LACYD Accomplishments
Remarks from Katherine Hennigan, LACYD President, at the 2009 Laurel Awards reception:
This has been a year of change and progress. Throughout 2009 lacyd has met with and supported more than thirty democratic candidates and important legislative measures. Some of the candidates include:
♦ Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
♦ City controller Wendy Greuel
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♦ US Congressperson Judy Chu
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♦ LAUSD board members Monica Garcia, Nury Martinez, and Steve Zimmer
♦ Los Angeles Community College District Trustee candidates Kelly Candaele; Angela Reddock; and Miguel Santiago
♦ State Assemblymembers Steve Bradford and Paul Krekorian
♦ State Senators Gil Cedillo and Curren Price, Jr.
In addition to these candidates, we continually support the many LACYD members who run for elected office and for state and national Democratic Party positions.
LACYD does more than endorse candidates, however. In the past year we walked precincts, contributed money to campaigns, organized phone banks, hosted candidate forums and debates, and created a popular speakers’ series that included such themes as “faith in politics” and “youth involvement in the labor movement.” We’ve helped to educate young voters about democratic values. We continued the fight for marriage equality, sending LACYD members to camp courage and co-sponsoring the “out west” campaign training to prepare our members for the important next round in the fight for equality.
Further, in 2009 we had close to a dozen LACYD members elected as delegates to the California Democratic Party convention.
LACYD brought policy discussion to our members, endorsing bills in the state legislature ranging from voter registration to water recycling. With other young democrats clubs, we lobbied our national representatives to support the employee free choice act.
Our top legislative priority, Senator Curren Price’s Assembly Bill 30, was signed into law, allowing 17 year-olds in
We did all this…and still found time to recapture the trophy in our annual softball game against the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats.
We are proud of our accomplishments, but we understand that we have a lot of very hard work ahead of us in 2010 - and we ask for your support to get this work done:
We need to bring more democratic votes to the state legislature to wrest control away from republicans hell-bent on derailing vital budget negotiations;
We need to make sure our legislative agenda is furthered including the fight to make affordable healthcare available to all;
And, we need to work as hard as we can to put a democrat back in the governor’s seat of our great state.
LACYD Calls for Clean Campaigns
LACYD Approves Resolution in Support of Clean CA Gubernatorial Primary Campaign Pledge
RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF A CLEAN CAMPAIGN PLEDGE“Whereas, California will suffer irreparable harm to our economy, education, and health care systems, environment, infrastructure and more, unless we elect a Democratic governor in 2010; and,“Whereas, the Republicans are on track to nominate a candidate for governor who is independently wealthy and who will invest tens of millions of dollars in negative attacks on the Democratic nominee; and,“Whereas, Democrats cannot afford a negative, bruising primary that leaves our nominee weakened and damaged going into the general election;“Therefore, Be It Resolved, that the Los Angeles County Young Democrats urge Democrats to work together in a way that guarantees a Democratic victory in November by requesting any current and prospective Democratic gubernatorial candidates to sign a Clean Campaign Pledge which includes campaigning in an open and fair manner, without resorting to defamatory attacks or unwarranted invasions of personal privacy issues; and,“Be It Further Resolved, that the Los Angeles County Young Democrats contact each candidate to make its position known and ask the candidate to sign such a pledge.”Katherine HenniganPresidentLos Angeles County Young Democrats
LACYD endorses Steven Bradford for AD51
LACYD endorses Tamar Galatzan for CD2
LACYD Congratulates Judy Chu, incoming Congressmember
LACYD congratulates Dr. Judy Chu, our incoming representative for CD-32! Dr. Judy Chu is an extraordinary leader, author of numerous legislation to protect victims of domestic violence, to crack down on hate crimes, to promote environmental justice and to improve our educational systems. She is an inspiring leader.
Prop 8 Ruling Is a Disgrace
Statement from Los Angeles County Young Democrats President Kathryn Hennigan Regarding Proposition 8 Ruling
LOS ANGELES- Los Angeles County Young Democrats (LACYD) President Katherine Hennigan released the following statement today in reaction to the California Supreme Court’s ruling to uphold Proposition 8.
