California Braces For Tumultuous June 5th Primary
California's primary election has culled would-be candidates out of the woodwork, with voters and rising politicians motivated by a cacophony of issues, magnified by the general discontent of the public with the status quo, and the current administration. I spoke to a few of the progressive candidates in key races, who raised different concerns going into the vote.
While early voting has already been taking place, there are no publicly available numbers, Stephen Jaffe, candidate for CA's 12 congressional district tells me. "Nothing is disclosed until the polls close [at] 8 PM", but, he is both optimistic and pragmatic about the turnout, saying he is "feeling good about the result. I expect to finish a strong 2nd on Tuesday." However, the looming issue over CA's 12th, or so it would seem, is the problematic $3 million raised by the Nancy Pelosi campaign (the incumbent being challenged by Jaffe) in the last year and a half. However, when asked how much victory that $3 million might buy her, Jaffe didn't seem as disturbed. "Money can only take a campaign so far. My election is in a real sense, a contest for the soul of the Party. I will never have the kind of money Pelosi has, but I sense a strong movement and sentiment behind me - that it is time for a change - similar to the Bernie phenomenon in 2016. You cannot buy that with money." Since the "soul" of the Democratic Party is a topic of recent national discussion, I asked if he would be willing to consider supporting third party politics if Pelosi won; "I never close my mind to anything reasonable. But, until I am out of the race, I intend to focus on replacing Pelosi". Jaffe does not foresee any DNC tricks on the 5th, but says we should "be vigilant for irregularities".
One concern, at least for Gayle McLaughlin, running for Lt Governor, is that independent and third party voters, a large fraction of voters in CA, turn in their ballots. "They can do so on election day and anyone can turn in a ballot for a friend." Another thing that Mclaughlin is concerned with leading up to the vote, is the undue influence of pharmaceutical donations in the race. Documents relayed to me reveal that Eleni Kounalakis, a registered Democrat and former ambassador to Hungary, received a generous contribution from "Pharmaceutical Research And Manufacturers Of America IEC" in the amount of $200,000 on May 25th. Strangely enough, she is a political heavyweight with an oddly low profile. Other than raising money from Clinton in 2009, and having some ambiguous affiliation with AT&T in March 2018, there is about as much to see in her record as there is on her platform.
Angelica Duenas, running in CA's 29th, is cautiously optimistic. When it comes to how she will fare on the 5th, she says "Who knows... no one knows how that might turn out". When it comes to general on the other hand, Duenas expects that the incumbent Rep. Tony Cardenas will lose in the general election to whomever makes it into the runoff, a reaction that is understandable given the recent allegations of sexual misconduct that have swamped the Cardenas camp. Essentially, a second place win on the 5th is in her mind a first place win in the general election. Unfortunately, this depends upon Democrats "leading with their values" (Tom Perez) and supporting a female challenger over an alleged #MeToo offender. I'm just not as confident in the "soul of the party".
I would like to conclude with what was, at least for a journalist writing from VA, a pleasant surprise: Polling locations will be largely disperse and accessible. I asked each of the candidates, and while David Hildebrand, running for Senate, answered "no", his main concern was with voting systems (his answer in full is the 9th question in my conversation with him).
Stephen Jaffe says "Yes": "...SF is good at making sure people can vote. People have been voting since May 5th at City Hall. There are about 600 polling places in SF. Plus the vote by mail ballots, which are about 60% of the vote." Both Angelica Duenas and Gayle Mclaughlin said similar.
Stephen Jaffe says "Yes": "...SF is good at making sure people can vote. People have been voting since May 5th at City Hall. There are about 600 polling places in SF. Plus the vote by mail ballots, which are about 60% of the vote." Both Angelica Duenas and Gayle Mclaughlin said similar.
Please vote for progressives on June 5th, California!