chair seat. So in terms of national interest, it might come as a surprise to national media types to see a cadre of Sanders supporters of all kinds flock to an African-American woman who spent most of her career on identity politics. “Berniebros” indeed.
For his part, Bauman has the vast majority of endorsements from organized labor and elected officials, as well as most longtime party activists. Among new activists and Democratic Socialists, that would seem to make him the heavy. But that would be a mistake.
Here’s where it gets even more interesting.
The Chair’s race is a perfect example of the conflict between what seems like the best approach for radical reformers, versus what actually is. It is tempting for activists frustrated with the status quo to want to throw out everyone in the old guard and replace them with someone new and inexperienced. But that instinct often throws out good babies with bad bathwater, and the replacement isn’t always better than what went before. Moreover, there is a constant conflict between those who advocate making change by pushing aggressively from the outside, versus those who advocate pushing hard more quietly from the inside. The latter is usually more effective, although it’s far less sexy. There’s a reason that those who know Bauman well and have worked to reform Party rules, including hardcore progressive activists many of whom backed Sanders, are lining up behind Bauman.
Consider a few examples. When party rules allowed state and federal legislators to appoint delegates anywhere in the state rather than in their local districts, there arose a sort of protection racket in which bad incumbents were protected from grassroots challenges by legislators simply appointing most of their delegates in the contested district on behalf of the incumbent. Legislators predictably resisted grassroots demands for change. It was only Eric Bauman’s leadership and negotiations, due to his longstanding connections with the legislators in question, that resulted in a far more progressive compromise several years back. That compromise, only made possible by Eric Bauman, helped enable progressive Nanette Barragan to unseat the more conservative Isadore Hall in California’s 44th district.
When a large number of oil-friendly legislators were strongly resisting a push by grassroots California Democrats to enshrine a fracking moratoriumin the Party’s platform championed by Environmental Caucus Chair RL Miller and were organizing to kill it in committee, it was Eric Bauman who used his influence to ensure it survived.
This is Bauman’s modus operandi. He does the hard work quietly and without fanfare that almost no one else without his connections could do, work that would be impossible for an outsider whom legislators could more easily bypass and ignore. He also knows how to build and manage a behemoth organization like the California Democratic Party, having turned the Los Angeles County Democratic Party from a five-figure organization to a dominant seven-figure one.
And Bauman has been very helpful to young reform activists all throughout the state. When I was a young Deaniac making waves in the Ventura County Democratic Party, the establishment at the time tried desperately to crush me and my allies underfoot. Despite his longstanding relationships with those establishment figures, Bauman helped and mentored me in surviving and thriving, eventually enabling me to become Chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party in my early 30s and, with the help my progressive allies, make it a progressive, effective organization that helped flip nearly the entire county from red to blue at the state and federal level while sponsoring some of the state’s most leading edge progressive resolutions. I know at least a dozen other activists for whom Bauman has served in a similar mentoring role.
So what about Ellis, then? Well, Ellis’ campaign faces the problem of many reform activists without significant experience: many of her proposals sound good at first, but would be problematic or disastrous if implemented.
Ellis’ principal campaign plank is direct elections of many standing committee members. This seems like deep inside baseball, but it’s crucially important. The party’s standing committees, especially the rules and platform committees, have outsized influence on party policy. Currently, the party chair has enormous say in who gets appointed to those committees. Ellis’ plan to directly elect those positions at convention sounds good and democratic, but would in practice be a chaotic disaster. In a convention with over 3,000 delegates, there would ensue a public ballot in which over 200 candidates would vie for several dozen standing committee positions. The result would be ugly and massive slate wars in which special interests would dominate, and in which there would likely be major ideological and identity imbalance.
Another of Ellis’ planks is ending “automatic endorsement of incumbents.” First, incumbents are not automatically endorsed. Incumbents are automatically placed on the consent calendar for endorsement, but can be pulled by signatures of only 10% of the district’s delegates. The reason for this is to avoid the enormous hassle, volunteer time and paperwork involved in managing pre-endorsement processes for incumbents, the vast majority of whom win with only a few objections. But Ellis’ plank sounds good to establishment-phobic new activists, most of whom have never attended or volunteered at a pre-endorsement conference.
Ellis also promises large changes to the way the Party’s money is spent, without a full understanding that altering the spending priorities of the party to be out of sync with the desires of the very legislators the Party works to re-elect, will result in the defunding of the Party in favor of unaccountable outside expenditures by legislators.
Ellis has also stated that she wants any endorsed candidate pledge to read and agree with the party’s platform — apparently failing to realize that that will either hamper Democrats running in red areas where some parts of the party’s platform may be a death sentence for candidates, or that the party will be forced to water down its progressive platform in order to accommodate Democrats in red districts.
In all these cases, progressive reformers run up against the law of unintended consequences. What sounds good isn’t always what is good, and what sounds progressive and democratic can often lead to outcomes that are less progressive than the status quo. It also often helps to have a committed progressive advocate on the inside able to twist arms, more than someone beating down blows on legislators from the outside.
In any case, it’s heartening to see Berniecrat delegates upend the conventional wisdom about Sanders supporters by backing a woman of color who has spent her professional life advocating for women candidates of all ideologies from centrist to progressive. It would be a great thing to have national media present at the convention to tell their stories.
But I hope that enough Sanders supporters like myself will be able to separate what sounds like progressive reform, from what really is progressive reform. If Sanders supporters want to cast a protest vote against the establishment, a true Berniecrat option for Chair exists. Other Sanders Democrats are running up and down the leadership ticket.
Between the two Clinton supporters running for Chair, Bauman is the only one with a real, achievable agenda for single payer healthcare, an end to the death penalty, prison reform, economic and social equality, and the rest of the Democratic Socialist agenda many of us so eagerly wish to see in California.
David Atkins is South Vice Chair of the Santa Barbara Democratic Party, former Chair of the Ventura County Democratic Party, President of the Democratic Club of Santa Barbara, and running to be Region 10 Director. He was inspired to get involved by Howard Dean. He has endorsed Eric Bauman for Chair, and campaigned for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 Democratic primary election. His writing can be found at Washington Monthly, American Prospect, Alternet, Salon, Digby’s Hullabaloo and DailyKos. He is on twitter (too much!) at @DavidOAtkins
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