Primaries Are A Healthy Component Of Democracy But... Some Are More Crucial, In Effect, Than Others

Frances Motiwalla

The district right next door to mine, CA-34, includes Angelino Heights, Eagle Rock, Highland Park, El Sereno, Koreatown, Lincoln Hights, Boyle Heights, the Arts District, Chinatown, City Terrace... I'll tell you how great this district is. It's the only district in Los Angeles where Bernie beat Hillary in 2016. It's a young, vibrant, bustling district, alive with immigrants working to make a better life for themselves and their families. The district is 65% Latino and 20% Asian and the PVI is D+35. Trump won just 10.7% of the vote there.

In 2017 there was a special election to replace Xavier Becerra, who was reelected Attorney General and Blue America helped elect state Assemblyman Jimmy Gomez. He beat a more conservative Democrat, Robert Lee Ahn, in a very low turnout race-- 25,569 (59.2%) to 17,610 (40.8%). Gomez has been a bit of a disappointment in Congress. He takes dirty money and hangs back on important congressional activities. In the end, he pretty much always votes right but anyone who was looking for a leader from the most cutting edge district in Southern California (as we were) is disappointed. ProgressivePunch rates him an "A" and his lifetime crucial vote score is a hearty 95.14%-- right between Barbara Lee and Jerry Nadler. Hard to ask for anything better... except for some leadership. He always seems to hang back. He gets behind things like the Green New Deal and Medicare-For-All after everyone else has. He's not what we expected when we backed him-- no real regrets, but... Wouldn't it be great to have someone like AOC or Rashida Tlaib? The district can easily support that kind of leader.

So it was exciting this week to hear from a young activist, Frances Motiwalla, who is seriously considering primarying Gomez. I went to meet her over the weekend. Definitely AOC material, no question about it.

We'll come back to Jimmy and Frances sooner or later, but what I want to talk about now is something that Marie Newman, the progressive Democrat primarying Blue Dog Dan Lipinski in Chicagoland for the second consecutive cycle reminded me about over the weekend. She told me on Sunday, "alignment with your district is everything. If current incumbents are not in alignment, yes they should be primaried for sure. However, if an incumbent is still in strong alignment and producing proactive ideas, we should not be primarying just to do it. As a party, we need to work with focus and clarity."

I think primaries in general are healthy for democracy and I still agree with Marie and think there should be some kind of prioritization for organizations who work in the field. Yesterday I spent a lot of time on the phone with a super-progressive mayor in Milwaukie, Oregon, Mark Gamba. Mark, a full-on Berniecrat with a stellar record of accomplishment to prove it, is primarying one of the most venal Blue Dogs in the House, Kurt Schrader. How much more important is it to steer all the help we can to Gamba, while taking a back seat when it comes to races launched against incumbents who are merely... disappointing.

Yesterday a Chicago attorney, Andrew Heldut, popped up out of nowhere to say he's primarying one of the most effective progressives in the House, Jan Schakowsky. She's been a great member for her constituents (and for the country). I can't wait to see what kind of case Heldut makes. So far it was just that she's old and it's time for new leadership and that he's Polish-American. I doubt that'll fly in Schakowsky's district-- which goes from Lincoln Park through Evanston and Wilmette up to Winnetka and then west as far as Morton Grove, Des Plaines and Arlington Heights. That race hasn't moved me yet-- not the way Gamba's and Newman's have. And it isn't as intriguing as Motiwalla's either.

I noticed that Sunday USMC colonel (ret) and Iraq War veteran Sheila Bryant, an attorney launched a primary challenge against New Dem Anthony Brown, pointing out that he's detached from his job and just using it as stepping stone for a second run for governor in 2022. ProgressivePunch gives him a "D" grade-- far from acceptable in a district with a PVI of D+28 and where Hillary beat Trump 77.2% to 19.7%. So we'll look into Ms. Bryant and see if how much better a Rep. she would be. Like Brown, she's a Harvard graduate and a Bronze Star recipient. Her activism has been mostly in the field of criminal justice reform and is also running on affordable housing and healthcare. She made a good case for challenging him: "Anthony Brown doesn’t understand the tremendous urgency of now. Our president is out of control, our country is not dealing with our problems, and we need leadership that is ready to speak up, speak out and make a difference, not just show up to vote and call it a week. The country is falling apart, and Anthony Brown is treating Congress like it’s his nine-to-five, all while hoping he can use this as a stepping stone for the governorship. Congress is not a day job-- it’s a calling, and that’s why I’m running for this seat."

And then yesterday, Eric Swalwell decided to stop messing around with a pointless presidential "run" and get back home to the East Bay and see if Hayward, Dublin. Pleasanton, Union City and Livermore voters are still with him. While he wasn't minding the store, Aisha Wahab, a member of the Hayward City Council, decided to run. She has quite a following among activists and he may be in for a real fight. She's a lot more progressive than he is, with his ProgressivePunch lifetime crucial vote rating of "D."