UGH: "In God We Trust" Passes U.S. House 396-9

This is just sickening. The United States House of Representatives spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of staff and Members' time to debate and pass a meaningless measure (H.R. Con. 13) to reaffirm that the national motto is "In God We Trust" and that it should be publicly displayed. The vote was a depressing 396 to 9.

More disgustingly, only 9 Congressmembers had the guts to vote against the measure, including one Republican. Interestingly, of these 9 free thinkers three of them are my heroes: Judy Chu (API LGBT champion) and Jerrold Nadler (co-sponsor of the DOMA repeal bill) and Pete Stark (only acknowledged atheist in Congress). Interestingly, a Republican, Justin Amash also voted against the measure and gave a statement as to why which Joe.My.God highlights today.

The full roll call list of the 9 who voted No an the 2 who voted "present" are:

VOTING NO 

Ackerman 

Amash 

Chu 

Cleaver

Honda 

Johnson (GA) 

NadlerScott (VA) 

Stark

VOTING "PRESENT" 

Ellison 

Watt

It should also be noted that Mike Honda the co-sponsor of an immigration bill that would produce immigration equality for same-sex binational couples also voted against the meaningless theocratic measure. Keith Ellison is noteworthy because he is the only acknowledged Muslim member of Congress.

This vote incenses me so much that it just doubles my intention to refocus my efforts at highlighting issues of religious freedom, atheism, agnosticism (as well as the dangers of theocracy) at this blog, at least once a week, generally on Wednesdays.

CA-36: Rep. Harman Announces Retirement

U.S. Rep. Jane Harman

Congressmember Jane Harman, Democrat representing California's 36th Congressional District, announced on Monday that she will be resigning from Congress to assume leadership of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Congressional seats are not subject to term limits and become available very rarely. The last open seat was the 33rd Congressional District seat won by Karen Bass in a barely contested race in June 2010. The last contested  Congressional seat was the 32nd Congressional District seat won by former State Assembyperson Judy Chu over former State Senator Gil Cedillo.

The names which have been bandied about as replacements for Harman are Los Angeles Councilmember Janice Hahn, Secretary of State Debra Bowen and Assemblymember Warren Furutani.

LGBT DREAM Act Event at LA Gay & Lesbian Center This Sun

This Sunday I will be attending an event called Standing with the Students: Out, Proud and Undocumented at the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center. It is a fundraiser to support LGBT students who would be impacted by the DREAM Act, which is scheduled for a vote in the United States Senate next week, as an attachment to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2010, the same legislation that will include DADT repeal language.

I'm on the Host Committee (and member of the board of directors of Immigration Equality Action Fund). The event's goal is to raise at least $5,000 for scholarships for LGBT undocumented students attending UCLA. U.S. Representative Judy Chu is the featured guest.

MadProfessah Endorses Kamala Harris for AG

I attended the Equality California statewide candidates forum on Sunday April 25th which was a rare opportunity to see all 6 Democratic candidates running to be the next Attorney General of California.

From left to right, the candidates in the picture are Assemblymember Ted Lieu, Facebook Chief Privacy Officer Chris Kelly, San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris, former Los Angeles City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo, Assemblymember Pedro Nava and Assemblymember Alberto Torrico. The likely Republican opponent in November is Los Angeles County District Attorney Steve Cooley.

I have seen a number of the Attorney General candidates in small group settings in my capacity as Steering Committee member of the Stonewall Democratic Club and elected delegate of the California Democratic Party.

Previously, I had been impressed with Pedro Nava. He has been endorsed by the smartest politician in California politics, LA County Democratic Chair Eric Bauman and he generally is a very effusive and energetic speaker. Unfortunately, he has very little money, although he does have Parke Skelton as his political consultant.

At the forum, it was the first time I was seeing Assembly Majority Leader Alberto Torrico in action, and he said some very impressive things about education ("should be a civil right") and rehabilitation that made me want to take another look at him. Torrico has nice ideas but doesn't seem to be ready for the scale of a statewide race. Yet.

