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Coming up today statewide (at least if you’re reading this relatively early on Saturday, January 7) are the Democratic Party’s “ADEM”s — Assembly District Election Meetings. (I have no idea how Republicans elect their state convention delegates, but I imagine that it involves masked couriers at 3 a.m. bringing to the homes of the chosen invitations written on parchment in blood. This could be incorrect. I’m pretty sure, though, that the Libertarian party lets the market decide.)
As previously explained in this backgrounder, if you’re a Democrat, or willing to re-register as one, you can come and vote within the Assembly District where you live. Times and locations are listed below. Also below, the endorsements of the “Progressive Slate” — which seems to be largely composed of still-pissed-off Bernie Sanders supporters (like me and Vern) trying to do something constructive, as well as OJB’s overlapping but not identical recommendations, because some very good OC Democrats did support Hillary. (Or, conceivably, Martin O’Malley. But not likely.)
State Delegates are, as you may glean from the title, as selected from Assembly Districts. Each Assembly District will send 7 women and 7 men to the convention, one of whom will also be appointed to the State’s Executive Board (which meets an extra two times per year.) Orange County has six Assembly districts in their entirety — #s 65, 68, 69, 82, 73, and 74 — and one, #55, that is shared with the eastern San Gabriel Valley and the city of Chino Hills. Anywhere between all and none of the AD 55 delegates could come from Orange County.)
Here is the info you need, by district. (Links on the District Numbers are to Progressive Slate pages.) We hope to see Democratic OJB readers well-represented at these meetings today! (Or, depending on when you read this, we hope that you went.) Any registered Democrat living in the district is eligible to vote. On-site voter registration is available for those not registered as Democrats. You can visit our previous story for links to lists of all male, female, and E-Board candidates.
AD 55:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 9:30am
Registration & Voting Begin: 10:00am-12:00pm
Counting of Ballots Begins: TBD
Location: Applebee’s Restaurant
21625 Valley Blvd., Walnut, CA 91789
Cross streets/landmarks: Valley Blvd. and Grand Ave.
Progressive Slate Recommendations: Only Michael Hsu signed up — and OJB endorsed him before he did!
OJB Endorsements: E-Board Member: Michael Hsu.
Females: Sanobar Baig, Carole Levers, and Brandy Carter!
Males: Michael Hsu. (For people saying “ohhhhh, and why not Nick Anas?”: we presume that he will get a seat via election to an open AD55 seat on the DPOC.)
AD 65:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 9:30am
Registration & Voting Begin: 10:00am
Counting of Ballots Begin: TBD
Location: UFCW Local 324 Union Hall
8530 Stanton Ave., Buena Park, CA, 90620
Cross streets: Stanton Ave. and Crescent Ave. Room is on the second floor, but there is an elevator.
Progressive Slate Recommendations: ANTONIA ALARIO (Bernie Volunteer and former Dem Party office holder), RASHAD AL-DABBAGH (Community Activist), AHMAD ZAHRA (Filmmaker), MIRVETTE JUDEH (Community leader and activist)
OJB Endorsements: E-Board, Mirvette Judeh.
Women: Glenda Flock, Ada Briceño, Jeanine Robbins, and Mirvette Judeh.
Men: Stephen Weissbart, Rashad al-Dabbagh, Aaruni Thakur, and Ahmed Zahra.
(Heeyyy, why aren’t we endorsing Connor Traut? We find young Connor to be amassing too much power too quickly. He’s just 22 or so and is a school board Chair and likely. He doesn’t have to take over the entire world before he’s 25! For now, we like him more than we do power-sponge Jordan Brandman, but we need to figure out where he’s coming from — and we need to hear what he tells lots of different people when he doesn’t expert them to compare notes.)
AD 68
Candidate Speeches Begin: 9:30am
Registration & Voting Begin: 10:00am-12:00pm
Counting of Ballots Begin: TBD
Location:
Teamsters Local 952
140 S. Marks Way, Orange, CA 92868
Cross streets or landmarks: Chapman and Marks Way
Progressive Slate Recommendations: NICHOLAS SEIDER (Student and Sen. Sanders DNC Delegate), SETH GROSSMAN (Community Activist), SAMILA AMANYRAOUFPOOR, (Ex. Bernie Delegate, Community Activist, Current AD 68 Delegate)
Among women, Christina Avalos, Sherri Loveland, Samila Amanyraoufpoor, Naz Hamid, and it would be hard not to support Loretta Sanchez.
Among men: Edward Garza, Mani Kang, Iyad Afalqa … and … we must be true to our commenters, so John Paul Lucas. (Note: one well-known DPOC member is running here, which we were specifically asked not to do.)
AD 69:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 12:30pm
Registration & Voting Begin: 1:00pm-3:00pm
Election Portion Begin: 3:00pm
Counting of Ballots Begin: 3:00pm
Location:
Unitarian Universal Church
511 South Harbor Blvd., Anaheim CA 92802
Cross streets: Santa Ana St & Harbor Blvd.
