(This election is 2 weeks from next Tuesday. – promoted by David Dayen)

“Community organizer.”  “Coalition builder.”

These were the words that made me the proudest when Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke about me as he endorsed me last week.

It was precisely through community organizing that I got my start. I was inspired to first get active on campus when I joined the movements to stop the Vietnam War, to fight for civil rights, and to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

My activism continued beyond college when in the mid-1980s, a group of longtime residents in Monterey Park scapegoated new immigrants in the city by pushing for English-only signs in the city and English-only books in the library. When they got a resolution passed in the city council saying that only English should be spoken in the city, that was the last straw. I decided to join a multi-ethnic coalition of Latinos, Asian Americans, and whites to defeat the resolution and we were successful. Out of that movement, I ran for a seat on the Monterey Park city council, and won, spending the next 13 years working toward my goal of getting the diverse groups in the community to work together in harmony.  

It was around that same time that I first met Hilda Solis. We were both fighting to prevent the political boundaries from being redrawn in such a way that the San Gabriel Valley would be divided. While I was in an Asian American coalition, and she in a Latino coalition, we realized that we would have much more power if we fought together as a united force. So together, we went to Sacramento to testify and as a result, we were the only community group in the state that got what we wanted.  

I continued my efforts toward coalition building during my time in the state assembly. Several bills required a hard-fought consensus in order to be passed. One such bill that I carried was AB 805, the Heat Illness Prevention Act, which prevented the tragedy of heat illness for outdoor workers by requiring shade, water and rest periods. To make my point about the importance of such protections, I held a “meeting in the sun.” I held it in a field in the central valley, outside in 100+ degree heat for over 2 hours, while bringing together the Governor’s representatives, the United Farm Workers, the AFL-CIO and the press. We made our point and the protections were put into law.

It is this spirit of bringing people together to work toward a common goal, and of building coalitions between people who may have conflicting interests, that I want to take to Washington DC. Even now, as I run to replace my friend, my mentor and the greatest community organizer I know, Hilda Solis in Congress, I am building coalitions of support for my candidacy. We knew from the outset that the California Democratic Party endorsement was a crucial step toward winning this seat and we also knew that my opponent, a sitting state senator, would have the advantage of institutional connections from Sacramento, so what did we do?

Organize, organize, organize.

In a mass mobilization that the California Democratic Party had never seen before, we got 400 delegates and delegate proxies out in force the day of the endorsement meeting, providing a lunch for them prior to the vote. We turned the lunch into a grassroots rally and we had stand-by proxy voters waiting up to 3 hours in case I needed them. It was a truly “people powered” campaign. In the end, my opponent saw he’d been out maneuvered, so pulled his voters at the last minute, preferring instead to get zero votes. The result? A unanimous endorsement for me from the California Democratic Party.

During this truly unique time in our history when we have our country’s first community organizer president, it would truly be an honor to take the lessons I’ve learned building coalitions and bringing communities together to Washington D.C. I hope you’ll help me do that as we head into the final 2 weeks before election day. Please join us this weekend for precinct walking:

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Canvass & BBQ

9:00am – 1:00pm

Campaign Headquarters

4153 Maine Ave.

Baldwin Park, CA

Sunday, May 3, 2009

2:00pm – 5:00pm

Campaign Headquarters

4153 Maine Ave.

Baldwin Park, CA

You can find out more about volunteer opportunities at www.JudyChu.net and, of course, donations are always appreciated at ActBlue.

(The news peg here is that Dr. Chu vows to join the Progressive Caucus.  Please welcome her to Calitics. – promoted by David Dayen)

It was December 18th when I first heard the news that President-elect Obama had chosen Hilda Solis as his nominee for Secretary of Labor. I was so thrilled because Hilda Solis is a person of such integrity, a true progressive champion who has left an amazing legacy as my representative in the 32nd district of California. After the initial excitement I felt upon hearing the news, it occurred to me: the congressional seat would be open; this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to help President Obama bring change to America and to continue the work Hilda Solis began in CA-32. I knew I had to run for this seat.

I have represented parts of the 32nd congressional district since 1985 when I was elected to the Garvey School Board in Rosemead. Having gained notoriety fighting an English only ordinance in Monterey Park — and winning that fight — I was elected to the Monterey Park City Council in 1988 and served three terms as Mayor. In 2001 I was elected to the state Assembly and was proud to win a seat on the California Board of Equalization in 2006 where I currently serve as Vice-Chair. The 32nd district has been my home for 24 years and I have voted for Hilda Solis as my representative ever since she first won the seat in 2000. Now, in 2009, I am thrilled to have the opportunity to succeed her and carry on her fight for progressive values in Washington.

Hilda and I actually go back 20 years when we worked together on a re-districting initiative that brought both the Asian-American and Latino communities together. Too often our communities are at odds but our re-districting fight proved that all of our interests could be served if we work together. Our friendship and partnership continued for years and in 2001, as I ran a difficult race for the California Assembly, it was Hilda Solis’s endorsement that put me over the top. Now in 2009, as a member of the administration, Hilda must stay out of the political fray, but I am proud and humbled to have the support of the Solis family to continue the fight that Hilda started in Congress. If I am lucky enough to be sent to Washington by the voters of CD 32, I intend to follow Hilda’s example by joining the progressive caucus and fighting for workers who have been under assault for the past decade.

I have been a fierce advocate for workers throughout my career. I’ve been a proud member of the American Federation of Teachers for 20 years; as Mayor of Monterey Park, I supported SEIU 535 in their efforts to organize nurses at Garfield Hospital and joined with the Teamsters to fight the expansion of WalMart; in the Assembly I sponsored AB 805, the Heat Illness Standards bill that provides minimal standards to protect workers from excessive heat on the job, such as shade, water and rest breaks; and as a member of the US Congress I will be proud to add my name to the list of co-sponsors of the Employee Free Choice Act. President Obama supports it because he knows that empowering workers to unionize is key to rebuilding the middle class and I agree. My fight for workers has won me a 100% lifetime voting record from the California Federation of Labor and I’m proud to have received the endorsement of the L.A. County Federation of Labor and the Service Employees International Union in addition to several locals including the Amalgamated Transit Union California Conference Board, Teamsters Joint Council 42 and Teamsters Local 911.

I hope you’ll join my campaign as well.

Please visit JudyChu.net, sign up to be a volunteer and donate what you can to our campaign to carry on Hilda Solis’s legacy. The primary is on May 19th; this is going to be a quick campaign but I know will be a tough one and I’d appreciate your support.