Jane Kim: My November 2020 Endorsements

It’s never been more important to ENGAGE and VOTE.

What to check your voter registration and learn about your vote-by-mail and in-person options? Make your VOTING PLAN here. And vote EARLY.

Every election cycle, I share my endorsements—and yes, it’s a lengthy ballot again. This year, I have expanded my endorsement guide to include progressive candidates across California.

We must build a stronger bench of progressive elected officials across California. California has the highest poverty rate, an untenable affordable housing crisis, and is experiencing the devastating consequences of climate change while simultaneously accelerating, yes accelerating, new fracking permits in 2020. And despite being one of the world’s largest economies, we are 41st in the country in per-pupil spending in our public schools.

As the future of a balanced US Supreme Court hangs on a thread, the only clear stop gap is electing more representative, progressive lawmakers at the local and state level and flipping the US Senate. Not only will diverse and progressive lawmakers author and pass stronger laws to protect women, people of color, LGBTQQ, tenants, small businesses, access to healthcare and other critical issues, WE NEED TO BUILD OUR BENCH FOR THE FUTURE. This is my November 2020 Election Guide with an additional write-up for non-incumbent candidates running for this office for the first time.

Enjoy!

Candidates:

US President and Vice President
Joe Biden and Kamala Harris

Alameda Contra Costa (AC) Transit Board, Ward 1
Jovanka Beckles

Berkeley City Council
Ben Bartlett, Cheryl Davila, Sophie Han and Richard Illgen

Berkeley Mayor
Jesse Arreguin

Berkeley Rent Board
Leah Simon-Weinberg, Xavier Johnson, Andy Kelley, Mari Mendonca and Dominique Walker
This is a slate of progressive, pro-tenant candidates, including tenant attorneys and formerly unhoused mothers, selected and endorsed by the Berkeley Tenants Convention, to protect rent control and fight for more affordable housing. Vote for all FIVE!

Delano City Council
Salvador Solorio-Ruiz and Veronica Vasquez
Solorio-Ruiz and Vasquez are Delano natives running to advocate for affordable housing, clean drinking water, and stronger worker protections in Delano, a rural Latino area of California and birthplace of the United Farm Workers (UFW) movement. Solorio-Ruiz is a youth activist serving on the Kern County Democratic Committee and Vasquez is the local SEIU 521 President, social worker and grand-daughter of UFW organizers. They are running to join Bryan Osorio, 24 year old city councilman who won in 2018 to win a progressive, Latinx block on the Delano City Council. They have been endorsed by Kern Inyo Mono Central Labor Council, Our Revolution Kern and Sunrise Kern Hub.

Hayward City Council
Lacei Amadou, Nestor Castillo, and Elisha Crader
Amodei and Crader are both community organizers and tenant rights advocates who led a lengthy community-led effort for stronger rent control laws. Castillo is an ethnic studies professor and founder of the Eden Community Land which serves the city of Hayward and neighboring areas. If they win, they will join Aisha Wahab, who won a seat on the Council in 2018 and is the first Afghan American woman elected in the US.

Long Beach City Council
Suely Saro and Tunua Thrash-Ntuk
Endorsed by Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, Our Revolution and Working Families Party

Saro was born in a refugee camp before immigrating to the US. She began her career as a labor organizer working alongside janitors at SEIU Local 6 and healthcare workers at SEIU 1199NW. She went on to become the first Cambodian American Executive Director of Khmer Girls in Action before leading the Health Access Project at Asians Americans Advancing Justice Los Angeles. Thrash-Ntuk is an Executive Director at an affordable housing non-profit organization and has financed and built thousands of units of affordable housing in Los Angeles and Orange County. Saro, who is challenging an incumbent, would be the first Cambodian American elected official in Long Beach.

