Groundswell of support for reform in the California Democratic Party

by: djardin

Sat Apr 25, 2009 at 23:42:36 PM PDT

The California Democratic Party elected statewide officers today, and the results showed a seismic shift away from insider politics in Sacramento.

The party has been roiled by internal controversy over the diversion of funds for campaigns by the former speaker of the state Assembly, Fabian Nunez. Many Central Committee members in swing districts have also been disgruntled at the lack of state contributions to funding for regional campaign infrastructure, including campaign offices and staff.

As a result, two grassroots candidates stepped up to run for statewide officer positions. Hilary Crosby, a CPA and activist from the East Bay, ran on a platform of financial transparency and accountability of the party to its elected delegates and executive board representatives.

djardin :: Groundswell of support for reform in the California Democratic Party

In a major upset, Crosby defeated the incumbent controller, Eric Bradley, by 54% to 46%.

In a move seen by many as hopelessly Quixotic, Chris Finnie, a CDP standing committee member and party activist from Santa Cruz, stepped up to challenge former state Senate leader John Burton for the position of chair after Los Angeles Democratic Party chair Eric Bauman and CDP Vice Chair Alex Rooker withdrew from the race.

Finnie ran on a platform of reform of the state party. Her platform included twelve auggested bylaws revisions. The new bylaws would mandate that the party write a statewide strategic plan in consultation with the executive board, and then develop a fundraising plan and tactical campaign plan in consultation with the appropriate executive board committees.

Finnie received 24% of the vote, which was a strong showing considering that Burton had swept the endorsements by elected officials and labor unions.

Burton has promised to work with Finnie on implementing her draft bylaws changes.

Tags: Democratic Party, CDP, California, (All Tags)

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Groundswell of support for reform in the California Democratic Party | 2 comments

It aint' Quixotic if you tilt the windmill (8.00 / 1)

and it looks like Chris did just that.

I'm hoping you're right that we're starting to see a change in priorities from the state party. You've written a fair bit about the value of getting good funding for voter reg and local infrastructure, and the difficulty of getting either from the state party. Hopefully, the clusterfuck that's the current session in the state assembly and senate will convince the electeds that change is in everybody's best interest.

by: mbayrob @ Sun Apr 26, 2009 at 07:19:47 AM UTC

She would have gotten even more votes (6.00 / 2)

if there was a secret ballot. Many delegates said they could not vote the way they wanted to after hearing her speech about bylaws reform, because they were appointed, or had pledged to vote for Burton before the AD elections.
Burton may well follow up on his pledge to support the proposed reforms to the bylaws. He enacted small-d democratic reforms to state Senate hearings when he was in the legislature.

by: djardin @ Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 04:28:24 AM UTC

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