Together with family, friends and staff, we watched Dr. Judy Chu being sworn in as the Congressional representative for California District 32.  Congratulations to Representative Judy Chu!  And congratulations California – we are fortunate to have such an experienced, dedicated elected official representing our state in Congress, especially during these difficult times.  

Sitting with Rep. Chu’s family, friends and staff, we reminisced about her background. She has long been a fierce public servant and she understands the importance of navigating the electoral pipeline. From my perspective, as an advocate to build the pipeline of future leaders, her story is important.

Rep. Chu began political life in her San Gabriel neighborhoods, but she’s no typical valley girl! During her more than 20 years as a public servant, Rep. Chu has served on the Garvey School District as a Board member, was a three term Mayor of Monterey Park, was elected to the California State Assembly, and was elected to the Board of Equalization where she served as Chair.  Rep. Chu has fought to protect working families, end discrimination, save healthcare, protect the environment, protect women, protect consumers, improve education and worked to close special interest tax loopholes.  Now she has distinguished herself as the first Chinese American woman to ever serve in Congress winning her seat with 62% of the vote in the March special election. With her background, we can all rest assured that Rep. Chu will bring her passion, commitment, and integrity to represent our State in the Nation’s capitol.  

Congratulations Rep. Chu, you are a shining example to the power of the pipeline!

So, where are all the women leaders of tomorrow? California is facing a crisis in the feminist fight for equality.  Only 33 women currently serve on our state legislature and just 6 women have ever held an Executive Branch office.  Each election cycle we lose more women to term limits and the pipeline of new women leaders has slowed to a trickle.   There are many reasons, but research shows women are choosing not to run because of the daunting hurdles facing our female candidates.  Raising huge amounts of money to run a viable race, making personal sacrifices, and all too often defending themselves from gender based biases from their opponents.  

Unfortunately, the pipeline for future women leaders is dwindling on every level.  City councils, supervisory boards, and boards of education are all reporting fewer numbers of women running and winning locally. Watching Rep. Chu being sworn reminded me once again how important it is to elect women at each level of government.

We need more women to run for office.  Rep. Chu’s election to serve California in Washington, D.C. confirms the power of the pipeline! Rep. Judy Chu probably never thought she would be working in the House chamber when she first ran for the Garvey School District Board.  Today she will cast her first votes as a member of Congress — I encourage women to follow Rep. Chu’s example because when you start small, you can accomplish big things.  Congratulations again to Congresswoman Judy Chu!

A progressive Democrat winning an election in a traditionally conservative district is no easy task.  Apparently no one gave that memo to Maryland’s newly elected Congressional representative Donna Edwards.  Edwards was sworn into Congress on June 17th making her the first African American Congresswoman in Maryland’s history.  Edwards took the February primary victory over 8 term incumbent Albert Wynn where she outsourced him in both fundraising ability and ballot votes by nearly 3 to 1.  Edwards’ unprecedented triumph caused Congressman Wynn to resign his seat early thereby sending Edwards to a special election run off to fill Wynn’s seat for the remainder of his term.  

Fueled by the heat of a tough primary, Edwards eased a comfortable 60% win over her Republican challenger Peter James. A very impressive and formidable coup for a candidate taking on anti-war and progressive issues that conventional wisdom labeled as out of touch with her district.  We at the CALIFORNIA LIST say “Brava” to Congresswoman Edwards.  Her victory is proof that flipping a known party seat is possible.  This is indeed inspiration for some of our supported candidates running in the November election here in California.

Two particularly hot seats in our election will certainly be Hannah-Beth Jackson candidate for Senate District 19 (Ventura, Los Angeles) and Joan Buchanan candidate for Assembly District 15 (Danville, Oakley).  Jackson faces a tough race against Republican Tony Strickland.  Traditionally a Republican stronghold the seat is up for grabs as Senator Tom McClintock vacates due to term limits.  A win here for Jackson could possibly change the balance of power against the Republicans in the Senate.  Another swing seat is in Assembly District 15 where termed-out Republican Guy Houston steps down.  If Joan Buchanan is victorious it would mean an additional party gain for the Democrats in the State Assembly.

Congresswoman Edwards’ success shows the importance of early and consistent funding support to get the message out.  Both Jackson and Buchanan need your contributions and votes to make a successful bid for their elections.  Please visit the CALIFORNIA LIST website (www.californialist.org) to learn more about the all of our supported candidates and consider the options for membership.  Join us today – your support can make a difference.