Los Angeles Board of Supervisors
Holly Mitchell
Endorsed by Emily’s List, CA League of Conservation Voters, Los Angeles Times, Sierra Club, United Farm Workers and Planned Parenthood

State Senator Mitchell is the first African American to chair the powerful state Budget committee in California and one of my favorite state legislators. She has won an impressive policy portfolio including the landmark anti-discrimination law, The C.R.O.W.N. Act and the Equity and Justice criminal justice reforms (including ending financially burdensome juvenile fees for youth and their families and juveniles to life without parole sentences.) The LA Board of Supervisors is responsible for the policies which impact over 10 million residents across 88 cities and set the standard for what is possible in addressing our homelessness crisis or the school-to-prison pipeline. Should she win, the Los Angeles Board of Supervisors will be composed ENTIRELY of women for the first time in history.

Los Angeles District Attorney
George Gascon
Endorsed by the California Democratic Party, Color of Change Action, Los Angeles Time, Real Justice PAC

Gascon is the former San Francisco District Attorney and Police Department Chief. The Los Angeles Times regards this race as the most important contest in the country outside of the presidency. Los Angeles is home to the largest criminal justice jurisdiction and jail in the nation and sends people to prison at almost four times the rate of San Francisco, even though violent crime has fallen in both cities. While San Francisco has not seen a death penalty case in decades, LA prosecutors continue to seek new capital cases even after Governor Newsom issued a moratorium on executions. In 2012, Gascon was the first elected prosecutor who called for the end of cash bail and he reduced the sentencing disparity between African Americans and Caucasians by half over his two terms in San Francisco.

Oakland City Council
Carroll Fife, Noel Gallo, Rebecca Kaplan and Dan Kalb
Fife is the co-founder of Moms 4 Housing, a group of unhoused mothers who took over a vacant home in Oakland and won! As Director at ACCE Oakland, she has worked to pass strong tenant protection and affordable housing legislation at the state and local level. She is running to join progressive elected city council members Nikki Bas, Sheng Tao along with Rebecca Kaplan, Noel Gallo and Dan Kalb who are running for re-election as well.

Oakland Board of Education
Sam Davis, and VanCedric Williams
Davis and Williams are former public school teachers and education activists running together on a progressive agenda. Endorsed by the Oakland Educators Association.

Palo Alto City Council
Cari Templeton
Templeton is the Chair of the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission, mother of two public school children and believes in building housing AND affordable housing.

Richmond City Council #1
Claudia Jimenez, Gayle McLaughlin, and Melvin Willis
Richmond is a working-class city in the Bay Area overshadowed by a large Chevron refinery. Richmond Progressive Alliance has successfully been running slates of candidates to challenge Big Oil since 2004. They are running to join Eduardo Martinez on the Council. These candidates have been endorsed by California Nurses Association, Bay Rising Action, Sierra Club, Our Revolution and Working Families Party

Sacramento City Council
Mai Vang
Endorsed by Sacramento Bee, California Nurses Association, Sunrise Sacramento

Mai is a Sacramento native, daughter of Hmong refugees, eldest of 16 and current Sacramento School Board member. Mai, who runs a mentorship program for high school students and co-founded Hmong Innovating Politics (HIP), came in the top two in the March primary. She is running to join Katie Valenzuela, a democratic socialist and California Environmental Justice Alliance Policy Director, who defeated an incumbent in March!

San Jose City Council
Jake Tonkel

Endorsed by California Nurses Association, San Jose Teachers, Silicon Valley DSA, Sunrise Movement San Jose Jake is a Green Party member running to fight for rent control, community land trusts, and stronger inclusionary housing policies (San Jose City Council just voted to completely SUSPEND inclusionary housing requirements!!). Stockton Mayor
Michael Tubbs

Mayor Tubbs needs no introduction– but if you have not seen the HBO documentary, Stockton on My Mind, documenting one of our rising Democratic stars, check it out.

San Francisco:

US Representative, District 12 and 14: Nancy Pelosi and Jackie Speier

CA State Senate, District 11: Jackie Fielder

CA Assembly, District 17 and 19: David Chiu and Phil Ting

Board of Supervisors

In 2018, I was one of five women of color serving on the SF Board of Supervisors. In 2020, we have shrunk to one and the tenacious and smart Sandra Lee Fewer is retiring after twelve years as an elected. Support Connie Chan and Myrna Melgar– not only are they long time San Francisco residents and fierce mothers of color raising their children in our city, they are experienced public servants, who have collectively dedicated their careers to serve our public schools and community college, parks and affordable housing.

