Weiss campaign, confused by voting rules, to challenge Min’s Pre-Endorsement for CA-47

Joanna Weiss
Joanna Weiss

I thought election denialism was a Republican thing.  TheLiberalOC has learned that the Joanna Weiss for Congress campaign is formally challenging the results of this weekend’s California Democratic Party pre-endorsement for Congress in CA-47, won by State Senator Dave Min with 70% of the vote.

An email sent Tuesday to DPOC Chair Ada Briceno, CDP Chair Rusty Hicks and other party officials is demanding a meeting this week to discuss “flaws” in the voting process.

From the letter sent by Weiss campaign insider Audrey Prosser:

RE: URGENT MEETING REQUESTED –  PRE ENDORSEMENT ELECTION IRREGULARITIES

CHALLENGE TO ORANGE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRE-ENDORSEMENT ELECTION   – DO NOT CERTIFY THE DPOC PRE ENDORSEMENT ELECTION FOR THE CD 47 – IT IS FLAWED

The letter is signed by several of Weiss’s campaign supporters.  The argument is about votes coming from Democratic clubs.

Team Weiss clearly doesn’t understand the difference between the CDP elections and club straw polls. Democratic clubs have different rules for how each club representative is supposed to vote for in CDP elections. Some clubs have straw polls that are supposed to be binding, but there are no enforcement rules here from the state or local party.  So candidates running for Congress, State Senate or Assembly can join, and vote. in multiple club straw polls.

Min has.

And so has Joanna Weiss.

Weiss and her campaign team regularly post on message boards and send email urging her supporters to come out to the clubs to register so they could vote in upcoming straw polls. Joanna, her husband, her parents and some of the core WAVE members all voted in multiple straw polls for Team Weiss.

From the letter, the campaign appears to be a hot mess.  They don’t seem to know the role of DPOC members, didn’t know that Luis Aleman is the regional director for CA-47 (thinking instead Deborah Skurnik was (she represents the region where Weiss lives), and the typos in the names suggests sloppy work.

The Weiss campaign seems confused about the process.  The DPOC doesn’t run Pre-Endorsement Conferences.  Regional directors and the state party does.  None of the Democratic Clubs in OC held an election, but only straw polls in accordance with club bylaws.  New candidates for Congress in districts representing OC were personally briefed about the how the Pre-Endorsement Conference process works and directions for questions were provided.

So the gist of the complaint is Dave Min voting in multiple straw polls and that’s not OK; Weiss did too but that is OK.

Nope.

Here’s the letter (email addresses redacted and editorial notes in italics):

October 23, 2023

TO: ADA BRICENO, CHAIR OF THE ORANGE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY –  Cory Allen Regional 20,

Deborah Shurnik (sic), Rusty Hicks, Diana Love, Secy Cadem

RE: URGENT MEETING REQUESTED –  PRE ENDORSEMENT ELECTION IRREGULARITIES

CHALLENGE TO ORANGE COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY PRE-ENDORSEMENT ELECTION   – DO NOT CERTIFY THE DPOC PRE ENDORSEMENT ELECTION FOR THE CD 47 – IT IS FLAWED

It has come to our attention that the results of the Pre-Endorsement Election in Orange County is flawed.  We learned late that Michael Sall, OC By-Laws Chair of the DPOC (not his title; director of clubs is) permitted Members to join numerous club (sic) and vote at multiple clubs in the Pre-Endorsement. If it were Republicans voting multiple times in an election, we would even say corrupt.   No Democracy allows one person to vote multiple times in the same election.  We are aware that several people voted more than once and skewed the Pre-Endorsement Election.  In more than one club this multiple voting changed the outcome for the winner.  An audit of the ballots or the Members that appeared on more than one Clubs accounting that voted will reveal the duplicates.

You are the holder of the names of the people that voted at each club’s election.  It should be relatively simple to discard the votes of people that voted multiple times. Time is of the essence.  We are requesting a meeting with Chair, Ada Briceno and Regional Directors, Cory Allen and Debbie Shurnik (sic) on Thursday afternoon October 26th  from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM or Friday afternoon, October 27th from 1:00 to 3:00 PM to review the names of Members that voted at each Club’s Pre-Endorsement meeting so we can eliminate duplicates.

