While most of us have been hibernating from local politics for the holidays, the ever active Democratic Party politicos have been busily gearing up for an election this week!.
Voters will choose Assembly District Delegates at an obscure meeting called the Assembly District Election Meetings (ADEMs). These delegates help set the policies and priorities for the California Democratic Party. So if you’ve ever been pissed off about sellout Democrats, and you live in Assembly Districts 17 or 19, you might want to vote for a bunch of rad progressives who are running against a slate of more middle-of-the-road Dems.
The League’s steering committee has a range of feelings about how involved we should be in ADEMs, absent a formal endorsement process, so we’re not making any official endorsements. We are not a Democratic club and some of us aren’t Democrats. Some of us are turned off by participating in these insider politico machinations and/or question if the ADEMs really matter or if it’s just a popularity contest for politicos. Some of us are excited to see some of our allies and heroes stepping up to run for the ADEMs to increase grassroots power in the state Democratic Party that has been dominated by corporate sellouts for as long as we’ve been around. If this kind of geekery interests you, read on!
What the hell is the ADEMs?
The ADEM elections are held every two years to elect Assembly District Delegates to the Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC). There’s an explainer video on the California Democratic Party website.
In San Francisco, registered Democrats and Decline to State voters elect leaders to the local Democratic Party governing body, the San Francisco's Democratic County Central Committee (DCCC) that decides the Party’s endorsements of candidates and ballot measures. ADEMs are like the DCCC on the state level.
Unlike the DCCC elections that are run by the independent Department of Elections and appear on your City ballot, ADEMs are weird and run by Democratic Party. And instead of being a public government-run election, the process is managed by a convener and volunteers. In the past, you’d vote in person at specific polling places based on the district. So, you’d be standing in a line wrapping around the block in front of the Women’s Building in San Francisco. Or standing in line in the rain in Daly City. In the past, that lack of accountability has led to some major shenanigans. In 2017, David Chiu was accused of busing in voters who jumped the line ahead of voters who’d been waiting in the rain, some for hours.
For the 2025 ADEMs, CADEM has implemented an online voting option. Online voting registration closes Friday January 31, 2025, at 12:00 PM (noon). You will receive your ballot by email. To participate in the ADEM you must be a registered Democrat in that Assembly district. To verify your Assembly District, use this link.
Why are the ADEMs important?
San Francisco and California are essentially “one party towns” where the Republicans are thankfully mostly sidelined while third parties struggle to break through the Dems’ monopoly. The ADEM delegates vote on the party chair and leadership for the California Democratic Party that controls a massive amount of resources for campaigns up and down the state.
The delegates also will decide the state party endorsements for ballot measures and candidates. Delegates don’t decide the state party endorsement for presidential candidates -- not until after the national convention when it’s a done deal.
The ADEM election is important for movement building, securing official party endorsements for progressive candidates, and moving the dial on progressive issues.
Who’s running?
San Francisco is divided into two Assembly Districts. You can find your district here.
Assembly District 17 - the East Side of SF represented by Matt Haney and Assembly District 19 - the West Side of SF represented Catherine Stefani
In AD17 and AD19, there are two competing slates -- the “Grassroots Rising Slate” and a competing moderate slate. The grassroots rising slate includes some people we know to be rockstars and some people we don't know, but who seem solid. Unlike district or citywide elections, the candidates usually aren’t seasoned politicians. The grassroots rising candidates are labor organizers and racial/social justice organizers affiliated with groups like the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club, SF Berniecrats, and San Francisco Young Democrats.
Extra credit geekery:
Some of the candidates are running for re-election. Here’s where you can geek out on their past votes on endorsements. You see, their votes aren’t anonymous, and they’re posted next to their names.
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SF League of Pissed-Off Voters published this page in Blog 2025-01-28 10:57:15 -0800