CommentsEASTSIDER-The new vote by mail election for California Delegates to the State Party worked great and resulted in a big surprise for the establishment Dems!
The New System
In an earlier article, I went over the new all vote by mail election system:
“On the plus side, this year’s effort by the State Party is a lot simpler than it was two years ago, since there is no physical voting location. All voting is being done by mail ballots, inherently more egalitarian (as long as you have an email address and a mail address that they can send the physical ballot to).
Any registered Democrat could sign up by January 11, with ballots going out early February (I got mine on the 11th). However, it was really a two-step process. When you signed up, you were then verified (name and address) as a bona fide democrat, and then the Party sent you a code. The code has to be used on the actual ballot before you send it in, as an additional safety check.
Not only that, but the Party popped for “postage paid” on the return envelope. You can vote for up to 14 candidates, with the caveat that anyone voting for more than 14 will have their ballot voided.”
Below I have listed the actual final election results for AD51, sorted by slate:
The Establishment Slate (Communities United For AD51)
Susana Lopez Theresa Montano Maggie Darett-Quiroz
585 591 466
Jamie Tijerina Stephanie Maynetto-Jackson Sarah Rascon
606 492 569
Kathrina Abrot Michael Contreras Victor G Sanchez
454 478 540
Luiz Antonio Sanchez Francis Engler Vincento Gonzalez-Reyes
508 483 442
John Gallogly Alexander De Ocampo
411 508
In the earlier post, I characterized the slate as:
“First, there is what I call the “Establishment” Slate, in the sense that it is essentially controlled by Maria Eleana Durazo and Wendy Carrillo, our current State Senator and Assembly member. You can find a link to their website here.”
Progressive Democrats For Justice (East Area Progressives)
Tessie Borden Maggie Buckles Eileen Hatrick
455 475 523
Angelica Lopez Moyes Alicia Romero Perez Casey Revkin Ryan
538 510 473
Emily Spokes Ben Cassorla Hugh Esten
486 480 ` 428
Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia Matt Kaczmarek Azeen Khanmalek
501 428 426
Paul McDermott Brian Mico
420 402
“The second major slate, similar to the last time out, is that from the East Area Progressives folks, called “Progressive Democrats for Justice.” Again, you can find a link to their website here.”
AD 51 Peoples Action (Bernie and Allied)
Abby Austin Selene Betancourt Lauren Buisson
869 915 849
Hayley Coupon Victor Frias Jeremy Gray
792 877 745
Phillip Iglauer Yolanda Nogueira Carolyn Park
734 847 938
Ismael Perra Eric Pierce Ezra Pugh
560 800 789
Amanda Miguel Staples Jose Gama Vargas
848 871
(Winners in bold)
“Finally, the third slate I found is “AD 51 Peoples Action,” an alternative to the two relative goliaths fighting it out and is affiliated with the DSA-LA (Democratic Socialists for America).
Their Facebook page can be found here.
Actually, they are an interesting group, and if their platform is any indication, looks to me like my Bernie folks! Like Medicare for All, Green New Deal, Criminal Justice Reform, Black Lives Matter, and such. Check out their link.”
The Takeaway
I included the slate descriptions of my first article so that those interested can click on the various slates’ links.
That said, this was an amazing job of using magic, smarts, social media, and electronic outreach on the part of the AD 51 Peoples Action group. They won 100% of the delegates for AD 51.
Most of the unsuccessful candidates were in the 500’s or less votes, while Carolyn Park and Selene Betancourt were over 900!
For comparison, in the election two years ago, the counter establishment forces came close to winning despite a whole tangled web of actual election irregularities by the establishment slate. You can read about that election here.
I do think that courtesy of the COVID-19 issues, that the EAPD slate folks, who include a lot of LAUSD employees, were trying to juggle too many issues with the school district to fully focus on the AD51 election. We’ll see next time.
Any way you look at it, his election marks a huge change in how to run a successful vote by mail election. As I wrote in the earlier article,
“This internal election, like almost all Dems elections, is gamed by the players. For example, it is quite possible that there will be less votes in this election because no one except the interested players and their friends even know there actually is an ADEM AD-51 election going on. And if you find out about it from this article, it will already be too late to register to vote.
On the other hand, it may be easier to vote this time precisely because you don’t have to get in a car, take public transportation, or walk to a polling place. Should be interesting, and this time, no Eric Bauman.”
Wow!
(Tony Butka is an Eastside community activist, who has served on a neighborhood council, has a background in government and is a contributor to CityWatch.) Edited for CityWatch by Linda Abrams.
CADEM AD51 Delegate Election Results In - Wow!