Ted Lieu is probably the strongest supporter of the LGBT community and hardest worker of the group (the male Judy Chu!) which has won him many LGBT Democratic club endorsements, even in such a hotly contested field. He points out that he can repeat the Ted Chiang statewide win of 2006 for State Controller, but I just don't think one can equate a State Controller race with a State Attorney General race. I do agree that the Southern California candidates have an advantage. Those are Delgadillo, Torrico and Lieu. Lieu is the only Asian in the race, and they vote in excess of their proportion in the population, which statewide is nearly 12% (statewide the Black population is close to 6%).

It's true that Nava, Delgadillo and Torrico all have Spanish surnames in a state which is hurtling towards majority-minority status, but the electorate, even the Democratic primary electorate is still majority white. Delgadillo ran for and lost this race to Jerry Brown, and instead of giving him a leg up in this race, the odor of food past it's purchase date lingers around his campaign.

However, I think this is trumped by Kamala Harris being the only woman in the race. I think the fact that she is a prosecutor (even if she is from the liberal enclave of San Francisco) will allow her to distinguish her from the crowd of guys she is running against. She's a pretty electrifying speaker and has the most "star power" of the group. She's also raised the most money (except for the self-financing Chris Kelly, who has essentially "pulled a Whitman" and written himself two $2 million checks).

On the issues, I would be happy with any of the candidates as the next Attorney General, but by electing Kamala Harris California would be really signaling we have truly entered the Obama era of politics, by electing the first African-American statewide official since Mervyn Dymally for Lieutenant Governor a generation ago when Jerry Brown was his running mate in 1974.

CA-32: Judy Chu Wins Primary Election!

MadProfessah-endorsed candidate Judy Chu won the hotly contested Primary for the Democratic Nomination for the 32nd Congressional District to represent the seat vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. With 100% of precincts reporting Chu leads Gil Cedillo by 4,124 votes, 31.9% to 23.38%, a margin which is less votes than 26-year-old Emmanuel Pleitez received (6,509).

Amusingy, Judy Chu will face Republican Betty Chu in the runoff election, set for mid July. However, in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, Judy Chu is assured to become the first Asian American Congresswoman to represent Los Angeles County.

Congrats to Judy and all my friends who worked on the campaign. Go sleep. You did good.

MadProfessah Endorses Chu, Weiss and Koretz

MadProfessah with 32nd Congressional District candidate Judy Chu

MadProfessah with Los Angeles City Attorney candidate Jack Weiss

MadProfessah with 5th District Los Angeles City Council candidate Paul Koretz

MadProfessah has already published my picks for tomorrow's special election. Basically, Chu, Weiss  and Koretz and YES on 1B, 1D and 1E.

MadProfessah Endorsements for May 19 Election

Finally, the moment you have been waiting for! Here are MadProfessah's positions on how I think you should vote in the May 19th Special Election.

Proposition Number (Topic)             MadProfessah LA TIMES  CALITICS CA DEM PARTY
1A (Budget Cap, Rainy Day Fund)            NO         YES        NO     NEUTRAL
1B (Education Funding Plan)                YES        NO         NO     YES
1C (Lottery Modernization Plan)            NO         YES        NO     YES
1D (Children's Services Funding            YES        YES        NO     NEUTRAL
1E (Mental Health Services Funding         YES        YES        NO     NEUTRAL
1F (Elected Officials Salaries)            NO         YES        NO     YES

CA-32

Additionally, if yu live in the 32nd Congressional district MadProfessah strongly endorses Judy Chu. She is an incredibly strong supporter of LGBT, Labour and people of color and a true progressive voice. It would be amazing to have her on Congress representing a portion of Los Angeles County. Judy has raised the most amount of money and received the lion's share of endorsements but is thought to be in a tough race with Gill Cedillo.

SD-26

If you live in the 26th State Senate District, MadProfessah endorses Curren Price. Assemblymember Price is a strong supporter of LGBT equality, including marriage equality. Having won the Democratic primary fairly easily in March, he should win election easily in this overwhelmingly Democratic district, replacing now-County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Los Angeles City Attorney.

