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What It Was Like Pounding Precincts in the 49th District for June’s ‘Jungle Primary’

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By Mark R. Day 

Like many Americans, I have grown weary of the squabbling pundits on cable television, and tired of fulminating at the latest gaffes and missteps from the man in the White House.

So when a neighbor suggested I get out the vote for the June 5 California primary, I joined the Democrat’s effort in North San Diego County to flip the 49th Congressional District —the seat left vacant by Republican, Darrell Issa.

When I told the recruiter that my first canvassing job was with Bobby Kennedy’s 1968 California primary, his jaw dropped.  

“That’s awesome,” he said. ”You made history.”   [Read more…]

49th District Congressional Candidate Sara Jacobs Shows Class With Concession Statement

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The following has been reposted with permission from Facebook.

This afternoon, I called Mike Levin to congratulate him on his victory in CA-49.

While there are still thousands of votes left to be counted, it’s time to bring our party together and turn our efforts and attention toward making sure Diane Harkey does not go to Congress.

I’m so proud of everything that we did together. Because of our collective efforts, our district saw the largest turnout in any Congressional race in all of Southern California. More people voted for a Democratic candidate than a Republican one in this election. We had new registrants, young people, people of color, and other communities that normally don’t make their voices heard in an election come out and cast a vote.   [Read more…]

The More Things Change: Tulsa’s Race Massacre History Books Turned Into A Race “Riot”

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By Abby Zimet / Common Dreams

Lessons from the past: Last week marked the 97th anniversary of Tulsa, Oklahoma’s 1921 Race Massacre, wherein mobs of white vigilantes, abetted by complicit government and law enforcement officials, looted, burned, bombed from the air and virtually destroyed the black, thriving, middle-class Greenwood community widely known as Negro Wall Street, in the process killing at least 300 of its 10,000 black residents, and likely many more.

Then perhaps America’s most preeminent, albeit segregated, black community, Greenwood was created by post-World-War-One blacks fleeing the Deep South; divided by railroad tracks from white Tulsa, they built scores of black-owned businesses, hotels, restaurants and law offices, as well as a library and hospital even as racial hostilities, lynchings and the ranks of Klan members grew — in Tulsa, to over 3,200.   [Read more…]

Think the Primaries Were Tough? Get Ready for the General Election.

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Whew! The primary season is over. There are some ballots to be counted, some celebrating to be done, and some wounds to be healed.

Let’s take a peek at some of what’s coming and a few things needing to be taken care of as we move on. 

The media narratives attempting to squeeze the voting results into a sound bite are all over the place.

Fox news thinks it sees the makings of a Republican resurgence in California, translating the over-participation of GOP voters in early contests into a scenario where the citizenry will rise up against overtaxed and overregulated government come November.     [Read more…]

2018 San Diego Primary Election Results & Analysis

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This year I skipped going downtown to watch the election results. Instead, I watched Ugly Delicious, Chef David Chang’s Netflix show putting the food we eat into a historical and cultural context. It was a lot more fulfilling than orbiting the floor at Golden Hall watching people waiting for results.  

And now that I think of it, the term ‘ugly delicious’ is an apt metaphor for the June 2018 primary results.  I’m going to make today’s column a work in progress, posting the results as of Wednesday morning, updating them when it changes the outcome, and adding historical and cultural analysis until late in the afternoon. (So if you’re reading this in the morning and it seems sparse, come back later. I’ll be writing as fast as I can until the caffeine wears off.)

I’ll start with down-ballot contests and move up the political food chain as far as Congressional races, after a couple of general observations. Statewide races, I think, are well covered elsewhere.
  [Read more…]

Dreaming of Racial Harmony

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At 80 I find myself still pursuing the same dream in which I’ve indulged myself all my life, a dream that someday the races of people would get along in harmony. Or at least try.

I say try because it seems to me that it’s been our failure to even pursue such a dream that has gotten in the way of it becoming a reality.

But, I’d dare say, there’s no better time than now for us to find ways to embrace each other. I feel that way just because of how the world is.   [Read more…]

Now That You’ve Voted in the 2018 California Primary… (You did vote, right?)

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June 5th is here. It’s all over but the ballot counting. And since my subscription to the psychic hotline has lapsed, I can’t say who’ll win and who will lose.

