2020 California Presidential Primary Election Guide | Los Angeles & San Francisco

5 min readFeb 29, 2020

Rants, resources, recommendations, and irreverence to prepare you for the 2020 California Primary

One of the greatest lessons that many (but perhaps not enough) of our fellow Americans have learned over the past decade is that elections have consequences. Turns out, when people don’t turn out, things turn out… shit. If you didn’t vote in the 2018 midterms and you’re not voting in this primary, at this point I have no choice but to assume you are mentally ill. Seek counseling.

Whilst this election is more of a pregame to November’s fantastically dramatic main event, it’s also an important local and state election in its own right, and of course we’ll be selecting our Democratic challenger to Don the Con. This guide is not about convincing you to vote for a particular Democratic candidate — so don’t worry about that. However, I will attempt to convince you of the critical choice that we’ll face once the Democratic nominee is selected in June, and millions of liberals across the nation will be disappointed and sure to peddle conspiracy theories about why their favorite Democratic candidate didn’t win the nom. Yeah… let’s not do that again.

Civility-fetishizing liberals will be the end of us all — Let’s focus on the important stuff here, kids

My plea for puritanical Democrats is that they try to consider each election a triage event rather than a revolution. Like nurses in a trauma center, each case must be prioritized according to each patient’s risk of imminent death, as well as survivability. Just as a trauma center cannot treat all patients at once, we too as voters cannot simultaneously address every issue affecting Americans in any single election or through any single office, so we have to prioritize the most serious issues first. Clearly, our absolute top priority is to remove Don the Con from the White House, which in turn will affect every government agency, the Supreme Court, all federal courts, our standing in the international community, etc. This means I don’t want to hear you pissing and moaning in June about how your favorite didn’t win the nomination, or about civility, or about the injustices of “the system.” Yes, it’s all fucked. But we must unify and rally behind whomever the Democratic nominee is—and defeat the incumbent in a landslide victory. That is our only choice. I’m planting this seed now so you can at least try to get over yourself before then.

Whomst is this for? 🤔

This guide is for any resident of California, in particular residents of Los Angeles County (where I live) or San Francisco County, whomst have not voted yet. If you’ve already voted, great job! No need to read on, but feel free to share this.

I’ve written and distributed these election guides for every single election since I turned 18, which was 17 years ago. My goal is to help you vote a complete ballot, and I encourage you pass it on to your friends, acquaintances, family, coworkers, roommates, babysitters, dog walkers, social media fans, enemies, exes, and Tinder matches.

Same Day Voter Registration 📆

You’re lazy, you’re busy, you’re confused, you just moved—whatever, I’m not shaming you. Luckily, even your dumb ass can vote on election day despite not being registered, thanks to the Same Day Voter Registration provision here in California (and other states). Basically, you just show up to a polling place, register, and cast your vote. Here are more details — now you have no excuse. Tell your friends, especially if they’re the kind who forget to pay parking tickets and only change their sheets every two months.

References & Resources 📚

I do my own research using a range of sources that inform my recommendations for candidates and propositions. Here they be:

Let’s get right to it, y’all. Democracy is at stake.

Los Angeles County Offices (ballots vary) 🏛

The list below does not encompass every district. If your local candidates / offices are not listed, see all CADEM endorsements here and all DSA-LA endorsements here for a recommendation.

City Council, 4th District: David Ryu
City Council, 6th District: Bill Haller
City Council, 8th District: Marqueece Harris-Dawson
City Council, 10th District: Aura Vasquez
City Council, 12th District: Loraine Lundquist
City Council, 14th District: Cyndi Otteson

LAUSD Member of the Board of Education, 1st: George J. McKenna III
LAUSD Member of the Board of Education, 3rd: Scott Schmerelson
LAUSD Member of the Board of Education, 5th: Jackie Goldberg
LAUSD Member of the Board of Education, 7th: Patricia Castellanos

County Supervisor, 2nd: Holly Mitchell
County Supervisor, 5th: Darrell Park

State Assembly, 50th District: Richard Bloom
US Representative, 33rd District: Ted W. Lieu
US Representative, 25th District: Christy Smith
District Attorney: George Gascón

Judges of the Superior Court:
Office no. 17: Shannon Kathleen Cooley
Office no. 42: Linda L. Sun
Office no. 72: Myanna Dellinger
Office no. 76: Emily Cole
Office no. 80: Klint James McKay
Office no. 97: Sherry L. Powell
Office no. 129: Kenneth M. Fuller
Office no. 131: Michelle Kelley
Office no. 141: Lana Kim
Office no. 145: Troy Slaten
Office no. 150: Tom Parsekian
Office no. 162: David D. Diamond

Member, County Central Committee, Assembly District 50 [select up to 7 candidates]: Dorothy Reik, Susan D. Sheu, Mike Soloff, Eddie Mendoza, Murtaza Mogri, Steve Bott, Ilissa B. Gold

Los Angeles County Measures 🌴

Measure R: YES — Authorizes the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission to develop a plan designed to reduce jail population and incarceration and granting the Commission subpoena power to investigate complaints.

California Statewide Measures 🐻

Measure 13: YES—Authorizes $15 Billion in bonds for facility repair and modernization at public schools across California.

San Francisco County / Bay Area 🌉

Review the following resources for insight and endorsements on San Francisco’s ballot:

Lest we forget… 🇺🇸

Presidential Preference: Elizabeth Warren [I also love Bernie Sanders. Vote for whomever you want, but be prepared to support the Democratic nominee after the convention in June.]

All done… until November 🗳

Thanks for reading, sharing, and voting. I leave you with this gem from Remy Ma’s Instagram. Watch it. And then “PUSH THEY ASS TO THE POLLS.”

💙❤️💙

Forgot to vote early or by mail? Get to the polls on Tuesday.