This is the race that has all the political geeks' tongues wagging. Carme Trutanich and Jack Weiss have been slugging it out in the run-off election for weeks, with multiple negative television ads. I'm not sure exactly what Weiss has done to some people (but he's clearly pissed off several!) but I have met him and he makes the right noises about supporting civil rights for all people and seems to understand the power of the City Attorney's office. Weiss was running on Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's re-election ticket along with Wendy Gruel for City Controller but Weiss was the only one dragged into a run-off. Electing him would allow the Mayor to complete his sweep of the elected citywide (nonpartisan) offices. MadProfessah endorses Weiss for City Attorney.

City Council District #5. Paul Koretz is a guy who is one of the longest-serving members of the Stonewall Democratic Club. He is a true progressive, who in his too-short term-limited 6-year stint in the Assembly introduced a civil unions bill (way before it was cool!) as well as Center for Health Justice's condoms-in-prisons bill. He is also the author of the state's law prohibiting insurance discrimination on the basis of gender identity. He is running for a westside city council seat being vacated by Jack Weiss in District #5, and MadProfessah endorses Paul Koretz for LA City Council, Seat #5.

Los Angeles Community College District
Office #2: Angela Reddock. Reddock is the only African American representative on the 7-member body which represents an organization whos mission is critically important to the future well-being of generations of Black and Brown people in Los Angeles County.

Office #6: Robert Nakahiro. Nakahiro is openly gay and running against an incumbent named Nancy Pearlman who seems to take her relection for granted and was forced into a run-off, surprising everyone.

CA-32: Race Starts Heating Up

The election for the 32nd Congressional district seat is exactly two weeks away but the race between State Board of Equalization Member Judy Chu and State Senator Gil Cedillo is heating up.

The Los Angeles Times covered the back and forth between the two camps:

Among Judy Chu's slew of mostly positive mailers was one that featured a front-page Los Angeles Times article on state Sen. Gil Cedillo's spending more than $125,000 of his legislative campaign money on expensive dinners, hotels and gifts. The mailer reprinted the April 11 article in full and highlighted two paragraphs contrasting Chu's "frugal record" with a summary of Cedillo's spending.

Cedillo, in two separate pieces that arrived in mailboxes in recent days, used newspaper articles to try to bolster his charge that Chu, a state Board of Equalization member, gave "tax breaks and contracts" to her corporate campaign contributors.

The language used as headlines on the Cedillo mailers, however, came from articles having nothing to do with Chu. One, "This Is an Outrage!" appeared as a quote in a March 16 Los Angeles Times article about anger over bonuses given to executives of AIG, one of the struggling corporations given federal financial aid. Another, "Political Malfeasance and the Financial Meltdown," ran above a syndicated George Will column March 25 in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune.

Good job of the Times to make it clear that although there are charges and cross-charges from both camps, it does not mean that both parties are equally responsible. Clearly, as the picture above makes clear, Cedillo is not telling the truth.

CA-32: Chu Endorsed By Antonio, Leads $$ Race

Multiple good news stories recently for congressional candidate Judy Chu (who has been endorsed by MadProfessah) in her attempt to win the now-vacant seat representing California's 32nd District in a May 19th special election.

Last Wednesday, financial reports were released which showed Chu outraised her nearest rival, State Senator Gil Cedillo by over $200, 000:

The breadth and strength of Judy Chu’s campaign for Congress was demonstrated again today as candidates reported their first fundraising numbers for this May 19 special election.

In the first three months of 2009, Judy Chu collected an impressive $770,167, over $200,000 more than her nearest rival, State Senator Gil Cedillo.

Judy Chu, Vice-Chair of the California State Board of Equalization, reported a strong $577,609 cash-on-hand figure at the end of the period.

Chu’s consultant, Parke Skelton, stated, “Judy Chu is well on the way towards surpassing $1 million for this race. Her fundraising reflects the enthusiastic and broad support she has attracted from throughout the 32nd District. Just over 83% of her contributions have come from individuals, not PACS. An impressive 1,567 individuals contributed to Dr. Chu’s campaign in this filing period.