Progressive Slate Recommendations:
LEÓN CISNEROS (Community Organizer), IVAN ENRIQUEZ (Bernie Delegate, Government Student in College). BENJAMIN VAZQUEZ (Teacher), TISH LEON (Community Activist & Senior Advocate)
OJB Endorsements: E-Board, Any of the Executive Board candidates would be excellent. Three of them — Laura Kanter, Al Jabbar, and Martin Lopez — are too good to even implicitly advise against. Listen to their speeches today and see which of the three has the time and money to devote themselves to this chore.
Among women: Tish Leon, Laura Kanter, Becca Edwards, Yenni Diaz, and Maria del Pilar Alatorre Valladarre.
Among men: Edward Garza, Martin Lopez, Al Jabbar, Rigo Rodriguez, Benjamin Vasquez, Julio Perez, and either Cisneros or Ivan Enriquez. (That’s seven people for eight seats — sorry. Maybe someone has dropped out — or will?)
AD 72:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 2:30pm
Registration & Voting Begin: 3:00pm-5:00pm
Election Portion Begins: 5:00pm
Counting of Ballots Begins: TBD
Location:
IAMAW District Lodge
5402 Bolsa Ave.
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
Cross streets: Bolsa Ave./Graham St.
Progressive Slate Recommendations: none submitted!
OJB Endorsements: E-Board, Melanie Formosa (if she’s eligible, as she doesn’t appear on the women’s list, but she may qualify otherwise) although current member Trung Ta would be fine.
Among women: Gina Clayton-Tarvin (of course), Lynn Hua, Jen Siegert, and Monica Curca. (Lots of other good choices are also available.)
Among men: Mark Sheldon and Oscar Rodriguez. (Some prominent party regulars will likely get seats even without our endorsement. But do elect these two!)
AD 73:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 12:00pm
Registration & Voting Begin: 12:30pm-2:30pm
Election Portion Begins: 2:30pm
Counting of Ballots Begins: TBD
Location:
San Clemente Community Center, Fireside Room
100 N. Calle Seville, San Clemente, CA 92672
Cross streets: Avenida Del Mar & Calle Seville
Progressive Slate Recommendations: WILLIAM SUMMERVILLE (48th Congressional District Bernie Delegate)
OJB Endorsements: E-Board, Anne Cameron.
Among females: Anne Cameron, Jennifer Cunningham, Wendy Gabriella, Linda May (despite some clashes for much of the year online!), Octavia Tuohey and Grace Tuohey.
Among males: William Summerville, Scott Rhinehart, and Steve Stewart.
AD 74:
Candidate Speeches Begin: 10:00am
Registration & Voting Begin: 10:30am-12:30pm
Ballot Counting Begin: 12:30pm
Location:
Verano Place Commons
6529 Adobe Circle South, Irvine, CA 92617
Cross streets: California Avenue
Progressive Slate Recommendations: CRAIG BEAUCHAMP (Bernie supporter, progressive democrat, and community activist), ANNE MOHR (CD 48 Elected Sanders Delegate), CASSIUS RUTHERFORD (Student Organizer & Young Democrat), KENNETH STAHL (Professor of Law), LAURA FEREJOHN (Volunteer worker bee for Bernie Sanders’ OurRevolution.com), MANUEL CHAVEZ (President of College Democrats at UCI and Community Volunteer), LOUISE STEWARDSON (Progressive Activist), SCOTT MCKOWN (Community Activist, Precinct Organizer)
OJB Endorsements: E-Board, Anne Mohr
Among women: Craig Beauchamp (yes, she is one!), Anne Mohr, Mary Carter. If you vote for those three, also consider Laura Ferejohn and Louise Stewardson.
Among men: Cassius Rutherford, Kenneth Stahl, Gary Bennett, Manual Chavez, Matthew Nguyen and Scott McKown.
A note to OJB readers: as results come in for your meeting, please feel welcome to text them to me or post them here!
65th AD pretty triumphant!
Mirvette won E-board against Connor! (Although young Connor DID get onto the committee.)
Winning men in order:
Rashad
Ahmad Zabra
Aaruni
Connor
Luis Flores
James Eric Barlow
Ian Macdonald.
Winning women in order:
Claudia
Ada
Mirvette
Barbara
Pamela Thakur
Leslie Mahaffey
Jeanine!!
Waiting on the 69th now… there sure were a lot of folks in line there! I had to go to the xerox store twice to make new ballots and other forms.
69 news: Laura Kanter on E-Board, still waiting on the rest…
Preliminary results for 69 are great – men first:
1. Ben Vasquez
2. Al Jabbar
3. Julio
4. Rigoberto
5. Leon
6. Martin
7. Noel…
Clean progressive sweep! Back in a minute with the wimmen…
Still haven’t seen the women list, but they say all the progressive-slate ones made it.