While the nation’s political attention has been focused on the Democratic presidential primary election, our Democratic women candidates here in California ran competitive campaigns in really difficult races AND won! However, yesterday’s primary was a bittersweet victory.

The pendulum is swinging away from the great strides we made in the early 90’s to even the playing field in the California legislature. Our dreams of equal representation for women are slowly declining. The trend seems to be that we lose two to three elected women legislators every election cycle. Despite yesterday’s victories, we could potentially lose more women legislators in November. Considering less than 28% of the California state seats are held by women, we must remain vigilant to maintain gender representation.

Congratulations to the candidates listed below for winning races that were among California’s most difficult and most important! We also congratulate all the Democratic women candidates – up and down the ticket – who ran outstanding campaigns! We appreciate all that you have done for Democrats and for women.

Lois Wolk (SD 5, Stockton, Yolo)

Loni Hancock (SD 9, Alameda, Oakland)

Hannah-Beth Jackson (SD 19, Santa Barbara)

Carol Liu (SD 21, Burbank)

Fran Pavley (SD 23, West Los Angeles, Santa Monica)

Mariko Yamada (AD 8, Yolo County)

Alyson Huber (AD 10, Sacramento, El Dorado)

Nancy Skinner (AD 14, Berkeley)

Joan Buchanan (AD 15, Oakland, East Bay)

Fran Florez (AD 30, Fresno, Kern)

Ferial Masry (AD 37, Thousand Oaks)

Bonnie Lowenthal (AD 54, Long Beach)

Diane Singer (AD 60, Orange, San Bernardino)

Norma Torres (AD 61, Pomona, Montclair)

Judy Jones (AD 73, Orange County, North San Diego)

Congratulations to the following incumbents!

Elaine Alquist (SD13, Santa Clarita)

Christine Kehoe (SD 39, San Diego)

Noreen Evans (AD 7, Napa)

Fiona Ma (AD 12, San Francisco)

Cathleen Galgiani (AD 17, Stockton)

Mary Hayashi (AD 18, Oakland)

Anna Caballero (AD 28, Salinas, Monterey County)

Julia Brownley (AD 41, Santa Monica)

Karen Bass (AD 47, Los Angeles)

Wilmer Amina Carter (AD 62, San Bernardino, Fontana)

Lori Saldana (AD 76, San Diego)

Mary Salas (AD 79, San Diego)

Thank you to all our members, donors and supporters. We successfully supported Democratic women candidates throughout California. We continue to make a difference, thanks to your continued support.

CALIFORNIA LIST believes that electing women legislators is important. The women we help elect are the women who will march into Sacramento as champions for universal health care, better education and as protectors of our natural resources. These women are mothers, wives and workers who understand the issues their fellow women face in both the home and employment arenas. This is why electing women matters and maintaining a sustainable pipeline of women moving up the ladder of elected offices is the only way to ensure enough women representatives will be seated.

CALIFORNIA LIST works to help identify strong women candidates to fill the pipeline and actively supports candidates with training, public relations and campaign finance. Our local elections feed seasoned women into the state pipeline and each election cycle we are losing an average of two women electeds. California is suffering a famine of women who can run and win.

We need your help to increase the pipeline and reverse the decline of women electeds. Visit our website at www.californialist.org to learn more about the benefits of CALIFORNIA LIST membership or to renew your membership. Your membership can make a difference -join us today!

Bettina Duval is the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST, a political fundraising network that helps elect Democratic women to all branches of California state government.

Currently there are 32 elected women in our California State Senate – that’s about 20%  Last week I met with Assemblywoman Patty Berg, former chair of the Women’s Caucus to discuss the upcoming primary election.  It is sad to report, but our predictions were grim. Pundits and pollsters are predicting that we could drop to 25 elected women in our state government.  Needless to say, we are worried.

As the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST, an organization dedicated to electing women in California, I have watched as our legislature consistently loses 2 elected women each successive election cycle. The loss is occurring in our State Assembly, which affects the pipeline of future female leaders. This seriously affects the flow of political leaders moving up the ladder of experience. For leadership, after serving in the Assembly you move to the State Senate and then to a statewide office.  The decline in women leaders today will have devastating results that can only become more apparent in the future.

What exactly does this loss mean?  As fuel prices take a toll on our economy and California faces a tremendous budget deficit, the choices that will be made in our government in education, health care and transportation are on the table for negotiation. Where will the cuts be made?  How will the priorities be established? By record, women consistently champion those issues that affect families, health and environmental concerns.  With the dwindling statistics of women elected, who will be the advocates of those societal matters that we as women hold so dear?