Not only is one person voting multiple times to change the outcome of an election undemocratic, it is in conflict with the California Democratic Party By-Laws that clearly state that the CAdem by-laws override the DPOC By-Laws.    Please see the attachment of paragraph “C” on page 52 of CaDem By-Laws.  The Regional Directors are responsible for eliminating duplicate votes.  The Chair of the DPOC is the person that certifies the election.

We are challenging the results that were publicly announced immediately after the Pre-Endorsement Election in CD 47.  We know for a fact that some members voted more than once This election cannot and should not be certified and Dave Min’s name should not and scannot (sic) appear on the Consent Calendar at the State Convention without a full audit that we want to observe.

Respectfully,

Audrey Prosser, Rita Conn, Carol Nilsen, Sue Kempf, Mayor Pro-Tem, City of Laguna Beach

California Democratic Party By-Laws – Page 52

  1. (b)  Club representatives shall be allocated as follows: one representative, resident in the Assembly District and duly registered as a member of the Democratic Party of California, for each full (not a fraction thereof) 20 members in good standing registered to vote in the Assembly District who were listed on the roster referred to above.
  2. (c)  Club members who hold dual club memberships may only be counted for representation once. Such representatives must be registered Democrats. In the event a name is listed on two or more rosters, only one name shall be counted and the Regional Director shall first count the name on the roster of the organization which does not deprive another organization of representation, if possible; provided, however, if that is not possible, the name on the roster which was first turned in will be counted unless the individual is listed as a Representative from another organization, in which case the individual shall be counted only on the roster of the organization sought to be represented.

Prosser lives in Huntington Beach and has strong ties to Laguna Beach. She posted on social media that she joined the Costa Mesa Democratic Club.  I’ll guess she also a member of the Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach clubs?  Did she vote in three straw polls?  Just asking.

It was long rumored that Weiss’s campaign would challenge the result of a pre-endorsement at the convention just as Katie Porter and Harley Rouda did in 2018.  The only question was, on what grounds?  But using the multiple votes by Min and team in multiple straw polls for multiple clubs when the Weiss campaign is guilty of exactly the same thing is what we call weak sauce. Is the Weiss campaign seeking to overturn fair and free election?

What strikes me is how this campaign just doesn’t seem to understand the process or know all of the party officials they need to work with.  Objections should have been made at each club straw poll vote.  They lost a pre-endorsement vote, reminded everyone that the vote was all about party insiders, and now plan to challenge the vote at the state party convention citing behavior the Weiss campaign is also guilty of doing.

 

 

32 Comments

  1. You get it wrong regarding Harley and Katie’s challenges in 2018. No one got 70% at any of the 2018 pre-endorsement caucus and the eventual winners won their 60% at a convention caucus. Those two challenged the results by getting 300 delegates to sign a petition to require a hearing by the full body of the convention. They did not contest the results as fraudulent, they just demanded a full convention vote. Joanna is actually challenging the fairness of the Pre-endorsement caucus, basically accusing Dave Min and his supporters of fraud. That s high bar to prove.

    She would be better served by trying to petition delegates to call for a convention caucus and try to peal delegates away. Instead she is trying to question a fair system and going for an uphill challenge she will almost certainly fail. She is only looking like a sore loser when she could move on from this, claim its not a game changer and try to win the primary. Instead she looks desperate

    • Thanks Jill. Wow! Prime time? I’d give her a 3:30 AM slot, because I’m generous to a fault. Law school faculty? Our own Ms. Typo?

    • How many various club Straw Polls/Pre Endorsement elections did you and your husband Rick Bruck vote at Jill Nelke? I am all for throwing out all votes whether for Min or Weiss of any person that voted at more than one Club. In fact the State Party As a party insider and Dave Min Campaign Insider, do you not believe in one person, one vote or transparency in elections? The bar is pretty low to be ready for Prime Time. Dave Min only held a part time job from 2008 until he was elected in 2020.

      • How many clubs did you cast votes in for straw polls Audrey? And has Joanna moved into the district yet?

