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California State Democratic Party Digging Out from Avalanche of Papers Submitted to Run for State Delegates: Elections on January 13 and 14

By Frank D. Russo

A happy but weary Robert Jordan, Deputy Director of the California State Democratic Party, reported that over the 2100 applications from those running for the State Central Committee (DSCC) have been received as of the deadline Wednesday evening. He doesn't even know the exact number of candidates for the 960 slots that are to be elected the weekend of January 13 and 14 at 80 Assembly District caucuses. The number could climb still higher, as he and other party officials are verifying the applications and comparing the information from them with the California Secretary of State's voter file.

"It's overwhelming, especially in heavy Democratic Districts," Jordan said. This is the first time that the party has required candidates to file in advance of the caucus meetings. In past years, any Democrat registered in an Assembly District could simply show up and announce they were running at the time of the election.

Each Assembly District elects 12 members to the Democratic State Central Committee, or "delegates," as they are called. That totals 960, which is roughly a third of the body that sets the policies for the California Democratic Party at annual conventions. The other two thirds of delegates are chosen by County Central Committees, whose members are elected in the June primary, and by those selected by Democratic officeholders and nominees according to various formulas and distributions.

If, in any Assembly District the requisite 12 candidates have not filed, the ones who have already filed are automatically elected and when the caucuses are held in a little over a week, others may file at the meeting and run. The only district known at the present time to not have sufficient candidates is the rock ribbed Republican Second Assembly District, where most of the seats have not been applied for, but there may be a few others lacking the even dozen that will rule.

Jordan expects to have the list up on the CDP website as early as today, but it may not be until Monday that he can accomplish this. "A few folks are in Washington, D.C. today" for the historic swearing in of Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the US House, he advised.

There is renewed interest in the party, particularly from the progressive caucus, and there is a website, ProgressiveSlate.com , which has information on how how to find your Assembly District, and other useful information as to why you should run or attend these caucus meetings to vote.

The California Democratic Party is governed by the DSCC, membership of which is a two-year position going from odd-year Convention to odd-year Convention. Starting with the November 2006 election, the state party starts its reorganization, determining the new DSCC, which meets for the first time at the April 27-29, 2007 Convention in San Diego. As the DSCC members meet annually at the State Party Conventions, they are also referred to as delegates to the State Party.

DSCC members vote on the party platform, revitalize the party operation and machinery, and vote for specific candidate endorsements. This is a real opportunity to get progressives and reformers into the state party to attempt to steer it in a direction that is more responsive to the grassroots, more engaged with the electorate, and generally more functional and successful in elections and achieving the party's goals.

To vote in the AD Election Meeting, you must be a registered Democrat in the Assembly District by the time of the close of registration for the Nov 2006 election. The only exceptions are for persons who turned 18 or were naturalized as citizens after the close of registration - those persons can register on-site as Democrats and participate. A $5 registration fee will be collected from all voting participants, to help defray meeting costs. This registration fee will be waived for those participants who claim economic hardship.

If you are not sure which Assembly District you are in, please take a look at information provided by the official California Democratic Party site: Statewide Maps of Assembly Districts
or you can use a district locator, by putting in your voter registration address.

To find out meeting times/dates/locations, click here to go to the official California Democratic Party site.

The times listed are when the doors for the meeting will open and registration begins. One hour after the listed time, registration will close and unless you are in line, you will not be able to vote if you have not yet registered. At this point, the meeting will then begin. You do not have to stay for the entire meeting in order to cast your ballots. But you may want to as it is fun to see old friends and neighbors--and celebrate the November victories one more time.

Posted on January 05, 2007

Comments

This is great news. Hopefully, it is indicative of renewed interest in the direction of the CA Democratic Party.

Thanks for the post and the run down of procedures.

Posted by: Randy Bayne at January 5, 2007 09:20 AM

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