I think that the differences that women make in government are subtle.  Having women elected officials has opened up the political process and shifted the debate to issues that affect our everyday lives — from health care solutions introduced by Sheila Kuehl to the consumer fraud watchdog policy designed by Jackie Speier to environmental protection laws authored by Fran Pavley.  These women are on the political forefront.

Please visit our website at www.californialist.org to learn about our endorsed women who are running for office on June 3nd – women we feel are qualified to help secure a strong future for California. These women are the future leaders of our state — help elect them on Tuesday.  Help us reverse the downward trend and build our pipeline of elected women.

Bettina Duval is the founder of the CALIFORNIA LIST, a political fundraising network that helps elect Democratic women to all branches of California state government.

As the June 3rd primary approaches, it is vital that we as voters take stock of the tremendous decline in our elected women here in California.  In 2008, ten female legislators, 7 Democrats and 3 Republicans, will be lost due to term limits. This could seriously affect our pool of elected women which is already less than 1/3 of the total California legislature.  

Living in a progressive state like California we tend to think that we have a large contingent of female elected legislators because over half of our congressional delegation is female and we have two women who are United States Senators.  In our state legislature this is not reality. There are 33 women legislators in the California state legislature (27 Democrats and 6 Republicans).

The mission of the CALIFORNIA LIST is to provide financial and strategic support to progressive Democratic women running for seats in the California state government. Women who are committed to core state issues like better public education, access to health care and the search for alternative fuel sources.

Each election cycle, CALIFORNIA LIST endorses Democratic women running in contested primaries and new candidates. Through a committee process we have vetted our endorsed women candidates with personal interviews and a thorough examination of their record of experience to be those who will support the mission of CALIFORNIA LIST, to work with those committed values, and to make changes that will make a difference.

This is a practical way to build the pipeline – and these are the women we should elect to reverse the decline in the number of women legislators in Sacramento.  Many of these legislators will also become our next Congressperson, Senator, Speaker of the House or even President.  But right now we have to make sure there is a pipeline of women ready to run for higher office.

Help us reverse the decline in women legislators by supporting them with your contributions and your votes!

In addition to the candidates listed above, the women we have endorsed over the years run for re-election. Assembly candidates run for re-election every two years. We are proud to have supported the Assemblywomen listed below early in their first campaigns, and ask you to continue supporting them in their re-election campaigns.

We are working hard to help elect our endorsed candidates and we need your support! Please consider giving a donation of $25, $50, $100 or more to at least 2 of the above candidates and help them WIN!

Visit our website to send in your donation to CALIFORNIA LIST or donate to any of our endorsed candidates. Our new online system is easy, quick, and secure.

Bettina Duval is the founder of the California List, a political fundraising network that helps elect Democratic women to all branches of California state government.

Finally something we can all agree on!

   While the outcome of the 2008 presidential election remains unknown, one certainty goes unappreciated: the Bush presidency will soon be over! A new animated film offers a joyful musical tribute to the end of an era.

   “The Waiting Is Over” shows a glimpse of what the future may hold with the passing of the presidential torch. It’s a hand-clapping, foot-stomping celebration guaranteed to lift your political spirits.

     Americans have finally found something they can all agree on: the end of the Bush presidency will be a welcome event. And a new animated film musically celebrates the end of this unprecedented era. How many have dreamt that terms like “warrantless wiretapping” and “troop surge” might one day vanish from our vocabulary? This nonpartisan sing-a-long reassures us that dreams become reality the closer we get to this long anticipated finale.

    “The Waiting Is Over” features presidential candidate, “Sheep”, who proclaims that a new America is just around the corner. “We need to remember that no matter the outcome of the election,” says Sheep, “things are going to get a whole lot better. That’s something to celebrate.” He also believes the film serves to remind Bush’s successor of the country’s expectations of the next administration.

    If all the debates and campaign promises of the presidential contenders have left you a little disappointed, don’t despair. Now you can stop singing the campaign rhetoric blues and lift your voice in song to a new chorus. The revival of America has been a long time coming. The waiting’s nearly over. Let the celebration begin!

Visit www.Sheep2008.com

(Don’t see anything? Go HERE)

This election has revved up our political process unlike anything we have seen in decades. Across the country, Democrats are showing up to participate in campaigns, and voting in record numbers.  Women are voting in record numbers!

Believe it or not, on June 3rd  it will be California’s time to vote again in our State primary.  This is a key election that will determine the fate of many of our female candidates.

