Here are grassroots progressive choices for the March 3, 2020 elections in LA County!
LA County District Attorney – Rachel Rossi or George Gascon
The incumbent, Jackie Lacey, has opposed commonsense criminal justice reforms, refused to prosecute out of control police officers, and done nothing that matches her claim to be a Democratic reformer. Gascon was the effective reform DA in San Francisco before returning to his hometown of LA. Rachel Rossi was a talented federal public defender until recently. Rossi is slightly better at articulating progressive positions, but Gascon has the kind of management experience needed to whip a huge office into shape.
LA County Supervisor District 2: Holly Mitchell
Holly Mitchell has been amazing and effective champion for progressive causes in the State Legislature, including from her position as chair of the Senate Budget committee. She’s been described as the “moral compass and social conscience” of the legislature. LA County would be fortunate to have her as one of five County Supervisors. Herb Wesson recently stepped down as President of the LA City Council. He conducted far too much of that body’s business behind closed doors, limiting public debate and contested votes. On his watch, the city’s problems have festered. He’s been happy to grab headlines by passing some campaign finance reforms, but only once he let them be watered down beyond recognition. Where Holly Mitchell works for transformative change, Herb Wesson is an extremely transactional politician. He’ll deliver results for business lobbyists or labor unions when they’re powerful, but if your progressive priority doesn’t have a powerful interest behind it, you can forget about your chances of getting his support. The other candidates aren’t worth looking at. Jan Perry was known for marching in lockstep with downtown business interests as a City Councilmember. Jake Jeong led the offensive protest against housing the unhoused in Ktown. Jorge Nuno is a great progressive community leader but he’s raised almost no money or endorsements and doesn’t have a shot. We hope he runs again for a South LA City Council seat where he’ll have a better shot.
Volunteer to get Holly elected!
LA County Supervisor District 5: Darrell Park
Incumbent Kathryn Barger is a Republican. Park is a solid progressive with great positions on housing and the environment. The other Democrat, John Harabedian, in the race is also good. This is an uphill battle but worth voting for a Democrat to send a message and force Barger into a run-off.
Open and Closely Contested LA City Council Seats
Our City Council is increasingly dominated by politicians who are merely looking for the next perch after getting termed out of their old positions. It’s rare to find people who are connected to the community, who are thoughtful, and who are willing to fight for what is best for the people. We’re fortunate to have candidates in four races — all women — who fit that bill. Two of them are challenging incumbents while two are going up against powerful Democratic politicos who may as well have the strength of incumbents. In making these recommendations, we considered endorsements from progressive groups like Sunrise Movement, which has endorsed all four of these women.
- District 10: Aura Vasquez — Volunteer to get her elected! Especially close to the westside, mid-city, and South LA.
Aura Vasquez would be an amazing additional to City Council from this open seat. She’s a talented community organizer who led a Sierra Club Campaign to shut down coal power plants and she served on the powerful LA Department of Water & Power Board where she operated in the most accessible and transparent manner the board’s probably ever seen. Her passion is contagious and she’d bring energy and new ideas not just on climate and the environment but on making city hall better serve its citizens and tackling the housing and homelessness crises. This is an open seat, but the favored candidate is Mark Ridley-Thomas (MRT) who is termed out of the LA County Board of Supervisors after 12 years. He previously served 8 years in a different council district. It’s very clear he wants to run for Mayor in 2022 when Garcetti’s two terms are up. What’s worse is how he has operated. The scandals go on and on. Just look at his Wikipedia page or read the LA Times reporting about him. He’s collected a ton of money and endorsements because of his power (and a reputation for remembering people who cross him) but he isn’ the progressive champion we need. The seat is finally opening up after 3 terms of the top-down, controlling Herb Wesson. We don’t need another clone. Aura really needs your help in getting out the vote. Volunteer for her today!
- District 12: Lorraine Lundquist — Volunteer to get her elected! Especially if you live in the San Fernando Valley where the district is based.
Lorraine is a climate scientist and educator at CSUN who just barely lost a race in 2019 to John Lee, the last Republican on the LA City Council. Lorraine has the backing of all the Democratic and progressive organizations in the city and she has a real chance to win what has been one of the last conservative bastions. But she needs your help to do it. If you live in the Valley, definitely volunteer for her.