But, wait, there's more!

EL SERENO - The Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, will be joined by his counterparts from Azusa, West Covina, South El Monte, Duarte and scores of other San Gabriel Valley elected officials on Wednesday as he officially announces his endorsement of Judy Chu in the race for the 32nd Congressional District seat recently vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

The event, which will include just a fraction of the more than 75 elected officials from the San Gabriel Valley who have already endorsed Judy Chu, will feature statements from Mayor Villaraigosa and other mayors and mayors pro tem from the San Gabriel Valley.

There is video of the endorsement available on YouTube.

CA-32: Cedillo's Lavish Lifestyle Exposed

So while I was in Maine last week, the news erupted about State Senator Gil Cedillo's "lavish lifestyle." Don't take it from me, it was in the Los Angeles Times:

Gil Cedillo, a Los Angeles state senator running for Congress, has spent more than $125,000 gathered from campaign donors over the last six years on shopping excursions, gourmet meals, entertainment and upscale hotels around the globe, public records show.

At Patina, the haute cuisine restaurant at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Cedillo paid $1,203 for dinner. He dropped $289 at Nic's Martini Lounge in Beverly Hills. At the Standard, a downtown hotel known for its hip rooftop bar and swimming pool, Cedillo and his staff spent $5,705 over the course of 26 visits.

In Mumbai, India, Cedillo's stay at the Four Seasons came to $829; his tab at the Bar des Arts in Sao Paulo, Brazil, $229; his hotel and dining charges on a jaunt to Rome and Florence, $1,969.

[...]

But the scale of Cedillo's spending was on par with that of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez, whose worldwide travel and shopping at retailers such as Louis Vuitton in Paris led the state to tighten campaign disclosure rules last summer.

Cedillo's spending, detailed in reports he filed with the secretary of state, contrasts with the frugal record of Judy Chu, his chief rival for the San Gabriel Valley congressional seat. A former Monterey Park assemblywoman elected to the state Board of Equalization in 2006, Chu has spent no campaign money on shopping or entertainment, and less than $5,000 on meals and travel over six years.

MadProfessah has endorsed Judy Chu in this race to represent the 32nd Congressional District of California. The election on Tuesday May 19th!

CA-32: API LGBT Support Judy Chu for Congress

Assemblymember John A. Pérez (46th District) and
Board of Equalization member Judy Chu
MadProfessah with Judy Chu

Curtis Chin, Judy Chu and Jeff Kim

A fundraiser primarily hosted by members of the Asian-American and Pacfic Islander LGBT community in Los Angeles was held for Judy Chu's run for the 32nd Congressional District seat vacated by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis. The event was hosted (and primarily organized) by Jeff Kim and Curtis Chin at their downtown loft. It was attended by the first openly gay person of color elected to the California Legislature, John A. Pérez who represents the 46th Assembly District.

MadProfessah was a co-host of the event and has endorsed Judy Chu's run for the seat. She is primarily running against State Senator Gil Cedillo who does not represent any portion of the 32nd Congressional District.

At the event, Judy Chu gave a number of reasons why she expects to win the race, the first was Experience. Since she has been representing different portions of the 32nd district for 23 years, having been elected 9 different times in School Board, City Council, Assembly and state Board of Equalization races. The second reason was money. She said that her goal was to raise $750, 000 and has so far raised $425, 000 and Governor Schwarzenegger has until Tuesday to announce when the Special Election will occur (which is likely to coincide with the statewide special election already set for May 19th). The third was endorsements. She has been endorsed by all three assemblymembers who represent the 32nd Congressional District (her husband)Mike Eng (49th AD), Kevin de Leon (45th AD where MadProfessah lives) and Ed Hernandez (57th AD). In fact she has been endorsed by 75 elected officials who represent portions of the 32nd CD while Cedillo has only 10. In addition, Chu has been endorsed by the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which has identified 40, 000 union households in the district. In a 15% turnout election, it probably takes less than 20, 000 votes to win the Democratic primary, which is tantamount to winning the election in such a Democratic-leaning CD.

