CALIFORNIA POLITICS

2020 State Legislative Endorsements

CDT and Voices for Progress announced our early endorsements for the 2020 primary election: Abigail Medina for SD23 (Redlands – Inland Empire), Assemblymember Susan Talamantes Eggman for SD5 (Stockton – Central Valley), Johnathon Ervin for AD36 (Palmdale – Los Angeles County) and DeniAntionette (Deni) Mazingo for AD42 (Yucaipa – Inland Empire). We are very excited about this slate of new majority candidates! Our endorsements and early contributions will be critical to helping CDT and V4P leverage more progressive support behind Abigail, Susan, Johnathon and Deni. 

 

Black Women Lead California

“Long a crucial part of winning Democratic coalitions, black women vote often — in 2008 and 2012, the turnout rate for eligible black women voters was about 7 in 10, higher than any other race or gender subgroup — and reliably Democratic.” But the California Democratic Party does not reflect their leadership, and black women leaders — including CDT-endorsed Senator Holly Mitchell, Assemblymember Sydney Kamlager-Dove and Assemblymember Shirley Weber — are fighting for more representation and influence. On a very related note, CDT-endorsed Deni Mazingo is an African American woman seeking to unseat white Republican incumbent Chad Mayes.  

 

Californians

CalMatters does a deep dive into the California population, including recent migration patterns and the future demographic trends. 

 

The federal administration proposed a rule that would cut 3.1 million people off food stamps, an estimated 250,000 of whom would be low-income Californians.

 

Orange County

Per Scott Lay’s The Nooner, “In the live update yesterday, the number of registered Democrats in Orange County surpassed the number of registered Republicans for the first time. The Orange County Young Democrats mark the moment ‘According to the Orange County Registrar of Voters, there are now 547,458 registered Democrats in Orange County and 547,369 Republicans. This is an increase of 23,834 registered Democrats since the final report before the 2018 midterms when Democrats captured four Republican-held Congressional seats and gained control of the entire Orange County Congressional Delegation.’”

 

District Attorney Races

The Los Angeles Times looks at the shift from tough-on-crime to reformer district attorneys. 

 

Congressional Races

CDT-supported Aisha Wahab has suspended her campaign in Congressional District 15 after Representative Swalwell dropped out of the presidential race and announced his run for re-election. We will provide updates as they develop.

 

Republican activist, former San Diego councilmember and radio host Carl DeMaio is challenging Duncan Hunter in Congressional District 50. Former Republican Representative Darrell Issa (from CD49) is rumored to be entering the race, as well. Per Scott Lay in The Nooner: “August 22 is likely the last date that Hunter can resign and trigger a special election, which makes it much more likely that the seat stays in GOP hands. After that, the special election will likely be consolidated with the March 3, 2020 primary election. While the seat is still likely Republican, the longer the story drags out particularly once Hunter’s trial begins September 10, the better shot Democrat Ammar Campa-Najjar has at persuading voters to [give] the return candidate a chance.” CDT is supporting Ammar’s campaign to flip this seat.

 

2021 Redistricting

The 2020 Citizens Redistricting Commission extended the application period from August 9 to August 19 to address the underrepresentation of women and people of color in the applicant pool. Fifty-nine percent of the applicants are men and 63 percent are white. Community groups were advocating for an application extension to September and have actively been recruiting candidates to diversify the applicant pool

 

Republicans have filed a lawsuit against Michigan’s new independent redistricting commission, which will have implications for California’s commission. “The similarities between the Michigan and California rules are no accident. Both initiatives were designed to block gerrymandering by taking the every-10-years post-census effort to redraw each state’s political lines away from elected officials and put it into the hands of a multipartisan citizens’ commission.”

 

POLICY

Tenant protection legislation, Assembly Bill 1482, could protect as many as 3 to 4 million people from arbitrary convictions in Los Angeles alone. The bill would bring an estimated 1.2 million units in LA under rent control.

 

Lobbying spending in Sacramento reached a new high in the first six months of the year: $187 million. The top five spenders: 

 

  • California Teachers Association, $4.3 million. It focused on legislation to weaken charter public schools, most of which are nonunion.
  • Western States Petroleum Association, $4.1 million. It focused on legislation and policy related to oil, emissions and taxation.
  • Chevron, $3.7 million. See Western States Petroleum Association.
  • California State Council of Service Employees, $2.2 million. Labor
  • ACLU, $2.19 million. It focused on criminal justice issues and police use of force.

 

Western States Petroleum Association and Chevron consistently rank in the top five every year and they have an outsized influence on killing or watering down critical environmental justice legislation. In the era of the top-two primary election system, they have honed a strategy to elect and influence moderate Democrats, especially in and from communities of color who are most affected by the oil industry. CDT works with a broad coalition of progressive groups to counter their influence, including through our endorsements of progressive state legislative candidates and investments in our partner regional tables and groups in new majority communities.