Who Should Replace Xavier Becerra ?

The race to replace Congressional Representative, Xavier Becerra, is getting interesting. It truly is refreshing to see a bunch of new enthusiastic candidates running for this seat.  The finger democracy being used by not very thoughtful people within “establishment” has not worked. We need to encourage more competent people to run. We have been governed by the very same people last two decades.  They all start at the Assembly, then they move to the State Senate. Once they are termed out in both houses, then they come to LA to run for the city council.  Then, they move to the Board of Supervisors or Congress. We need to break this vicious cycle.  We need new leaders.  Indeed, we need a new more in-depth level of thinking for solving the daunting problems facing people in our communities.

It is also great to see four women running for this seat, and there is potential for more to join the race.  I have been making the case that we need more competent women in elected offices. So far, ten candidates have officially declared that they will be making their case to voters in this district as to why they should be allowed to go to Washington.

This might not longer apply to presidential candidates, but determining whether an individual is ready to represent the collective interest adequately, said a candidate must not only understand the nuances of representation but also she/he must have an innate intellectual understanding of justice. If no candidate never entertained these concepts while doing community work or in his profession, said candidate might not be competent.  From The Republic of Plato, there has always been this quest for justice, and it was a complicated concept to understand.  However, the definition, at least, how I understood it, was at heart to the virtue of the individual, the order of society, as well as individual rights in contrast to the claims of the general social order.”  As a member of congress, a member gets tremendous opportunities to be part of the vital conversations of the day, dealing with international affairs, businesses more specifically the financial markets, and domestic policies that must focus on the challenges facing Americans today. Competent candidates must have the ability to elevate themselves above all these noises and make decisions about what is for the best interest of everyone.

The three E’s of every election that most political strategists always talk about when assessing candidates are the following:  Enthusiasm, excitement, and electability. A candidate must have the ability to generate enthusiasm and excitement among his/her supporters if he/she wants to get elected. Moreover, sometimes, it is a daunting task to accomplish such an endeavor if the candidate lacks adequate resources. Electability is also paramount; most people will open their wallets only to those who can form coalitions and have a chance to get elected.

A candidate who claims that he/she wants to go to Washington because he/she wants to take on Trump, this candidate has not either deeply thought about what the position entails or might just unintentionally be pandering to fear to communities of color. The real challenge for the winner in this race will not be Trump, but the Democratic leadership that is resisting change in light of the profound challenges facing the party. Yes, these leaders have yet to come to terms that the ground has shifted beneath them and that the status quo is no longer acceptable. Whoever wins this thing will be reporting to yes, Nancy Pelosi right after he/she introduces herself to Speaker Ryan.

In most political races, there are always first-tier and second-tier candidates. Not in this congressional race. Former Speaker, John Perez who was the first to declare and then had to drop out because health issues, might have been the only first-tier candidate in this race. Most of the candidates, who have declared that they will be running to replace Becerra, have been involved in some activism, but most of them have not held elected offices. Some of them have worked in the labor movement, and some have worked for non-profit organizations.

Here is the list of candidates so far, according to the Los Angeles Times as of Dec. 22nd 2016:  Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez (D-Los Angeles); Wendy Carrillo, a Democratic labor activist; Kenneth Mejia, a Green Party candidate who ran earlier this year as a write-in Democratic  candidate against Becerra; Sara Hernandez, former staffer for Councilman Jose Huizar and a Democrat; Arturo Carmona, a Democrat and former top deputy for the Bernie Sanders campaign; Yolie Flores, a former LAUSD board member and a Democrat; Alejandra Campoverdi, Former White House staffer and former LA Times employee; Karl Siganporia, a Republican who previously explored a congressional run as a Democrat; Raymond Meza, a Democrat and labor organizer with SEIU Local 721; Steven Mac, a Democrat and felony prosecutor for Los Angeles County.

Assessing for what I have seen and read so far about the candidates, I can venture to say that Wendy Carrillo has generated enthusiasm, and she also has animated women and young people. She has a compelling life story and has excelled both academically and professionally. Although she will soon have to pivot and she will have to start offering more concrete goals as what she plans to do if she gets elected.

Sara Hernandez appears to have a more refined message dealing with leadership.  Moreover, she must since she runs the Coro Foundation, a center for leadership development for public affairs here in LA. [In the interest of full disclosure, I have to say that I spent a year with this foundation as a Coro fellow in 2001-2002].  She comes across somewhat arrogant, though.   In the first week, when she was toying with the idea of running-she told her friends that she was considering to run and she raised about $150,000.00. Now that is power.  She will have adequate resources to make her case to voters in this district.  She is connected to all these Coro’s people and to Councilman Jose Huizar.

Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez will claim to have the experience and establishment connections. He also has a legislative record where the competition can look at and use against him. As the establishment candidate, he should have the resources to make his case to the voters in this district too. Jimmy Gomez is getting all the endorsements of those holding public office, both the Mayor and Supervisor Solis have endorsed the Assemblyman. It is interesting to see if the political winds have finally arrived here in LA. The winner of this race should not be the candidates who form coalitions of politicians but the one who brings community people together and can organize an army of unpaid volunteers.

Arturo Carmona has worked with immigrant non-profit organizations.  He also had a gig with Bernie Sanders during the primaries. I was taken aback when I read one of the posts on his Facebook page recently.  “They rigged the primary against Bernie and then lost the election to an unapologetic misogynist billionaire.” He posted on his Facebook.  Really, “they rigged the primary against Bernie”? Why does he want to revive the battles of the primaries between Hillary and Sanders?  He is being ill-advised or needs better advisors. Why even go there? There is still glass on the wounds as some people, who might be part of this district,  still blame Sanders’ supporters for Hillary’s loss.

Alejandra Campoverdi is a former White House staffer, and she also used to work for the LA Times. She has done journalistic work with the immigration issue with Jose Antonio Vargas. She has also worked or currently works for Univision. She appears to be doing very well in her profession, and it is not clear why she is running for this seat. She might be connected at the highest levels of the political establishment in Washington but might not be familiar with the different interests fighting for resources in this district.

Finally, Yolie Flores is a former LAUSD board member and I don’t know who the rest of the candidates are and why they are running.  I did google them and couldn’t find enough information.   I will follow this race as well as other local races that will be taking place the coming year

Thank you for reading.

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References.

Bernal, Rafael. “Race to replace Becerra gets crowded.” The Hill. 18, Dec. 2016. Web. Accessed 29, Dec. 2016. <http://thehill.com/latino/310834-race-to-replace-becerra-gets-crowded>.

Braun, Aryn. “California Assemblyman Racking Up Endorsements to Replace Becerra.”  Roll Call. 15, Dec. 2016. Web. Accessed 30 Dec,2 016. <http://www.rollcall.com/news/politics/becerras-seat-still-up-for-grabs

Mai-Duc, Christine. “Former White House aide, also a former L.A. Times employee, joins candidates vying to succeed Xavier Becerra.” Los Angeles Times. 22, Dec. 2016. Web. Accessed 27, Dec. 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-alejandra-campoverdi-congressional-1482367860-htmlstory.html>.

Myers, John. “Former Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez decides against running for Rep. Xavier Becerra’s congressional seat.” Los Angeles Times.  10, Dec. 2016. Web. Accessed 29, Dec. 2016. <http://www.latimes.com/politics/essential/la-pol-ca-essential-politics-updates-john-p-rez-decides-against-running-for-1481390443-htmlstory.html>.

The Republicans of Plato. Intro. and notes by Francis MacDonald Cornford. Oxford:  Oxford UP, 1968. Print.