The Mad Professah Lectures

Luis Lopez is an openly gay, Latino candidate for the 45th  Assembly District, which is located in Los Angeles

Sacramento politics are not for the faint-hearted, but Luis Lopez just may have the chops to effectively take on such an unwieldy beast. Running next year to represent California’s 45th state assembly district, Lopez currently serves as a planning commissioner for the funky, diverse L.A. neighborhood of Silver Lake, where he lives with his partner. Lopez, 38, is also part of a parks oversight committee for his city, co-chaired his neighborhood council, and started a Latino LGBT political action committee (his full-time job is as a communications director for a health center).

Aside from that impressive resume, Lopez has some powerful friends who will help him when he faces a primary in June. Jackie Goldberg, a lesbian who represented the Democrat-friendly 45th district from 2000 to 2006, is supporting Lopez in his race, and Lopez’s good friend, John Perez, the out California Assembly speaker, will likely endorse him as well. It’s not yet clear who Lopez will face off against as the current assemblyman, Gilbert Cedillo, is termed-out next year and possible candidates are still coming forward.

“We need to look at leaders who’ve earned the respect of their peers,” Lopez says. ”People who are respected can move an agenda along—there were many times when my colleagues on a given board haven’t agreed with me, but we were still able to make decisions.”

Protecting labor is paramount to Lopez, who grew up in East Los Angeles and started working not long after his mother passed away when he was eight. Voters in his district, which stretches from Hollywood to Chinatown to East L.A. and includes thousands of diverse gay people, are inline with his platform, he says.

Teachers, nurses, long-term care workers, community allies–the whole labor family–converged on First AME in Los Angeles on Monday, April 4, to rally together in support of Wisconsin workers and to show strength in numbers in California.

The environment was buzzing and filled with familiar faces–young and old–representing the rich diversity in race, ethnicity, immigration status, and language that are Los Angeles and California.

This rally’s message echoed the recent march downtown, where I added my voice with several thousand California voters and the sounds of protest chants and high-school bands. We spoke then and reiterated in church on Tuesday that California must not and will not become Wisconsin. In both states, community leaders and elected officials need to heed the public outcry and the economic evidence: collective bargaining, public education, affordable healthcare and higher education, and reliable pensions are the backbones of a strong middle class. These proven tools of America’s strength need to be upgraded and renewed, not undermined or reversed.

WHAT: 45th Assembly District elections for CDP delegates (only registered Democrats can vote)
WHERE: El Arco Iris restaurant (5684 York Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90042)
WHEN: 10am-12pm, Sunday January 9, 2011
WHY: To select representatives to the California Democratic Party state convention

Yesterday was the statewide primary election. Results for Los Angeles County are available here, and statewide results are available here.

Statewide Races

Constitutional Offices
MadProfessah was correct in every statewide constitutional office except Superintendent of Public Instruction, where the top two (non-partisan) candidates were Larry Aceves and Tom Torlakson, who are both registered Democrats just squeaked ahead of my endorsed candidate Gloria Romero.

Propositions

Proposition Number (Topic)        MadProfessah     RESULTS  
13 (Seismic Retrofit Assessment)        YES          YES      
14 (Top 2 "Open" Primary Amendment)     NO           YES        
15 (CA Fair Elections Act)              YES          NO
16 (PG&E Utility Monopoly Protection)   NO           NO
17 (Mercury Insurance Premium Change)   NO           NO

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah    DEMOCRATS  REPUBLICANS

U.S. Senate                            Boxer*        Boxer*    Fiorina 

Governor                               Brown         Brown     Whitman 

Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom    Maldonado
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris    Cooley
Secretary of State                     Bowen*        Bowen*    Dunn
Treasurer                              Chiang*       Chiang*   Strickland
Controller                             Lockyer*      Lockyer*  Walters
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones     Fitzgerald
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves(D) Torlakson(D) 

              RESULTS     LA TIMES          MadProfessah
Office 28:    Hammock     Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Bruguera*   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    Matz        Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Salkin      Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Schneider   Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Nelson*     Nelson            Nelson

Today is the the June 8 Statewide Primary Election, Here are my endorsements compared to those from other organizations like the Los Angeles Times, Calitics.com, CA Democratic Party, Los Angeles County Democratic Party, Stonewall Democratic Club (LGBT group) and Courage Campaign'sProgressive Voter Guide (pdf).