72 (Travis Allen’s district) Our two favorite women – Gina and Monica – came in first and third. And we’re glad that Mark Sheldon came in first among the men.
But we’re sad that Oscar didn’t make it, and that Benny and Cordoba did.
Looks like turnout was only about half what we had in our Anaheim district, maybe that’s why the results weren’t as good for real progressives.
Laura Kanter is a good choice. News from AD-55 will be less elevating. Sadly, the counting there took so long that my sinus meds wore off and I spent the last hour there just trying to disappear into my phone and not engage, then headed to sleep it off. More meds to come, but for now I’m up and able to type.
Menfolk:
1. Calvin Sung, 129 or 125 or something votes
2. Nick Anas, 125 votes
3. Mario Alfaro, 99 votes
4. James Gallagher, 89 votes
5. Matthew McBride, 82 votes
6. Michael Hsu, 68 votes
7. Joseph Bartell, 49 votes
———
8. Leo Makenoski, 37 votes
9. Douglas Doner, 31 votes
+ 3 others
A likable group of winners, but (except for Hsu) very insider-y. These are Hillary people, “good soldiers,” and not boat rockers. Malenoski is the only one to wear a Bernie shirt – or even allude to him. Hopefully he picks up an outside appointment.
Womenfolk:
My alternate on the LA County Committee, the sharp, congenial, and hardworking Dr. Sanobar Baig, brought in her usual scores of South Asian supporters, allowing her to almost double the total of her runner-up. The only name that readers of this blog might likely recognize, outgoing E-Board rep Carol Levers, finished comfortably in fifth.
1. Sanobar Baig, 159
2. Dena Anderson-Peoples, 81
3. Yahaira Ortiz, 78
4. Layla Abou-Taleb, 66
5. Carol Levers, 60
6. Melissa Fazli, 51
7 – tie. Michelle Hamilton, 33
7 – tie. Sharon Speck, 33
——–
9. Allyson Vincent, 30
10. Ellen Grau, 20
11. Janet Jones, 19
12. Iris Mann, 18
+ 3 others
Speck won the draw of lots for the final spot; Hamilton will almost surely be appointed by an elected.
E-Board: of the six people running, two didn’t appear and two more didn’t win the delegate seats they needed to qualify for E-Board. So the only two left were the #5 woman, Fazli (who had had 51 votes) and the #6 man, Hsu (who had had 66.). Fazli’s short talk had focused on all that she had done to campaign, ending with a recommendation that people read Gavin Newsom’s new book. (Hint, hint!). Hsu’s included a quasi-religious sounding call to mount a drive for social justice. Result: Fazli, 125; Hsu, 52. Moral for AD 55: don’t ask people to saddle up and ride, ask them to settle in and read.
I participated in this event and seemed fairly open. My residence is in the assembly district starting east of the 57 all the way down to Irvine, no wonder neighbors feel like we live in Orange. The speeches were too early for me for a weekend, so I got there just on time to vote. A couple of young candidates greeted me in the parking lot and asked me for my support. It is good to see young people involved in politics, but they handed me a glossy flyer printed in non-recycled paper…I voted for them because they were from the progressive slate. I had printed Greg’s recommendations and they were excited to see their names .I doubt they will read this, as they did not know about the OJB.
The person in charge of the registration table could’ve been more friendly, welcoming, he asked me whether I was already registered as a Dem and to give $5 donations: you can tell that Vandermeir is burnt out. The majority of the people still in the hall must have been from Irvine, as Dan C was having a good time interacting with them.
From Facebook, the women elected in AD-74. The top 4 were from the Progressive Slate.
Mary Carter (113)
Anne Mohr (100)
Louise Stewardson (100)
Craig Beauchamp (94)
Dinah Frieden (77)
Katharine Azar (53)
Amanda White (33)
Men elected in AD-72:
Men elected were:
Mark Sheldon (103)
Phil Silverthorn (100)
Benny Diaz (98)
Ray Cordova (97)
Trung Ta (92)
Ken Arnold (91)
Scott Fudal (82)
Runner-up: Oscar Rodriguez (48)
AD-68
1) Naz Hamid
2) Sherri Loveland
3) Zara Ahmed
4) Samila A.
5) Sara Abed
6) Michelle Duman
7) Amira Abed
1) Nicholas Seider
2) Seth Grossman
3) Iyad Afalqa
4) Edward Garza
5) Gabriel Orea
6) Mani Kang
7) Niels Kauksson
AD-73 (The names need to be fleshed out, of course — anyone have time?)
FEMALE
Grace Tuohey
Martha F
Linda May
Octavia Tuohey
Barbara C
Kelly L
Teresa V
(Alts: Anne Cameron, Tricia A)
MALE
William Suumerville
Mike Stone
Mike Sall
Scott Rhinehart
Sayyed D
Mike Getto
James O
(Alts: Jason R, Ronald B)