For the Upcoming June 7th 2022 Primary Elections
(My voter guide pulled together candidates I know to be true progressives and filling in using help from other voting guides and endorsements from orgs like DSA-LA, DSA-LB, Knock LA, WFP, etc. I live in Long Beach but am familiar with the Los Angeles political scene, so my focus will largely be local. However I will be recommending progressive candidates from across the state, and am always welcome to feedback, suggestions, etc. Generally speaking I am ignoring races where there is no challenger, or where the incumbent Democrat is facing a GOP challenger in a safe district, or where there is no real progressive candidate. There are also some difficult races where I am just staying out of it. If you see a question mark by a candidate’s name, I am still looking into the race and would appreciate feedback.)
US Senate
John Thompson Parker (for Full Term and write in for Short Term)
While incumbent Alex Padilla has been better than expected, co-sponsoring Medicare for All and supporting a Green New Deal, he continues to support our never ending wars and endless military spending. Padilla will likely win both the short term and full term by large margins, but I recommend John Thompson Parker running as the Peace and Freedom and Green Party candidate and unapologetically as a socialist.
US House
CA15 — David Canepa?
CA23 — Derek Marshall
CA27 — Ruth Luevanos
CA29 — Angelica Duenas
CA30 — G. “Maebe A. Girl” Pudlo
CA32 — Shervin Aazami
CA34 — David Kim
CA37 — Daniel Lee
CA42 — William Moses Summerville
CA44 — Nanette Diaz Barragan
CA46 — Mike Ortega
CA50 — Kylie Taitano
California Governor — Luis Javier Rodriguez
Rodriguez is the Left Unity Slate recommendation, which is a slate of candidates for Statewide Office put together between the Peace and Freedom Party and the Green Party of California. I will generally be recommending this slate, as the incumbents are going to be difficult to unseat, and it would be good to have a left challenge in the general election.
Newsom will likely win reelection by a wide margin, so vote your ideology and maybe we can get a lefty in the top two general election.
California Lieutenant Governor — Mohammad Arif
Kounalakis will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate.
California Secretary of State- Gary N Blenner
Shirley Weber will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate.
California State Controller-Laura Wells
Malia Cohen will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate in the hopes of a top two finish. Cohen has been running a relatively progressive race.
California State Treasurer-Meghann Adams
Fiona Ma will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate in the hopes of a top two finish. Ma has been solid on some issues, problematic in other areas.
California Attorney General-Dan Kapelovitz
Rob Bonta will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate in the hopes of a top two finish. Bonta has shown a bit of progressive fighting spirit lately. Continuing to apply pressure from the left is a good thing.
California Insurance Commissioner-Nathalie Hrizi
Incumbent Ricardo Lara is a mess, and is facing a legitimate challenge from Marc Levine, who isn’t great but is probably better than Lara. However the left vote should go to Left Unity Slate candidate Hrizi in an attempt to sneak into the top two.
California State Board of Equalization
District 1 — Braden Murphy
District 2 — Sally Lieber
District 3 — Tony Vazquez
District 4 — David Dobson? (PDA San Diego endorsed)
California Superintendent of Public Instruction — Marco Amaral
Tony Thurmond will likely win reelection, but as above I am recommending the Left Unity Slate candidate.
California State Senate
SD8 — Dave Jones
SD10 — Aisha Wahab
SD16 — Bryan Osorio
SD20 — Caroline Menjivar
SD28 — Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
SD30 — Henry Bouchot / Martha Camacho-Rodriguez
California State Assembly
AD12 — Sara Aminzadeh
AD20 — Jennifer Esteen / Liz Ortega
AD21 — James Coleman
AD24 — Alex Lee
AD25 — Ash Kalra
AD27 — Esmerelda Soria?
AD30 — Jon Wizard?
AD40 — Pilar Schiavo
AD51 — Louis Abramson
AD52 — Mia Livas Porter
AD55 — Isaac Bryan
AD60 — Corey Jackson? (WFP endorsed)
AD61 — Tina McKinnor
AD62 — Maria Estrada
AD64 — Elizabeth Alcantar
AD65 — Fatima Iqbal Zubair
AD67 — Paramvir Brar
AD68 — Bulmaro Vicente
AD80 — Georgette Gomez
Los Angeles City Council
CD1 — Eunisses Hernandez
CD5 — Scott Epstein
CD11 — Erin Darling
CD13 — Hugo Soto-Martinez / Albert Corado
CD15 — Bryant Odega
Los Angeles Board of Education
District 2 — Rocio Rivas
Los Angeles Mayor — Gina Viola
Most polls show this as a two person race, Bass vs the billionaire. Both are polling in the mid-30s at this point, with de Leon a distant third. As per usual, the best leftist candidates were kept out of most of the debates and largely ignored by the media. With all of the structural disadvantages against her, and running a strictly grassroots powered campaign, Gina Viola is making a admirable showing and is helping to raise the voice of the left in this important race. She deserves your vote, and progressives need to turn out and vote in this race. If any candidate gets over 50% of the vote in the primary, they win outright. Not impossible, considering the billionaire Caruso is flooding the race with tens of millions of dollars of his own money, trying to buy the position. So get out there and vote for Gina (or Bass if she is your preference) and keep Caruso under 50%. If it goes to the general in Bass vs Caruso, I’m supporting Bass and you should too.
Los Angeles City Controller — Kenneth Mejia
Los Angeles City Attorney — Faisal Gill
Los Angeles County Assessor — Jeffrey Prang
Los Angeles County Sheriff- Eric Strong
Don’t want to vote for any cop? I appreciate the sentiment, but it is important that we elect the best option for sheriff, and at the very least defeat Alex Villanueva. I suggest voting for Strong, or write in your favorite cartoon character.
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
District 3 — Henry Stern / Lindsey Horvath
Judge of the Superior Court
3 -Tim Reuben
60 — Anna Slotky Reitano
67 — Elizabeth Lashley-Haynes
70 — Holly Hancock
90 — Kevin Thomas McGurk
116 — Lloyd E Handler
118 — Carolyn “Jiyoung” Park
151 -Thomas D Allison
156 -Albert Robles
Long Beach Mayor — Raul Cedillo
The general election will very likely come down to right-wing Suzie Price vs left-center Rex Richardson, as they are the two biggest names raising massive amounts of money. But for the primary, leftists should support Raul Cedillo. If the general is Price vs Richardson, then Richardson will be the clear preference.
Long Beach City Council
CD3 — Kailee Caruso
CD5 — Linda Valdez
CD7 — Carlos S. Ovalle
CD9 — Joni Ricks-Oddie
Long Beach Unified School District
District 1- Nubia Flores
District 3 — Juan Benitez
District 5- Diana F Craighead
Long Beach City Attorney — Gerrie Schipske
Long Beach City Auditor —Daniel Miles
Long Beach City Prosecutor — George Moyer
Voting guide references:
