What promise to be dynamic socialist campaigns in the state’s 2014 elections got off to a rousing start at the Northern California kick-off March 8, International Women’s Day. More than 75 people, predominantly young from diverse backgrounds, crowded into the San Francisco campaign headquarters, located in the city’s predominantly working-class and Latino Mission District. Members of the community were well represented, while groups of activists from Sacramento and San José also attended. The program was fully bilingual in Spanish and English.
Renowned peace activist Cindy Sheehan, who lost a son in Iraq in 2004, was announced as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for California governor. Elementary school teacher and anti-war and social justice activist Nathalie Hrizi was presented as the PFP and Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate for state insurance commissioner. Frank Lara, also a teacher and an activist and key organizer in a wide range of Bay Area community and labor struggles, declared himself as the PFP and PSL candidate for Democratic House minority leader Nancy Pelosi’s seat in Congress.
‘Top two’ voting law
All three candidates are expected to be on the ballot for the primary election June 3. Under current law, voters of any party affiliation or none can mark their ballots for any one of the candidates running. The top two vote getters in June, again regardless of party affiliation, will then go on to the general election in November.
Cindy Sheehan raised the possibility of coming in second in the June election, which would assure her a place on the November ballot and enable her campaign to reach many more people. According to Sheehan, some 20 candidates will be contesting for the governorship, diffusing the vote.
The evening’s program included presentations by the three candidates and others, as well as great salsa music by Orquesta Adelante.
Chairing the campaign kick-off was Cora Solis, an activist with the FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front of El Salvador)-N Calif. In the course of the evening, she acknowledged people from many local social justice organizations who had come to show their support, as well as a representative from the National Committee to Free the Cuban Five.
Presentations of candidates
Sheehan said she realized she had become a socialist after running against Nancy Pelosi in the 2012 election, in which Sheehan came in second. If victorious in this year’s election, Sheehan pointed out, “I would be the first female governor in California history.”
Before outlining the key issues she will stress in her campaign, Sheehan observed: “The energy for socialism is increasing in this country. People are seeing that the current system is not working for them.” She reported having gone to the Democratic Party State Convention the previous day, attended by some 3,000 delegates, and having delegate after delegate come up to her throughout the day saying they planned to vote for her in June.
Hrizi’s presentation focused on the need for health care for all, regardless of income, employment or resident status, with a single-payer system as a first step. A key slogan of her campaign is “Abolish the Insurance Companies!” These parasitic organizations “produce nothing of value to society,” she said.
But, she continued, it is not enough to get rid of the insurance companies. We also need to “make the other parts of the so-called health industry serve the needs of the people instead of profit interests.” And so another main slogan of her campaign is “Vote Socialist.”
To repeated rounds of applause, Frank Lara said his campaign will “focus on gentrification and lack of opportunities for poor and working-class families.” He continued: “We will discuss the need for jobs that pay, for workers to live near where they work. This means housing they can afford for their families, an end to foreclosures and the raising of the minimum wage in San Francisco to $20 an hour so that all people, from the fast-food workers at McDonald’s to the first-year teacher at Cesar Chavez Elementary, can enjoy life.
“Nationally, we will take strong positions on immigration, endless war and the invasive spying program. We will support and stand by the Dreamers as they courageously stop ICE buses and shut down deportation centers. We will continue to lead the anti-war movement to stand up to the U.S. and demand no interventions in the world, withdrawal of all troops and bases. And, finally, demand an end to the prosecution of whistle blowers, an end to the NSA spying program and the dismantling of the Pentagon.”
Need for people to get involved
Nyree Hall from the Sacramento branch of the PSL outlined the various ways people can get involved in the campaigns, especially by joining the weekly outreach efforts or holding a house meeting. PFP stalwart Marsha Feinland rose to explain the need to register many more people in the party if it is to retain its ballot status under the new election law—the only socialist party on the ballot, she stressed. Yeimi Lopez, also from Sacramento, made a stirring appeal for donations, pointing out that “our campaigns will not be getting any corporate contributions because we are not just non-profit, we are anti-profit.”
Finally, the fun part of the celebration started with salsa music and dancing—all in all, an inspiring and enjoyable evening for all who attended.
For more information on the campaigns, visit their websites at www.Cindy2014.org, www.FrankLara4Congress.org and www.Hrizi2014.org.
