As a result of the resignation of Mitch Englander, the City Council’s sole Republican, Los Angeles Council District 12 will conduct a Special Election. CD 12 encompasses several northwest Valley communities, including Chatsworth, Granada Hills and Porter Ranch.
The Primary Election will take place on June 4, 2019. If a General Election is necessary, it will take place on August 13, 2019. This race represents an opportunity to elect a progressive to a traditionally conservative council seat.
Why we support Loraine Lundquist
Loraine Lundquist is a doctor of Physics who teaches courses on environmental, economic, and social sustainability at Cal State Northridge. While she is not a DSA member she has supported DSA and many other grassroots organizations on numerous campaigns including Measure B, Keep Families Together, the UTLA Teacher’s Strike, Aliso Canyon, and Prop 10. Her highest priority is bringing a Green New Deal to Los Angeles, modelled in part after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s plan. She has received numerous endorsements including that of the National Union of Healthcare Workers and the LA Times.
This campaign also offers DSA LA an opportunity to make inroads with the working class of City Council district 12, an area that is unfortunately underrepresented in our chapter. Through this campaign there is ample opportunity for future coalition building.
Level of Chapter Commitment
Due to the limited timeframe until the primary on June 4, the Electoral Politics Committee proposes to elevate the work of the Lundquist campaign in lieu of creating a DSA LA campaign working group. The committee would provide our chapter’s membership with publicly available information about upcoming campaign events and canvasses and encourage participation in the election, especially those members living in the district. Communications support would be requested to spread awareness of the campaign and related events.
In the event the candidate advances from the primary to the general election the chapter endorsement would stand and the strategy of platforming campaign events would continue. If the candidate does not advance the chapter would re-evaluate its position based on the remaining candidates.
Click here to read the candidate questionnaire.
Endorsement Timeline
Voting will begin at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 17 and end at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 19.
May 11: Candidate Loraine Lundquist speaks at special DSA-LA candidate endorsement forum at Los Angeles Valley College. [Video Below]
May 14: Submissions for member statements for or against the proposal to endorse Loraine Lundquist open. Statements will be posted publicly on this webpage on a rolling basis (after a brief review for relevance and civility—these are going up on the internet) for all members to read in advance of the chapter-wide vote.
May 17-19: The entire chapter votes electronically on the proposal to endorse Loraine Lundquist for City Council in District 12. A simple majority is required for endorsement as long as 10% of the current membership participates, so be on the lookout for an email ballot if you're a member in good standing. The results will be announced on Monday, May 20.