Vote for housing in ADEM!
The most important election you’ve never heard of
TL;DR: ADEM is the most important vote you’ve never heard of. ADEM chooses who the Democratic party endorses, which is worth around 16% in an election. Turnout for ADEM is usually in the hundreds, so your vote will have more impact than any other vote you’ve ever cast. Come vote for pro-housing candidates! If you live on the east side of San Francisco (Assembly District 17), vote the “United Resistance” slate on Saturday January 12 at the Women’s Building. If you live on the west side of San Francisco (Assembly District 19), vote the “Uniting” slate on Sunday January 13 at Doelger Café in Daly City.
On January 12 and 13th, voters in San Francisco will be lining up to cast votes in a little-known yet highly consequential Assembly District Election Meetings, or ADEM, in order to elect delegates to the California Democratic Party. These delegates will decide what the California Democratic Party stands for — are we going to take bold action and plan for a more inclusive and equitable future, or are we going to bury our heads in the sand and hope it all works out? And yet, because these meetings are not well publicized and turnout is low, every single vote counts — last time, the race was decided by a handful of votes.
Why does ADEM matter?
One word: endorsements. ADEM delegates decide who gets the endorsement of the California Democratic Party on all races from assembly district on up. This includes state Assemblymembers and senators, statewide ballot props, and governors. This endorsement is hugely important. Lots of voters might not pay much attention to downballot races, or they might not quite understand the turgid legal prose of the ballot propositions, so they go with the endorsement of someone they trust — the Democratic Party.
This endorsement can easily swing races. In California, the Democratic Party endorsement has been estimated to swing the election 16%. In high-turnout elections, that could go even higher as voters turning out against Trump vote the entire Democratic slate. In November 2018, the SF Democratic Party endorsements won 16 of 18 local races, most by sizable margins.
In 2020, our delegation in Sacramento, Senator Scott Wiener and Assemblymembers David Chiu and Phil Ting, will be up for re-election. All three have taken huge risks in order to attack the housing crisis at its root cause: a shortage of housing. Scott especially, by attacking exclusionary zoning in SB 827 last year and the More HOMES Act this year, has changed the conversation on housing not just in California, but throughout the whole country. This has inspired a reaction from powerful, well-heeled special interest groups who prefer the status quo. In order to build a sustainable and equitable future, we must ensure that Scott, David, and Phil can continue their work in Sacramento.
How can I vote?
- Check your voter registration status. If you are registered as a Democrat, you are good to go! If not, you can register or change your party affiliation here.
- Check your Assembly district, if you haven’t already, and go to the corresponding date and location:
- District 17 (David Chiu): Saturday January 12, 10am-1pm at
San Francisco Women’s Building
3543 18th St
San Francisco, California 94110 - District 19 (Phil Ting): Sunday January 13, 10am-1pm at
Doelger Café
101 Lake Merced Blvd,
Daly City, CA 94015
3. Vote for the pro-housing slate! Each voter chooses 14 delegates: 7 women and 7 men. Both districts have organized slates.
In District 17, the pro-housing slate is the United Resistance. It’s really important to vote for the entire slate, because all the candidates will work to move our state towards a more inclusive future. Candidates are:
- Amber Parrish Baur
- Anita Lau
- Gladys Soto
- Julia Prochnik
- Kristen Asato-Webb
- Laura Foote
- Tyra Fennell
and
- Abdo Hadwan
- Austin Hunter
- Mawuli Tugbenyoh
- Mick Del Rosario
- Nima Rahimi
- Todd David
- Victor Olivieri
And for AD 17 exec board: Thea Selby
In District 19, the slate is called Uniting. Most of the candidates are solid, but some are not serious about our housing crisis. The pro-housing candidates are
- Amy Bacharach
- Queena Chen
- Dori Paniza
- Selina Sun
- Kalimah Salahuddin
and
- Rob Chua
- Ben Gonzales
- Thomas Li
- Sam Manneh
- A.J. Thomas
