Tag Archives: Democrats

Democrats Ready to Party, Work

Convention looks back, forward

by Brian Leubitz

By all accounts, 2012 was a fantastic year of electoral success for California Democrats. The president, legislative supermajorities, ballot measure success and much more. However, with a series of special elections and some possibly competitive races in 2014, there is much work to be done as California Democrats meet at the annual convention in Sacramento this weekend.

As for the big decisions of the weekend, there is only one contested race. Chairman John Burton and the Vice chairs, Alex Rooker and Eric Bauman, are uncontested. The race for the open seat of Secretary is between Daraka Larimore-Hall of Santa Barbara County and Carolyn Fowler of Los Angeles County. I have endorsed Daraka, an amazing grassroots and netroots activist currently serving as Chair of the Santa Barbara County Democratic Party. However, that isn’t to say that I haven’t heard great things about Carolyn Fowler. Either way, I’m sure we’ll be in good hands.

I’ll be at the convention, where in addition to tweeting up a storm, I’ll also be attending the always long and exciting Resolutions Committee, where I serve as a Co-Chair. If you have any thoughts, feel free to leave them here or tweet at me: @BrianLeubitz. I’ll also be using the hashtag #CADem13, and so should you!

The Good, Bad, and Ugly of the Democratic Convention

Democratic convention went mostly to script

by Brian Leubitz

Election year Democratic conventions are traditionally all about the cheerleading.  And so there was a lot of praise for President Obama, and Dem. Leader Nancy Pelosi.  That was all rousing, but to be expected.

There was much to do about the endorsement battle in two districts: CD-30 and AD-50.  The Valley Congressional Battle of the “-ermans”, Brad Sherman and Howard Berman, finished at a draw, but not without allegations of cheating back and forth, patheticness, and even a handwriting expert. (Yes, really.) You can check out John Myers reportage on the event.  It really was that crazy.

In AD-50, the Assembly pushing delegates into the district was successful, as Betsy Butler secured the endorsement. But many were still upset about the situation:

Here is where State Party rules are not only stacked in favor of incumbents – but give politicians like John Perez an unsavory role in manipulating the outcome. On Saturday, delegates from the 50th Assembly District gathered to make the Party endorsement. Assembly members can appoint up to five delegates, but only three must live in the legislator’s district. Therefore, Perez asked all Democratic Assembly members to set aside their two “non-resident” slots – so he can appoint delegates who live in the 50th District, and will vote for Betsy Butler over Torie Osborn.

As I walked in to observe the 50th Assembly District caucus on Saturday (as a San Francisco delegate, I could not vote – but I attended to observe), aides for Perez were in full force with clipboards – keeping track of who had shown up to vote for Butler. Aides for other Democratic Assembly members like Fiona Ma had already been working the Convention for the past day, promoting Betsy Butler. This was a well coordinated effort to rig the endorsement, for the Speaker to deliver for one of his members. The Osborn campaign knew they didn’t have much of a shot.(BeyondChron)

Chairman Burton later told a relevant committee that he wanted the situation to end.  A reasonable compromise would be to allow the appointment of delegates from anywhere, but simply eliminate the voting rights for local endorsement issues. Seems to me that would eliminate the entire mess.

At any rate, despite the disagreements, the Party seemed excited to take on the greater challenges facing us this year: the reelection of President Obama and the rejection of “Paycheck Deception.”

The Money Game

Republicans once again nearly broke

by Brian Leubitz

With the news that Republican registration is falling again, perhaps it is of very little surprise that they also have very little money, especially when compared to the Democrats.  But, that is the case.

One of the standouts in terms of limited dollars: the California Republican Party. The state GOP bet big on getting the referendum against the new Senate redistricting maps qualified for the November ballot (and the signatures are still being counted); overall, the party’s report shows it raised $4.2 million in 2011. But the state GOP only had $439,000 in cash left on Dec. 31, and the fate of the redistricting effort still seems somewhat in doubt.

Meantime, the redistricting referendum campaign reported (PDF) having only $620.31 in the bank on the final day of 2011 and has reported no 2012 contributions. The campaign owes $214,000 in unpaid bills.

Compare that to California Democrats, who reported raising $11 million in 2011 and still sitting on a rather impressive $9.3 million in cash as of Dec. 31. That suggests Dems are well positioned for legislative and even ballot measure efforts in 2012, while Republicans will need a major infusion of cash… and in a hurry. (CapNotes)

As John Myers points out, the Senate district map referendum, while largely funded by Mercury Insurance CEO George Joseph, has still left them with emptier campaign coffers than they had before.  While the Dems haven’t spent nearly as much money, expect the Party to spend big time on the November ballot, with revenue and paycheck deception on the ballot.

At the same time, news from the June initiative front is also quite anemic.  While the anti-tobacco groups will be kicking off their campaign to raise cigarette taxes by a $1/pack to pay for cancer research today at the State Capitol, they’ll be doing it without a lot of cash.  Same for the LA Labor Fed’s term limits reform measure that made it on the ballot last year.  

June’s election will be fierce in a few competitive legislative and Congressional seats, but don’t expect any big statewide push.

On Holding Down The Conversational Fort, Or, Jobs, Republicans, And Hooey

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