The emergence of competitive contests for usually overlooked and down ballot offices will have a lasting impact on San Diego. A new generation of electoral activists has emerged, and the passion they’ve shown has changed the way people view local government.

There are have been some hard-fought battles among the candidates running for office, along with some impressive get-out-the-vote efforts. For those reasons, I will predict a higher turnout in this election than San Diego has seen in recent off-year elections.   [Read more…]

A Vote for Summer Stephan and Sheriff Bill Gore Is an Endorsement of Police Brutality

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By R. Zamora / La Voz Es Fuerza

On July 5, 2017, Christopher Villanueva, a San Diego Sheriff’s Deputy fired 16 hollow-point bullets at my unarmed cousin, Jonathon Coronel. According to the medical examiner’s report, he had 22 gunshot wounds on his very slim body. Hollow point bullets expand upon entering the tissue and cause more pain. Jonathon was tortured to death. He was willing to comply with the law.

There were 155 officer-involved shootings from 2005-2015 in San Diego and they have all been deemed justified by the District Attorney’s office.

The witness at the scene of his murder stated that Jonathon was already on the ground surrendered and shirtless to prove he was unarmed. However, even that blatant form of compliance did not stop Deputy Villanueva from executing him in such a monstrous way. I cried every single day since his death and, alongside his family and other victims’ families of police brutality, demanded justice for his murder.

As if finding out that a loved one was brutally slaughtered to death wasn’t painful enough, the villainization of his character and condoning of that violence by Interim District Attorney Summer Stephans added salt to our wounds. In March 2018, eight months after his murder, Summer Stephans held a press conference regarding Jonathon’s case and ruled the Deputy’s violence justified.   [Read more…]

Where Do I Vote in San Diego? Last Minute June 5, 2018 Primary Election Voting Info

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Here are some frequently asked questions about election day voting in San Diego County. In order to vote, you must be a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years of age and you must already be registered to vote. There is no same day registration in CA.

Come inside for much more information…   [Read more…]

Vote for Small “D” Democrats on June 5

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As the primary election season winds up in California, I want to make a pitch for voters to look past the candidates they do or don’t support and vote according to a higher standard.

I have avoided commenting too much about Donald Trump in recent months because of the need to begin rebuilding democracy at all levels of politics. For me, that meant focusing on San Diego contests. Now it’s time to draw a line between those local elections and the national political scene.

The President of the United States believes he is above the law. He’s said so on Twitter. His lawyers have said so. And apparently, the political party he represents isn’t bothered by the idea of an all-powerful executive.     [Read more…]

A Few Last-Minute Reminders for the Procrastinating Progressive Voter

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If you are part of that dwindling tribe who (like me) still prefer to show up at your polling place to vote in person, here are a few final reminders for the procrastinating progressives out there:

Defeat the Lincoln Club:  There is only one way to foil the plans of the Lincoln Club in the San Diego County Board of Supervisors race and discourage them from spending big money to intervene in San Diego Democratic politics in the future: Don’t Vote for Lori Saldana.  See Doug Porter’s column on this race here.  See my column here.

Just Say No to Antonio: Not that many people are paying close attention to the Governor’s race this time around BUT if you are offended by the Lincoln Club’s effort to buy local elections, then you should be even more disturbed by the huge money the billionaire boys club is pumping into this race in an effort to get their man into the runoff in November.  Frustrate their efforts by just saying no to Antonio Villaraigosa. See my column on this race here.   [Read more…]

Bonnie Dumanis: Will She Fool San Diego Again?

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By Timothy P. Holmberg

In 1998, as a cub reporter for the Gay & Lesbian Times, I was asked by then-publisher Michael Portantino to interview aspiring Superior Court judge candidate, and openly lesbian Republican, Bonnie Dumanis.

I arrived at Hamburger Mary’s (now Mo’s) dutifully on time at 11am sharp, with PR photo of Dumanis in hand, to find her already seated and waiting. Her signature hair was exactly as in her photo, and exactly the same as it is to this day. Dumanis struck me then as someone not indoctrinated to mechanical obedience to party orthodoxy. Her history with San Diego’s drug courts program spoke volumes of her desire to find not only justice but rational solutions. Reform over recidivism.

That Bonnie (apart from the hairdo) is gone.   [Read more…]

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