Proposition Number (Topic)        MadProfessah  LA TIMES  CALITICS CA DEMS
13 (Seismic Retrofit Assessment)        YES          YES        YES      YES
14 (Top 2 "Open" Primary Amendment)     NO           YES        NO       NO
15 (CA Fair Elections Act)              YES          YES        YES      YES
16 (PG&E Utility Monopoly Protection)   NO           NO         NO       NO
17 (Mercury Insurance Premium Change)   NO           NO         NO       NO

Statewide Constitutional Officers   MadProfessah  LA TIMES  STONEWALL   CA DEMS
Governor                               Brown         None        Brown       Brown
Lieutenant Governor                    Newsom        Newsom      Hahn        None
Attorney General                       Harris        Harris      Lieu        None
Secretary of State                     Bowen*         None        Bowen*      Bowen*
Treasurer                              Chiang*        None        Chiang*     Chiang*
Controller                             Lockyer*       None        Lockyer*    Lockyer*
Insurance Commissioner                 Jones         Jones       De La Torre Jones
Superintendent of Public Instruction   Romero        Aceves      Torlakson   None

AD-43. MadProfessah, LA CDP, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles Daily News have all endorsedMike Gatto.
AD-44. The incumbent here is Anthony Portantino* and has been endorsed by Los Angeles Democrats and Stonewall Democrats but NOT MadProfessah.
AD-45. MadProfessah lives and votes in the 45th Assembly District but can not, in good conscience, endorse State Senator Gil Cedillo's cynical attempt to hold on to elected office for two more years by switching seats with current Assemblymember Kevin De Leon. Especially after he ran an unnecessary (and losing) campaign against Judy Chu in the 32nd Congressional District Special Election last year.
AD-46. Openly gay speaker of the Assembly John Perez* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah.
AD-47. One of the toughest primary fights this summer is between Holly Mitchell and Reggie Jones-Sawyer. MadProfessah, Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass (current officeholder), CA Democratic Party and LA County Dems have all endorsed Holly Mitchell, while Stonewall Dems have endorsed Reggie Jones-Sawyer.
AD-48. The incumbent here is Mike Davis*, who was outed recently by a friend at a recent Stonewall Democratic Club meeting but who has not been endorsed by that club or MadProfessah.
AD-49. The incumbent is Mike Eng*, husband of strong LGBT ally Congressmember Judy Chu, and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Stonewall Dems and Los Angeles County Dems.
AD-50. Openly gay Ricardo Lara is trying to become the second openly LGBT person of color elected to the California Legislature.
AD-51. Strong ally of LGBT rights Steve Bradford* is the incumbent here and is endorsed by MadProfessah, Equality California, Los Angeles Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-52. The incumbent here is Isadore Hall* who has NOT been endorsed by MadProfesah, but who has been endorsed by LA County Dems and Stonewall Dems.
AD-53. MadProfessah has endorsed openly gay, African-American Mitch Ward. Equality California and Stonewall Dems have endorsed Betsy Butler. Honor Pac (LGBT Latino group) has endorsed Kate Anderson.

               LA DEMS          STONEWALL LA TIMES         MadProfessah 
Office 28:    Mark  K. Ameli      Ameli      Randy Hammock     Ameli
Office 35:    Soussan Bruguera*   Bruguera   Bruguera          Bruguera
Office 73:    None                None       Matz              Matz
Office 107:   Valerie Salkin      Salkin     Tony de los Reyes Salkin
Office 117:   Alan Schneider      Schneider  Schneider         Schneider
Office 131:   Maren E. Nelson*    Nelson     Nelson            Nelson

PAUL AHRENS (Mt. Washington) – IATSE Local 44 Assistant Business Agent and Political Coordinator, Delegate to County Federation of Labor
RON BUCKMIRE* (Montecito Heights) – Occidental College Math Department Professor, Black Gay Activist
FRANCISCO CENDEJAS (City Terrace) – SEIU United Health Care Workers Analyst
JOHN CLEARY* (Lincoln Heights) - Hospital Administrator, Stonewall Dem. Club President
COLLEEN COLSON (Montecito Heights) – County Health Dept. Liaison to the American Indian Community (retired)
MARIANN GATTO (Highland Park) – City of Los Angeles Museum Curator/Educator
JOSELYN GEAGA-ROSENTHAL (Historic Filipinotown) - Clinical Social Worker, Echo Park Neighborhood Council
MARCIA GUZMAN (El Sereno) – Democratic Campaign Activist
CAROL JACQUES (Mt. Washington) –Northeast Dem. Community Headquarters Coordinator, Northeast Dem. Club Vice President, AFSCME Local 685
BILL KYSELLA* (Hollywood) – Deputy City Attorney, Stonewall Dem. Club, SEIU #721
HELEN LEUNG (Elysian Valley) – Council Aide, Community Activist
ANA MASCAREÑAS (City Terrace) – Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles Membership Coordinato