- District 14: Cyndi Otteson — Volunteer to get her elected!
This district includes downtown LA, Boyle Heights, and parts of Northeast LA around Eagle Rock. It’s been represented for many years by Jose Huizar who’s now termed out after 3 terms. The front-runner is Kevin De Leon who led several important progressive fights as President of the State Senate, but we’re concerned that like MRT he plans to use this seat as a launching pad for a run for Mayor in 2022. It’s not clear that he actually wants to represent the neighborhoods of this district which are so badly in need of support. Monica Garcia is running for office after reaching her term limit on the LAUSD Board. Known as a leader of the charter wing, it’s not clear that she has a solid vision for what she’d do as a councilmember. That’s why we’re excited to see Cyndi Otteson running for office. The nonprofit executive is the only one of the candidates to embrace the action on climate, housing, and transportation we need,
- District 4: Nithya Raman — Volunteer to get Nitya elected!
Incumbent David Ryu ran as an outsider in 2015 but hasn’t rocked the boat much at City Hall. His proposal to ban developer funding of candidates grabbed headlines but he didn’t fight as hard for campaign finance reforms as advocates hoped and his current campaign is taking tens of thousands of dollars from people tied to developer interests and others with business before the city. Nithya Raman brings crucial experience in government, in advocacy, and in direct services as the co-founder of the SELAH organization to support people who are unhoused. Her policy proposals are are refreshingly thoughtful, detailed, and visionary. She’d be a welcome addition to the small progressive wing of the council. Sarah Kate Levy is smart and hard-working, but she doesn’t have the depth of experience or ties to social justice groups that Raman brings to the table.
Glendale City Council
- At-Large: Dan Brotman — supported by Sunrise and other environmental groups
Pasadena City Council
- D2: Tricia Keane
- D6: Ryan Bell
Judges:
- 42: Linda Sun
- 72: Myanna Dellinger or Robert F. Jacobs (Dellinger seems more progressive while Jacobs has a higher evaluation from the Bar Association)
- 76: Emily Cole
- 80: Klint McKay
- 97: Sherry Powell
- 129: Kenneth Fuller
- 145: Adan Montalban*
- 150: Tom Parsekian
- 162: David D. Diamond
A good way to find the progressive choice in LA Judicial races is to see what the Assistant District Attorneys Association and a leading conservative voter guide are advocating and do the opposite. We also took into account the recommendations of public defenders and the LA County Bar Association’s evaluation of the candidate’s qualifications.
*For #145, candidate Slaten has received some support from progressive voter guides, but we're deeply concerned that he has received the highest rating possible by a leading conservative voter guide and has a record of tweeting about Obama being a Muslim Brotherhood supporter and defending big corporate firings of employees. As is defending firing of employees by big corporation Although there’s an online essay about possible misconduct by Montalban, progressive lawyers we trust believe that the essay’s portrayal doesn’t capture the full story and when everything is considered, Montalban is the better choice. This entire mess is another reason we should not be voting on judges.
Open & Contested State Assembly Seats
- AD 38: Dina Cervantes -- good environmental and immigrant rights track record
- AD 57: Vanessa Tyson -- strong smart progressive choice, native of Whittier, professor at Scripps College
- AD 53: Godfrey Plata
- AD 54: Incumbent Kamlager just came out with a deeply disappointing endorsement of Bloomberg for President and decided to serve as his “California State Co-Chair”. She doesn’t face a viable progressive challenger this time (Tracy Jones isn't really running a campaign) around, but that may change in future races.
- AD 64: Fatima Iqbal-Zubair (endorsed by Sunrise in a race against Big Oil incumbent Mike Gipson)
In general, it’s a good idea to look up the “Courage Score” your Assemblymember and State Senator have been given by Courage California, Indivisible, and ACCE at www.couragescore.org — far too many Democrats are taking shady money and voting against their constituents’ interests.