Judy Chu has been a longtime supporter of LGBT and progressive causes and is exactly what DailyKos founder Markos Moulitsas Zuniga means when he says that we need to elect BETTER Democrats and not just MORE Democrats.

If you are interested in supporting Judy Chu for Congress check out her website at judychu.net.

CA-32: Solis Confirmed As Labor Secretary 80-17

The race for the 32nd Congressional District of California begins today since it's current representative Hilda Solis was confirmed as Labor Secretary by the United States Senate Tuesday by a vote of 80-17.

The current leading candidates, according to dday at Calitics are:

Judy Chu is currently on the Board of Equalization. While a Chinese-American running for a seat that is majority Latino, Chu has the support of the California Federation of Labor, which typically cleans up in these kinds of special elections. That alone makes her the favorite IMO.

Gil Cedillo is a State Senator in the adjoining district, and so he represents very few of these constituents. He has been strong on issues around immigration in particular, and will certainly be formidable in this race.

Emanuel Pleitez worked in the Obama transition team on the Treasury Department. The fact that Treasury has practically no senior officers staffing it save for Tim Geithner, over a month after the inauguration, doesn't really speak well to Pleitez' transition capabilities. But he apparently has the most robust campaign apparatus in the district thus far (with 17 volunteer full-time staff members), and he was born and raised in the district.

MadProfessah is endorsing Judy Chu, who is an incredibly strong ally of the LGBT community.

CA-32: Local Ethnic Political Fault Lines Revealed

A little bird told me that Labor Secretary-designee U.S. Representative Hilda Solis would love to endorse Judy Chu to replace her in Congress representing the 32nd District but the Obama Administration has told her that Cabinet secretaries can not get involved in the political fight to replace them. State Senator Gil Cedillo is the only other declared candidate in the potential special election, after Gloria Romero dropped out of the race, endorsing Cedillo, and announced her intention to run for State Superintendent of Education in 2010. Romero also later endorsed Los Angeles Unified School District Board President Monica Garcia for her 24th District State Senate seat.

Capitol Weekly has an article in the Thursday January 22 edition on Solis' confirmation process that also mentions some intriguing details on the intricate positioning that other politicians are doing to fill in the holes in the Southern California political power structure as one of their own is elevated in Washington.

On Thursday morning, both the Service Employees International Union and and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor endorsed Chu.

There have been tensions between Romero and Maria-Elena Durazo, head of the powerful Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. But Capitol sources say Romero decided to focus on the superintendent’s race after consulting with former Sen. Richard Polanco, among others.

The potential Congressional showdown has also divided the Capitol’s Latino Caucus, of which Cedillo is chair. Cedillo has tangled with Assemblyman John Perez, D-Los Angeles, and has even threatened to challenge Perez for his Assembly seat in 2010.

Perez is the cousin of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and Villaraigosa is said to be leaning toward endorsing Chu, though his office did not return calls seeking comment.

Cedillo and Villlaraigosa were once close political allies, with Villariagosa using his clout to help Cedillo’s election to the Assembly in a 1997 pecial election. But tensions between the two childhood friends quickly grew, and eventually boiled over after Villaraigosa's failed race for Los Angeles mayor in 2001. Villaraigosa threatened to run against Cedillo for Senate after his 2001 defeat, and the rift has never healed between the two. Cedillo stuck with Hahn when Villarigosa eventually defeated Hahn in 2005.

[...]

If Chu is to win the seat, she will have to earn some Latino support. The 32nd Congressional District is about 62 percent Latino. Asians make up about 20 percent of the district population. Latinos make up about half of the district’s voter registration. Asians comprise about 13 percent of registered voters.

[...]

Chu has already secured the endorsement of Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-El Monte, who has his eyes on Romero’s senate seat in 2010. Chu and her husband, Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-Los Angeles, -- two of Hernandez’s top potential rivals -- are said to be backing Hernandez for the Senate seat.

[...]