        • Good question Dan. Why don’t you ask everyone on this thread how many clubs they voted at? I voted one time at The Laguna Beach Democratic Club, the Club that I am Past President of. Why don’t you ask Joanna any questions that you have for her. Contrary to the flame throwing by Min supporters on this thread to attack Joanna because I filed an appeal based on my belief that one person, one vote is the foundation of a Democracy. I am a supporter of Joanna Weiss. I have no position in her campaign. Ask others on this thread if they have a position in Min’s campaign.

          • I have asked Joanna’s campaign a number of questions. There are never answers for me. But Joanna, her husband and her parents voted in straw polls with multiple clubs. You filed an appeal? And you’re not part of the campaign; they’ll let anyone go rogue? Do you know how bad this looks for the Weiss campaign? It makes the campaign look like a hot mess run by amateurs

      • Audrey, your contention that Min onlyheld a part-time job for 12 years is false. He was a policy director at the Center for American Progress and a full time professior at UCI Law School. Weiss was an Adjunct Professor at Chapman University School of Law (did John Eastman recruit her?); I taught a communications class at Chapman in 2013 but don’t call myself a Professor. Please be factual.

  2. It sure doesn’t seem like the smartest strategy to try and undermine the votes of all the amazing volunteers working in the field.

  3. I personally observed many Facebook Posts encouraging Weiss supporters to join several local Democratic clubs, attend their meetings and vote. I am a member of only one Democratic Party Club. It is truly sad that this makes the Pre-Endorsement process look like the clown show that happened with Republicans trying to elect a Speaker! This is not a good look for a future candidate.

  4. I believe the confusion lies with the reference to the CDP By-Laws. The section in question refers to the determination of the number of Democratic Club Representatives and election of said representatives. The current voting process for Club endorsement has been the same since it’s inception and I don’t think it is a good idea to change it immediately after the votes are counted. Perhaps recommending this change to the CDP for future endorsements is a better path to take.

    Although an Adjunct Professor is part-time, Professor is an accepted address for instructors with post-graduate masters degrees, part or full time, particularly in the arts, social work and law professions (MFA, MSW, JD).

    That said, perhaps we should stay focused on the experience and merits of the candidates and how they address the critical issues we are facing today.

  5. I’m told this issue is moot. The meeting did not happen. The pre-endorsement vote was certified.

    A prominent supporter of Weiss posted this on Facebook: “Vote didn’t turn out as I’d (sic) would have liked, but we are a democracy and when your person doesn’t win, you don’t fuss or claim cheating, you just keep moving forward!”

  6. Hopefully, it is dawning on Weiss and her surrogates, CA47 wants an accomplished public servant who actually lives in CA47 to represent us.

    I’m dumbfounded they thought otherwise.

    • I have not seen one piece of negative advertising from Senator Dave Min or his campaign. They have not brought up District Boundries or that Joanna Weiss does not presently live in CA47.

      • I never said that a review of the club votes would change the results in Joanna’s favor. Again, I filed the appeal not Joanna.
        The State Party has rules to prevent duplicate votes. You should disclose that you are a Min Supporter and Min’s Rep to the California Assn of Realtors.

        • Gosh! If you filed without her permission, she must be pissed!

          Bad enough that it’s all the talk in the District that Joanna, at the CMDC meeting, refused to pledge to support the Dem who prevails in the primary, if it’s not her.

          That alone should be disqualifying for the CADem endorsement.

        • Audrey, I am NOT involved in Dave Min’s campaign in any way other than being a supporter of Dave Min. Yes, I am a Key Contact for Dave Min representing the California Association of REALTORS. I promote housing and Real Estate issues to Dave Min. He has always been a big supporter of real estate issues and he would be a terrific Congressman in DC. But, I could easily be a Republican in this Key Contact position representing CAR issues to Dave Min. I have no influence in this capacity.

          What is being lost in this discussion is that over 70% of Delegates voted for Dave Min. Many of them like me are ELECTED Delegates. I do not just represent myself. I represent the District. I did my very best to determine who has the BEST path to victory in this race and keep it in Democratic control. I voted for Dave Min because I think he can win!

      • That’s true.

        To my recollection, Min has never brought it up because, unlike Weiss, he is running a positive cmoaign.

    • And I don’t work for Min’s campaign. I’m a retired investment banker and I dedicate my free time to electing Dems to office.

  7. The Dem club ballots do not have the voter’s name attached so any challenge would require a complete re-vote by all clubs. You would not know who turned in which ballot.

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