LA County Measure R (Reform LA Jails & Prevent Abuse) – Yes
Super important. This proposition would authorize the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission in Los Angeles to develop a Comprehensive Public Safety Reinvestment Plan, the goal of which would be to reduce incarceration, ease jail overcrowding, reduce recidivism -- in particular among mentally ill and chronically unhoused populations -- and mandate that alternatives to incarceration for vulnerable populations be studied and prioritized over the building of new jails. That’s already a mouthful, but it would also give the commission a greater ability to investigate police misconduct by giving them the power to subpoena testimony and evidence.
The effort to get this on the ballot was organized by a grassroots organization called Reform L.A. Jails, led by Patrisse Cullors of Black Lives Matter, and it’s supported by the ACLU, Dignity and Power Now, Community Coalition, LA Voice, LA Forward, and Real Justice PAC. Tackling a culture that permits widespread police brutality, endangers the lives of people of color, and prioritizes incarceration over assistance is vitally important, and we get a chance to help do that by voting YES on Measure R.
You can volunteer to get it passed here.
LA County Measure FD (Give enough resources to firefighters for growing needs) - Yes
"Measure FD is well thought out...It reasonably would tax residents and businesses who need and deserve protection by a properly staffed and equipped Fire Department. Failing to approve the measure will leave those people jeopardized by increasing fire danger and a growing gap between their needs and what the department is able to provide. Voters in the cities and unincorporated county areas who are eligible to vote on the tax and would be benefit from it should say yes." - LAT
- Culver City - Measure CC - YES
- Burbank - Measure I - YES
CA Prop 13 (Bonds to Build & Repair Public Schools) – Yes
“This proposition would provide $9 billion for desperately needed renovations to public preschools and grade schools throughout the state, and $6 billion for construction to community colleges, the Cal State system, and the UC system. This will allow the state of California to use tax revenue to pay for improvements that local communities cannot afford themselves.
The funding would come from bonds the state would pay back over 35 years, totaling an estimated $26 billion, which includes $15 billion in principal and $11 billion in interest. This investment is well worth the costs. It takes money, after all, to ensure that students -- especially those in districts that can’t afford major capital improvement projects -- do not have to learn in dangerous environments.
The vast majority of Democrats in the state legislature support it, as does Gov. Newsom, and the only major opposition is a group called the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. This is the group famous for destroying California’s school funding system in 1978 through another proposition, ironically one that was also dubbed Prop 13. The group spends most of its time lobbying to reduce tax rates. It has never shown any interest in supporting California’s children, at least if that means wealthy individuals or giant corporations would pay their fair share in taxes. Without question, 2020’s Prop 13 is worth the investment since it means children will soon be able to attend school in buildings that are retrofitted to withstand earthquakes and no longer have lead in their water.”
LA Democratic Party County Central Committee (you can vote for up to 7 in your Assembly District if you’re a registered Democrat)
AD 38: Alexander, Finnstrom, Lieberman, Sanchez, Vlach, Whipple
AD 39: Dueñas, Jenkins
AD 43: Perez, Gunnell, Chang, Izard, Lizzer, Asatryan, Billings
AD 45: Doumas-Toto, Manabe, Manabe, Shimizu, Small, Verne, Wolfersberger
AD 50: Sheu, Mogri, Igelsrud, Bott, Mendoza, Edwards
AD 51: Birnbaum, Craven, Carillo, Rohn, Berg, Klein, Rivas
AD 53: Vasquez, Cannick, Morrison, Sukaton, Santos Plata, Chagoya, Rohan
AD 54: Harris, Solomon, Roos, Gyi
AD 57: H Huerta, Z Huerta, Talmich, Terrazas, Alvarez
AD 59: Ruiz, Esperias, Flores, Acedo, Escareno,
AD 62: Sutter, Robin, Petty, Magnuson, Fowler, Vazquez, Ngissah
AD 64: Piñon, Burger
President of the United States of America
Vote for the person you think will do the best job as President, who will fight hardest and most effectively for progressive values, on the campaign trail and in the White House. It's impossible to know for sure who is "most electable" against Trump. So vote for who inspires you. If they motivate you, it's likely they'll fire up other people and give us the best chance of winning.
Other progressive guides worth checking out:
Also available at laprogressivemajority.org
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