Romero’s exit from the congressional race sets up a 2010 showdown between Romero and Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, for state superintendent. The current superintendent, Jack O’Connell is being pushed out by term limits, and has announced his intention to run for governor in 2010.

Got all that? On one side you have John Perez, Antonio Villaraigosa, Ed Hernandez and Los Angeles County Federation of Labor with Chu versus Romero and Polanco with Cedillo in a 62% Latino district. I presume L.A. County Supervisor Gloria Molina (who previously rejected a run for the seat herself) will be on the side of Romero/Polanco/Cedillo, but only time will tell.

CA-32: Chu Makes Her Intention To Run Clear

Judy Chu has made it official: she is running for California's 32nd Congressional district. An article in yesterday's Los Angeles Times carried her annoncement as well as interesting analysis of various politicians chances of winning the seat:

In an interview with The Times on Monday evening, Chu said she made the decision to run Sunday after days of urging from supporters.

"I've decided to heed those calls," she said. "I know this district very, very well and I believe the people of this district know me and know I'm very devoted to the San Gabriel Valley."
[...]

Romero could not be reached Monday afternoon, but said publicly last week that she would pursue the seat. A staunch labor supporter, Romero was elected to her state Senate seat in 2001, replacing Solis. She had previously served in the Assembly and said she represented the district at the state level for 10 years.

She would have an important leg up on Chu, according to political consultants.

"Most people believe a Latino would be favored," said Allan Hoffenblum, publisher of the California Target Book, a nonpartisan publication that analyzes and handicaps legislative races.

He said about 48% of the district's voters are Latino. Asians are the second-largest group, making up 13% of the vote.

But if several Latino candidates split the Latino vote, he said, a strong Asian candidate could put together Asian and white voters and take a majority.

Perhaps an even larger factor, said Democratic political strategist Steve Maviglio, is who the Los Angeles Federation of Labor backs, and how strongly.

"They have the most horses in the county. They have the most money. If they put all their firepower behind one candidate, it's pretty much over," he said.

That's partly because most special elections have turnouts below 20%, which he said favor grass-roots, get-out-the vote campaigns that are labor's strength.

Another interesting aspect of the race is that apparently there is not a residency requirement for the special election, so theoretically any big name Latino politician could consider running for the seat. Fabian Nunez, anyone? Then again he's a bit busy right now keeping his son out of jail!

CA-32: Romero and Chu Eye Solis' U.S. House Seat

State Senator Gloria Romero

It's all about MadProfessah's hood! Previously, I blogged about a scramble among prominent Latino politicians in Los Angeles that had started when word leaked that MadProfessah's congressman, U.S. Rep. Xavier Becerra (CA-31) had been offered a position in President Obama's cabinet as U.S. Trade Representative. Becerra turned the position down, deciding to stay in the House as the #5 Democrat in that chamber and wait his chance to become to the first Latino Speaker of the House. This will not be the last time we hear the name Xavier Becerra.

Now imagine the maneuverings are going on now that U.S. Rep. Hilda Solis (CA-32) has accepted Obama's nomination as Labor Secretary, giving up a Congressional seat in East Los Angeles that she has held for 5 terms. This time it's my State Senator Gloria Romero who has given an explicit statement of interest in the job. "

"Absoutely I am very interested in this seat. I have represented this district for over 10 years in the California state legislature," she said. "I know this district well, and this district knows me."

Other names that have been discussed for the seat include Assemblyman Ed Hernandez, D-West Covina, Judy Chu, chairwoman of the state Board of Equalization, and her husband Assemblyman Mike Eng, D-El Monte.

Both Chu and Romero would be an amazing congressional respresentative and I would be hard pressed to pick between Romero and Chu, although knowing what I know right now, I would pick Chu. I know very little about Hernandez except that he's in his second term in the Assembly. Both Chu and Romero are strong supporters of LGBT equality and have been endorsed by Equality California when they ran for their current elected positions. Interestingly, Romero replaced Solis as the representative of the 24th State Senate district, will she also replace Solis as the representative of the 32nd Congressional district?

The race is on. May the best woman win!