Most people are feeling the disparaging downward trends in our economy with gas and food prices rising – while incomes remain stagnant – along with the problems in the real estate markets.  Coupled with that are the divides in our social unity and the uncertainty in our global relations.  Now more than ever we have the opportunity to step up to the ballot box and make a difference.

In local races we need a revolution in California – fresh ideas and goals that can move us back toward a being country that thrives.  It’s easy to gloss over these legislative races because of the intense media attention afforded higher profile races.  But the election of pro-choice, Democratic women to the California State government can bring that alternative perspective.  Electing women matters because they bring a distinctive perception to the political process.  Yet, we are losing women elected officials and it’s time to halt this trend.  Our state legislature is still dominated by men by more than 3 to 1 – but in this election we have the opportunity to place women in more positions of power than ever before.  

The mission of the CALIFORNIA LIST is to provide financial and strategic support to progressive Democratic women running for seats in the California state government, who are committed to reproductive freedom and equality for women.  CALIFORNIA LIST has identified 26 women running in this election worthy of your support.  Through a committee process we have vetted our endorsed women candidates with personal interviews sand examination of their record of experience to be those who will support the mission of CALIFORNIA LIST to work with those committed values to make changes that will make a difference.

CALIFORNIA LIST is proud to endorse the following candidates:

Lois Wolk,  Senate District 5

Wilma Chan,  Senate District 9

Loni Hancock,  Senate District 9

Hannah-Beth Jackson,  Senate District 19

Carol Liu,  Senate District 21

Fran Pavley,  Senate District 23

Mariko Yamada,  Assembly District 8

Alyson Huber,  Assembly District 10

Nancy Skinner,  Assembly District 14

Joan Buchanan,  Assembly District 15

Gina Papan, Assembly District 19

Anna Song, Assembly District 22

Fran Florez, Assembly District 30

Laurette Healey, Assembly District 40

Linda Harris-Forster, Assembly District 52

Visit our website at www.californialist.org to see full biographies of all the candidates.  And please, consider joining CALIFORNIA LIST and donating to these wonderful candidates.  You can do this at our website.

This is a great time for California because we have the chance to effect real change.  We need to raise the number of women elected legislators and June 2nd is your opportunity to move women closer to equal representation.  Save the Date!  

(Believe us, so are we! : ) – promoted by atdleft)

21st Century Democrats released our new 2007-2008 candidate questionnaire today.

Here at 21st Century Democrats, we think too many organizations endorse candidates based on a checklist of surveys of incremental policies that won’t do much to fix what is wrong in this country. Checklist questionnaires tell you if a candidate supports your issue, but they don’t tell you whether a candidate is actually going to do something about it if they get elected.

Political strategists and consultants tell our candidates to support incremental policies which will not offend voters. The strategy is to play it safe and wait for Republicans to fail so badly that voters will elect Democrats. This is exactly what happened in 2006.

This strategy doesn’t inspire people to vote. When you act like a Republican, you fail to build the political will for making the massive policy changes we need. We believe electing a Democratic majority is not an end itself, but rather the means to an end. Our ultimate goal is to create a real progressive society – one that is just, fair, tolerant, and sustainable. So if you really want to get there, you need to identify and elect candidates who want to build a progressive society and have the leadership skills to take us there.

Leadership is about offering solutions and building the political will to support them. That’s why we work to elect Democrats who will be leaders inside the Democratic Party on Capitol Hill, in state Houses, counties, and cities across the country – Democrats who will take us to the next level.

We think the best way to find visionary candidates to support is to skip the standard checklist that a lot of DC groups use and, instead, to engage in a conversation with candidates about their vision and bold ideas. Most candidates find this very different and very refreshing. Filling out our questionnaire is the first part of this conversation, a way for candidates to introduce themselves and their ideas to us. And in the process, they learn we’re not business as usual.

In 2006, we were proud to support a great slate of candidates, including Jon Tester and Sherrod Brown in the Senate, and Keith Ellison and Kirsten Gillibrand in the House. And 21st Century Dems were fighting in the trenches of state and local races, too – Ted Strickland for Governor of Ohio, Mark Ritchie for Secretary of State of Minnesota, Jamie Raskin for the Maryland State Senate, and Ike Leggett for County Executive in Montgomery County, Maryland. We supported Andrew Rice for State Senate in Oklahoma and Gabby Giffords for Congress in Arizona. We helped candidates all across the country, up and down the ballot, some targeted and some who were not. And we won 9 of 11 primaries we were involved in.

We’re excited about the 2008 campaign season, and we’re looking forward to working with more visionary candidates. Last time around, 21st Century Democrats helped get some big wins for Democratic candidates, and this time we’re looking to do even more.