Be a Part of Your Democratic Party This Weekend!

This weekend, something special will happen. Democrats from all over California will select their Democratic Party representatives! And this year, more candidates than ever before are running.

I should know. I & 16 other people are vying for a position as state party delegate in my Assembly District (69th AD: Santa Ana, parts of Garden Grove & Anaheim)! In the 68th AD (rest of Garden Grove, Westminster, Fountain Valley, Costa Mesa), some 23 candidates are running. And in the 70th AD (Irvine, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach), 33 candidates are running. And in other OC districts, we’re also seeing candidates from all walks of life, from many different communities, and with experience ranging from Bill Clinton’s first Presidential run to Barack Obama’s successful campaign, all show up to make a difference.

So would you like to join us this weekend? All you need to do is find out who’s running in your district, see where your local AD Caucus is occurring, and show up to vote. As long as you’ve been a registered Democrat since last October, you can participate in your local caucus.

I just can not emphasize more the importance of what we’re doing this weekend. California Democrats are at a crossroads. On one hand, we helped seal the deal for Barack Obama on November 4. But on the other, we’re now in court to stop the disastrous attack on civil rights that began with the passage of Prop H8. On one hand, Orange County nearly turned blue for Obama. But on the other, no Democrat won any OC Congressional or state legislature seat from the Republicans. We made much progress, but there is still far more work to be done.

That’s why, after much initial hesitation, I decided once again to run for state party delegate. California needs a strong Democratic Party to stand up for civil rights, workers’ rights, fiscal sanity, environmental justice, social justice, and just overall what’s best for this state and this nation. I ultimately felt that I’d be committing a crime by not doing something to make the California Democratic Party a better & stronger party so that we’ll start seeing progress on the issues we care about.

So please, please attend your local caucus if you can! If you’re in the 68th AD, please consider voting for my co-blogger Misha Houser. And if you’re in the 69th, please consider voting for me. And no matter who you vote for this weekend, thanks for stepping up to make a difference.