“As a representative of the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, I am extremely disappointed in today's ruling. LACYD is one of California's largest groups of civically-minded young professionals and we stand firm in our belief that it is not the will of the people to uphold laws that violate any basic civil liberties. We are committed to continue our role in the fight to right this wrong and to ensure equality for all.”
LACYD in the NEWS
Endorsements may help sway key Latino voter base
On the day last month that Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa appeared at a news conference to enthusiastically back Judy Chu for the open 32nd Congressional District seat, her chief rival wasted no time trying to downplay the endorsement.
"Voters, not endorsements, are going to decide the winner" of Tuesday's special election, state Sen. Gil Cedillo said in a statement released within hours of Villaraigosa's April 22 appearance at the El Sereno Senior Center with Chu and other local officials who back her.
True. But Cedillo and Chu, both seasoned Democratic officeholders, have worked hard to line up endorsements that they hope will help them win voters in the largely working class, San Gabriel Valley-based district.
Cedillo, who headed a labor union before his first election to the Legislature in 1998, needs to rally his base of Latino voters, who make up about half of the district's registered voters. Chu, who is vice chair of the state Board of Equalization and a former member of the state Assembly, needs to draw about a third of the Latino votes on top of her base of Asians and whites, political experts say.
"Cedillo has got to mobilize his base," said USC political analyst Sherry Bebitch Jeffe, while Chu needs to show voters she has support among Latinos. And having such high-visibility Latinos as Villaraigosa and United Farm Workers co-founder Dolores Huerta in Chu's camp could "give Latino voters permission to move beyond ethnicity," she added.
Villaraigosa, for example, played up Chu's wide support among elected officials -- many of them Latino -- in the small cities and school districts in the valley, some of whom she has worked with since her own days on the Garvey School District board and later the Monterey Park City Council.
"She has been working across racial lines, she has been building coalitions, she has been the bridge between communities," Villaraigosa said.
Cedillo's statement was accompanied by a letter from another well-known official, Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, who touted the senator's connections to the area. She also reminded voters he had joined her to successfully buck Villaraigosa and others to get a larger share of county voter-approved transportation funds for the San Gabriel Valley.
"Senator Cedillo has the strength we need to fight for San Gabriel Valley families in Washington, D.C.," Molina said.
The Cedillo campaign also has highlighted his endorsements from L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca and Los Angeles Police Chief William J. Bratton, and from state Sen. Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles), who briefly considered running for the seat.
Although Bratton and Baca may prove to be valuable endorsements, they could be offset by Chu's support from several police associations. And for Cedillo, Molina and Romero are probably better endorsements in terms of mobilizing the Latino base, said Raphael Sonenshein, a Cal State Fullerton political scientist who has written extensively about area politics.
Molina and Romero "are both very strong, well-regarded and very popular" among area Latinos, Sonenshein said, and may help persuade some Latinas, who might want to vote for a woman, to stick with Cedillo. He added that Cedillo's support from a large group of state legislators and some members of Congress, mainly Latinos, helps the senator define himself as the preferred Latino candidate.
"He is running as the Latino mobilization candidate, and she is running as the crossover candidate," Sonenshein said.
Veteran Los Angeles campaign consultant Steven Afriat, who is not involved in the 32nd Congressional District campaign, said Molina and Villaraigosa are particularly strong endorsements because they have shown they can move voters.
"Very few elected officials garner transferability with large numbers of voters," Afriat said, but Molina and Villaraigosa can win votes for the candidates they endorse on the Eastside.
Chu also won the unanimous endorsement of the California Democratic Party and several local Democratic clubs, which could be important in the heavily Democratic district, with eight party members on the ballot, along with three Republicans and a Libertarian. If no one wins a majority, there will be a runoff July 14.
Cedillo has tried to counter that by touting his backing from the Los Angeles County Young Democrats, which could help him appeal to younger voters and stifle the competition from political newcomer and fellow Democrat Emanuel Pleitez, 26, who has surprised politics-watchers with a strong, efficiently financed campaign of volunteers and targeted mail.
