Progressive Delegates Network

Progressive Delegates Network is a statewide team dedicated to promoting progressive candidates running in the California Democratic Party’s Assembly District Election Meetings (ADEMs). On this site, you’ll find candidates who are running to be delegates to the CDP.

The candidates featured on this site are committed to pushing the Party to action on issues such as Medicare For All, a Green New Deal, Black Lives Matter, housing justice, and more. We're fighting to make the California Democratic Party the party of the working class, not the 1%. We’re tired of the platitudes about unity and civility at the expense of so many people who continue to suffer because of the corrosive influence of corporate power. We call on the CDP to reject contributions from the fossil fuel industry, corporate real estate development, law enforcement, the healthcare, insurance, and pharmaceutical industries, for-profit incarceration, charter schools or any organization or corporation directly benefiting these industries. We will work to hold accountable those who have a demonstrated history of serving the few and not the many.

Progressive activists in the California Democratic Party face two challenges in delegate elections. First, many candidates use the term ‘progressive’ to get elected but then do not adhere to those values in their votes. Second, progressive candidates often join ‘unity’ slates in good faith with other Democrats and power them to victory only to be sidelined as their slate colleagues collaborate with elected officials that put corporate interests ahead of real people. Both of these patterns drain strength from the progressive movement and essentially steal Party delegate votes that could have been centering progressive values. PDN is a solution to these challenges.

PDN is operated through a consensus model of organizing led by the following volunteers working with local assistance (listed in alphabetical order by last name, affiliations provided for identification only and do not imply endorsement):

• Regina Q. Banks CDP Delegate, Democratic Party of Sacramento County Campaign Services Chair, AD 9
• Karen Bernal California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Chair Emeritus, AD 7
• Zach Denney CDP Delegate, CDP Progressive Caucus Officer-At-Large, AD 13
• Ricardo Franco CDP Delegate, California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Communications Officer, AD 23
• Martha Gamez Past CDP delegate, Past CDP Regional Director
• Brandon Harami CDP Delegate, California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Bay Area Vice-Chair, Our Revolution CA, AD 19
• Ben Hauck CDP Delegate, DSA-LA, AD 70Revolution CA, AD 19
• David Hildebrand California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Northern Vice-Chair, AD 8
• Emma Jenson California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Parliamentarian, Our Revolution OC, AD 73
• Bill Lackemacher former CDP Delegate, RootsAction.org, AD 7
• Amar Shergill California Democratic Party Progressive Caucus Chair, CDP Executive Board Member, AD 9
• Alfred Twu CDP Delegate, Sunrise Movement, AD 15