With the 2017 Los Angeles Primary Election over, the race to fill California's 34th Congressional District shall be consequential and deserves our progressive attention and energy.
There will be a special election with the primary on Tuesday April 4th and a runoff between the top-two on June 6th.
This is the first opportunity to support progressive candidates against the status-quo liberalism that devolved into a national politics that produced President Trump. There is a diverse field of 20 candidates vying for the seat vacated by now Attorney General Xavier Becerra, but the field is tilted left with many campaigning on progressive values while vociferously opposing strong-man capitalist exploitation.
As Americans for Democratic Action, we have an opportunity to make a difference by helping to to get Arturo Carmona into the runoff. His recent experience as the Deputy Political Director for Bernie Sanders and past work with and for social justice organizations has given him the tools, knowledge, and temperament to be the kind of representative in Congress who will speak truth to power.
Several candidates completed our questionnaire (Sandra Mendoza, Tracy Van Houten, Maria Cabildo, Kenneth Mejia, Wendy Carrillo, Richard Sullivan) with most taking positions against wasteful military spending, supporting universal health care, supportive of women’s reproductive rights, articulating thoughtful positions on reparations, recognizing that more needs to be done to preserve the environment and health of the planet, opposing the criminalization of poverty, pointing to the corruption that has been institutionalized in our broken campaign funding system, supporting public education, and championing the rights of all immigrants.
Arturo Carmona’s constant activism, pragmatic approach, and grass roots background convinced Americans for Democratic Action that he is the person that can be the progressive champion in Congress from the heart of Los Angeles that can galvanize and coordinate the burgeoning progressive resistance in California.
Follow Arturo on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/arturoforcongress/
