I Am Running For Delegate: One Of The Most Influential Positions You Probably Have Never Heard About
There’s a reason for that…and it reflects upon us poorly
The 2018 election cycle had one of the most encouraging candidate pools to date from local to national politics. The large increase of non-traditional candidates (women, women of color, mothers of color, non-Christian people of color, young people of color — noticing a trend?) was inspiring for a person like myself who is relatively new to the political game.
I am involved with a few city and county boards in my area (Oakland,CA), which I obtained through appointment from elected officials after a somewhat tedious selection process. I have volunteered for candidates running for local seats and ballot measures over the years, learning a substantial amount about the back-end of running a campaign. I joined the California Young Democrats, became Secretary, and then Chair of the California Young Democrats Black Caucus and led a voter engagement meeting at my home for my fellow housemates. I am “new” to the game, but I jumped right in. I pursued these roles because not only was I interested in learning more, I didn’t like the way the decisions were being made.
The more I began to learn about the systems in place, the more I started realizing they had been created by folks with an issue that I call “policy blind spots”. Policy blind spots are common because our society is overwhelmingly ran by individuals with similar types of backgrounds: usually privileged, educated, white, male. Now obviously, being born into certain circumstances are beyond your control, but those circumstances affect how you view the world and those views affect how you make decisions as a person in charge. Sometimes policy blind spots are done in ignorance, sometimes they are perpetuated purposely and strategically. Either way, the result is the same: sub-par policy.
After observing how detrimental policy blind spots can be and how the only way to combat them is having a group of diverse decision makers dedicated to equity, I came to the realization that I wanted to be one of those decision makers. I am opinionated and vocal when it comes to policy, especially on a local level, and people have in recent years mentioned that they thought I should get into politics. I am often asked, “Are you going to run for office?”, my response is similar to that of Senator Kamala Harris before made she made her official announcement that she is running for president in 2020: “I might…”.
This past November, I received a message on Facebook from an associate asking if I was considering running for Assembly District Delegate and if I was interested in running on a slate with her. I had heard of the delegates in passing, but I told her I had to be honest, I wasn’t completely sure I totally understood what a delegate does. She explained that the California Democratic Party puts on elections every two years for delegates. A delegate is a local representative for the California Democratic Party. They vote for California Democratic Party leadership (i.e. the chair of the CDP), on the official endorsements of candidates and ballot measures, and have a vote on the endorsement of the Democratic presidential nominee. In laymen’s terms, delegates get to drive the direction of the party, which is great, but there’s one catch: many non-political insiders have no idea who delegates are, what they do, how to vote for them, or how to run for the position if they are interested.
Endorsements are important for voter recognition and turn out. Let’s keep it real though: many voters don’t do their research. I was slightly disheartened when some people called during the election to get my “advice” on candidates and ballot measures. I would start going down my pros and cons list and explaining what the candidates and measures would mean for the community, when I would be interrupted and the person would flat out say, “Can you just tell me who/what I should vote for?”. In general, I am against “telling” people who to vote for outside of an official endorsement because I don’t want you blindly following my advice, I want you to investigate who and what you’re voting for and make your own educated decision based on your beliefs and values. Unless I am telling you to vote for me, if I say vote for me, you better vote for me (#Courtney4Delegate).
Due to voters not always being interested or having the capacity to dig deeply into researching candidates and measures, many people depend on endorsements to guide them. That is where the delegate influence comes into play. Delegates have the opportunity to vote on endorsements that are projected to voters on a local and state level. Depending on who is pushing the candidate or measure, the delegates can be an ally or basically sink an election. An endorsement isn’t a guarantee of a win, however, it can change the game when it comes to fundraising and name recognition.
I know what you’re thinking, “if this delegate position is so important, why have I never heard of it?”. It is simple really: pure, political insider strategy. Assemblymembers want delegates who align with their agendas, whether or not that agenda will have a positive or negative affect on the district. It actually helps if less people are interested and aware of the elected delegate seats because that lessens the chance of getting “stuck” with delegates that can push back against your policies or attempt influence policy decisions that you may not want to entertain. Anyone who is a registered Democrat in the Assembly District can run for a delegate seat. Anyone who is a registered Democrat in the Assembly District can vote on the delegates. They elect 7 men and 7 women, one individual to sit on the executive board, and the terms last for two years. Unlike other elected positions with steep age requirements or expensive filing fees, running for delegate is a fairly easy race to enter….in theory.
One major barrier is the entire timing of the campaign and the actual election. At the most, a person may get about two months to campaign for themselves, or their slate if they decide to run with another group of individuals as a collective unit endorsing one another. The California Democratic Party releases applications for the elected delegate positions in late November and the closing date for this election cycle was December 26th. Several elections were held in the first weeks of January, meaning it was quite possible someone only had two weeks to campaign. Another issue in regards to time is the actual election. They are held either on a Saturday or Sunday and voting is only for a two hour time slot. As long as you’re in line before the scheduled end of the election meeting you can vote, but you are REQUIRED to vote in person. No alternatives like voting by mail is available.
Just to recap, you have anywhere between two months to two weeks to campaign for a position no one has ever really heard of and convince people to spend part of their weekend voting for you in person. Democracy in action right?
Whether or not I win or lose on January 26th, something has to change with the delegate election process and the barriers produced from it. If we as Democrats really want to be the party of progressive, intersectional, equitable policy, that has to start right here within our own party and how we choose to operate among ourselves. We need to do real outreach to organizations, not from a political standpoint, but for coalition-building. Housing, health, community, and economic justice organizations are in the field developing leaders, fighting for what’s right, and they know the needs of the community. Why aren’t we connected with those organizations in a real, logistical way? Membership may overlap but the work we are doing and the relationships we are building do not. That is a problem. If we are not connected to our communities and their needs, we have AND WILL ALWAYS fail as leaders.
Democracy and the Democratic Party is at a crossroads. We can keep on the path of political coterie, excluding the great leaders within our communities, who may not be as politically involved but are representative of the values we claim to uphold, or we can begin connecting and building outside our circle, introducing new faces to the party, not for clout or claims of “diversity”, but to finally achieve the true meaning of democracy, where all of the population has a voice.