A pivotal role in the election could be played by organized labor, most experts said. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, which considered both Cedillo and Chu, overwhelmingly chose Chu and is putting substantial efforts into electing her, said Maria Elena Durazo, the federation's executive secretary-treasurer.
Although the union doesn't oppose Cedillo, its members preferred Chu's "proactive" stance in championing causes important to labor, Durazo said, citing, among others, Chu's legislation to improve working conditions for farm workers. The federation's endorsement also opens another avenue for Chu to win Latino votes, politics experts said.
The organization -- whose support was crucial in the recent special elections of Democrats Laura Richardson to Congress and Warren Furutani to the state Assembly -- has spent about $150,000 to send political mailers to its members and has called upon them to walk precincts and work the phones on Chu's behalf.
20 DAYS TO GO - Cedillo for Congress
20 DAYS TO GO! Cedillo for Congress: Volunteer Phone Banks
Make a difference! SIGN UP TODAY
Campaign Headquarters – 7 days a week
10808 Valley Mall
El Monte, CA 91731
Phonebank: M-F 10:00 am to 9:00 pm
Weekend Canvassing: Sat, 9:30 am to 8:00 pm. Sun, 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Satellite Phonebanks 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm
East Los Angeles – Tuesday & Thursday
1137 South EasternLos Angeles, CA 90022
West Covina – Tuesday & Thursday
415 S. Glendora Ave, Suite E
West Covina, CA 91790
Koreatown - Wednesday
3325 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 768
Los Angeles, CA 90010
To confirm your attendance please contact Louis Reyes at (626) 454-2601 or Campaign@GilCedillo.com // www.GilCedillo.com
Louis R. Reyes
Cedillo for Congress
Letter from Jack Weiss
March Election Endorsements
Young adults played a crucial role in the national elections and are likely to help a candidate get the edge with low voter turnout expected this March. Los Angeles County Young Democrats (LACYD) are announcing today their recommendations for the upcoming elections. Founded in 1973, LACYD was established to give young adults a voice and a vehicle for activism in local, state and federal political issues.
These candidates and city measures have received LACYD's endorsement:
- Mayor of Los Angeles: Antonio Villaraigosa
- Los Angeles City Attorney: Jack Weiss
- Los Angeles City Controller: Wendy Gruel
- Los Angeles City Council District 1: Ed Reyes
- Los Angeles City Council District 5: No Endorsement
- Los Angeles City Council District 7: Richard Alarcόn
- Los Angeles City Council District 9: Jan Perry
- Los Angeles City Council District 11: Bill Rosendahl
- Los Angeles City Council District 13: Eric Garcetti
- Los Angeles City Council District 15: Janice Hahn
- LAUSD Board of Education District 2: Monica Garcia
- LAUSD Board of Education District 4: Steve Zimmer
- LAUSD Board of Education District 6: Nury Martinez
- Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees Seat 2: Angela Reddock
- Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees Seat 4: Kelly Candaele
- Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees Seat 6: No endorsement
- Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees Seat 7: Miguel Santiago
- Rosemead City Council: John Tran & Henry Lo
- West Hollywood City Council: John Duran & Jeffrey Prang
- Los Angeles Measure B: No endorsement
LACYD Announces our 2009 Board
Members of Los Angeles County Young Democrats have elected the following team for our 2009 Board:
- Katherine Hennigan, President
- Kellie Hawkins, Vice President of Programming
- Dan Witzling, Vice President of Communications
- Ruben Zaragosa, Vice President of Administration
- Dante Atkins, Political Director
- Jennifer Badger, Outreach Director
- Sean Gabe, Treasurer
- David Graham-Caso, Legislative Director
- Denise Lopez, Activities Director
- Sofia Sami, Membership Director
- Paulina Velaso, Fundraising Director
- Gemma Jimenez, Publicity Director
There are many opportunities to take a leadership role on issues or events, including a number of committees extending from various board positions (ESPECIALLY FUNDRAISING!!). Please contact Katherine Hennigan to discuss your interest.