Board of Education
Matt Alexander, Kevine Boggess, Jenny Lam and Mark Sanchez
We have four EXCELLENT candidates running for the Board of Education this year. Alexander, Boggess and Lam are all public school parents who have been long time public education/youth organizers and advocates. Alexander and Sanchez are both former San Francisco public school principals and teachers. I have known all these candidates since I served on the Board of Education which just gives you a sense of how long they have been involved in our schools. VOTE FOR ALL FOUR!

City College Board of Trustees
Aliya Chisti, Tom Temprano, Shanell Williams and Alan Wong
We have four young San Francisco public servants running– all of whom I worked with to keep City College of San Francisco TUITION FREE. I have known Williams and Wong since they were high school students serving on the San Francisco Youth Commission and San Francisco Board of Education as a student delegate, respectively. Temprano is the former President of the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and small business owner, and Chisti, who is currently supporting the implementation of Free City, will, if elected, become San Francisco’s first Muslim American woman.

BART Board of Directors, District 7 and 9
Lateefah Simon and Bevan Dufty
We are so fortunate to have incredibly over-qualified, smart and dedicated directors, including SF Bike Coalition organizer Janice Li, representing San Francisco on the Bay Area Rapid Transit Board. Re-elect Dufty and Simon– we need their leadership now more than ever.

State Ballot Measures:

Prop 15 – School and Communities First: Yes, Yes, Yes
This may be the single most important ballot measure in California since 1978. Unfairly freezing commercial property values to the benefit of luxury building owners like Trump has starved our schools and community colleges of millions of dollars making California 41st in the nation in per-pupil spending despite being one of the wealthiest economies in the world.

Prop 16: Repeal the Ban on Affirmative Action: YES, YES, YES
California is one of ONLY nine states that ban affirmative action as a tool to fight discrimination. Let’s end this ban, put in place during California’s very conservative years, and expand opportunity for all.

Prop 17: Voting Rights for Parolees: YES
Restore the full voting rights of Californians who have completed their prison term! We can join states like Florida who passed this critical civil rights reform in 2018.

Prop 18: Early Primary Voting for 17 year olds: YES
This measure allows 17-year-olds to vote in the primary or special election if they turn 18 by General Election Day.

Prop 19: Property Tax Portability Reform: YES

Prop 20: Rollback Criminal Justice Reforms: NO

Prop 21: Allow Citites to Expand Rent Control: YES

Prop 22: Remove Worker Protections for App-Based Drivers: NO, NO, NO
Uber, Lyft, Doordash and Postmates have poured over $180M in what has become the most expensive ballot campaign in California history. This alone should cause you to question their intentions– are they really pouring hundreds of millions of dollars to protect their workers? Prop 22 will overturn a new CA law that protects their workers’ right to minimum wage, paid sick days and health care benefits. Vote NO.

San Francisco Ballot Measures:

Prop A: Parks, Streets, Mental Health, and Supportive Services Bond: Yes, Yes, Yes Prop C: Removing Citizenship Requirements for Members of City Bodies: YES Prop D: Create Oversight Commission for Sheriffs: YES Prop E: Remove Police Staffing Minimums from City Charter: YES

Prop F: Business Tax Reforms for Revenue: YES

Prop G: Allow 16 and 17 year olds to vote in Local Elections: Yes, Yes, Yes

Prop H: Deregulate Permitting in Neighborhood Commercial Districts: YES

Prop I: Real Estate Transfer Tax: YES

Prop J: Parcel Tax Redo for SF Unified School District: YES

Prop K: Affordable Housing Authorization: YES

Prop L: Excessive CEO Pay Tax: : YES, YES, YES

Whew— that was a lot. Thanks for reading to the end! Now VOTE.

Jane