Progressive Democrat Issue 100: RUNNING FOR DELEGATE IN CALIFORNIA

Here is a great way to make the Democratic Party in California more progressive: be a delegate!

This comes from the California for Democracy Blog:

In January of 2005 something remarkable happened: people who were newly active in politics showed up in large numbers at Assembly District Committee meetings all over California... and elected each other to be delegates to the California Democratic Party.

As a result, for the past two years there have been literally hundreds of new progressive delegates working within the California Democratic Party... influencing the party platform... and the endorsement of candidates. Helping to create the newest - and largest - caucus within the state party: the Progressive Caucus.

Now it's time to do it again: the two year term for these delegates is up in January, and it's time to re-elect some of them... and add to their numbers!

Each assembly district (there are 80 in California) will elect 12 delegates. That's up to 960 delegates that we can help select.

These meetings (with a few possible exceptions) will be held on January 13th or 14th - depending upon which Assembly District you reside in. California for Democracy is encouraging its members to show up at their appropriate meetings... and run to be delegates - and/or vote for those who will.

Here are some steps to participate:

* If you don't already know it, determine the assembly district you're registered to vote in. Here's a tool to help do so... Enter your address in the form at the bottom of the page and it will list your elected officials, including your California State House (Assembly) member, indicating your District. (As distinguished from your Federal House member's district! Or your State Senate District!)

* Find the date and time of your district meeting on This Helpful Page. Some district meetings haven't been scheduled yet... so you may need to check back a bit later.

* To RUN to be a Delegate... The State Party will have a form available, both for download as well as to fill out online. The form will be up no later than Friday, December 8. The deadline to fill out the form and have it received by the Sacramento CDP office is 5PM on Tuesday, January 2, 2007. Per CDP By-Laws, you must file 12 days in advance, to be eligible to run for delegate position.

* To PARTICIPATE in the AD Election Meeting: Per CDP By-Laws, 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.

We encourage you to work with other progressive organizations to turn out supporters at these events... and repeat - and build upon - the successful 2005 events.

Click here to go back to THOUGHTS section and Table of Contents for this issue.