prepared by Lara Bergthold after hours of research.
This ballot guide lists all Democrats, and when contested lists organizations endorsing each so you can make your own decision.
Election day is November 5, same day registration allowed. Same process as last election, once you submit your vote by mail ballot you can track it here. You can find any other information here. Don’t get excited about getting national results on election night, settle in for a longer vote count in states like PA and AZ. It’s ok, we can do this.
Also, I went bigger with this guide so share it wide and across the county/state as needed. Also, it’s a long ballot so I’m speeding through it and only giving broader context when needed/contested races. Footnote, ballot order is odd so I’m listing it as my ballot came to me but yours may be different. Ok, here we go….
CITY/LOCAL
LOS ANGELES COMMUNITY COLLEGE BOARD of TRUSTEES
Seat No. 1 – Andra Hoffman, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
Seat No. 3 – David Vela, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
Seat No. 5 – Nichelle Henderson, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
Seat No. 7 – Kelsey Iino LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
CA State Assembly – all endorsed by LA Progressive Guide
AD 34 – Ricardo Ortega, Courage Campaign
AD 39 – Juan Carrillo
AD 40 – Pilar Schiavo
AD 42 – Jacqui Irwin
AD 43 – Walter Garcia (aide to AG Bonta)
Celeste Rodriguez, endorsed by Luz Rivas whose seat she would be replacing
AD 44 – Nick Schultz, Laura Friedman, Adam Schiff, SEIU, Housing Action Coalition, CA Bicycle Coalition
AD 45 – James C. Ramos
AD 46 – Jesse Gabriel
AD 47 – Christy Holstege, Courage Campaign
AD 48 – Brian Tabatabai
AD 49 – Mike Fong
AD 50 – Robert Garcia, Courage Campaign
AD 51 – Rick Chavez Zbur
AD 52 – Jessica Caloza – Planned Parenthood, LA Times, Equality CA, CA Labor Fed, SEIU, Sierra Club, CA Environmental Voters
Franky Carrillo – La Defensa
AD 53 – Michelle Rodriguez, endorsed by dozens of sitting Assembly Members and Police/Sheriffs Assoc
AD 54 – Mark Gonzalez, LA Times, Gov Newsom, Mayor Bass, Equality CA, Planned Parenthood, CA Labor Fed
AD 55 – Isaac G. Bryan, La Defensa
AD 56 – Lisa Calderon
AD 57 – Sade Elhawary, La Defensa, LA Times, Courage Campaign
AD 59 – David Obran
AD 60 – Corey A Jackson
AD 61 – Tina Simone McKinnor, Courage Campaign
AD 62 – Jose Solache
AD 64 – Blanca Pacheco
AD 65 – Mike Gibson
AD 66 – Al Muratsuchi
CA State Senate – endorsed by LA Progressive Guide
SD 17 – John Laird
SD 19 – Lisa Middleton
SD 21 – S. Monique Limon
SD 23 – Kipp Muller, Courage Campaign
SD 25 – Sasha Renee Perez, La Defensa
SD 27 – Henry Stern
SD 29 – Eloise Gomez Reyes
SD 31 – Sabrina Cervantes
SD 33 – Lena Gonzalez
SD 35 – Michelle Chambers
SD 37 – Josh Newman
US Representative – endorsed by LA Progressive Guide
CD 27 – George Whitesides, LA Times
CD 28 – Judy Chu
CD 29 – Luz Rivas
CD 30 – Laura Friedman, La Defensa, LA Times
CD 31 – Gil Cisneros
CD 32 – Brad Sherman
CD 33 – Pete Aguilar
CD 34 – Jimmy Gomez, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, AFL-CIO, Equality CA, CTA, Stonewall
David Kim, Jackie Goldberg, Kenneth Mejia, Ysabel Jurado, CA Progressive Alliance,
CD 35 – Norma Torres
CD 36 – Ted Lieu
CD 37 – Sidney Kamlager-Dove
LA Charter Amendment DD
Yes, La Defensa
LA Charter Amendment HH
Yes, La Defensa
LA Charter Amendment II
Yes, La Defensa
LA Charter Amendment LL
Yes, La Defensa
LA Charter Amendment ER
Yes, La Defensa
LA Charter Amendment FF
Yes, La Defensa
LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT – SCHOOL BOARD
District 1- Sherlett Hendy Newbill, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
District 3 – Scott Mark Schmerelson, LA Progressive Guide
District 5 – Karla Griego, La Defensa, LA Times
LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL (only listing contested seats)
District 2 – Jillian Burgos (small business owner, neighborhood council, advocate), LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa
Adrin Nazarian (former Assembly Member Chief of Staff to outgoing Councilmember), LA Times
District 10 – Heather Hutt (appointed council member), LA Times
Grace Yoo (community leader, attorney and former City commissioner), Dolores Huerta, Jackie Goldberg
District 14 – Ysabel J. Jurado, LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa, LA Times, Defenders of Justice
LAUSD Measure US
Yes
COUNTY
District Attorney
George Gascon Planned Parenthood, LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa
LOS ANGELES COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE
Office 39 – George Turner, Rated Qualified LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa, Defenders of Justice
Steve Napolitano, Rated Qualified LA Times
Office 48 – Ericka Wiley,Rated Qualified LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa, LA Times, Defenders of Justice
Office 97 – La Shae Henderson,Rated Qualified LA Progressive Guide
Sharon Ransom,Rated Well Qualified LA Times
Office 135 – Georgia Huerta, Rated Well Qualified LA Progressive Guide
Steven Yee Mac, Rated Well Qualified LA Times
Office 137 – Luz Herrera, Rated Qualified LA Progressive Guide
Tracey Blount,Rated Well Qualified LA Times
Los Angeles County/City/LAUSD Measures
LA County Measure A
Yes, La Defensa
LA County Measure E
Yes, La Defensa
LA County Measure G
Yes, LA Times
STATE
State Propositions
Proposition 2 – Authorizes Bonds for Public School and Community College Facilities
YES – CA Teachers Assn, CA School Nurses, LA Progressive Guide
Proposition 3 – Constitutional Right to Marriage. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
YES – Equality California, Senator Scott Weiner, Human Rights Campaign, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times, ACLU
Proposition 4 – Authorizes Bonds for Safe Drinking Water, Wildlife Prevention, and Protecting Communities and Natural Lands from Climate Risks.
YES – Clean Water Action, National Wildlife Federation, CALFIRE Firefighters, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide
Proposition 5 – Allows Local Bonds for Affordable Housing and Public Infrastructure with 55% Voter Appproval. Legislative Consitutional Amendment.
YES – League of Women Voters, Habitat for Humanity, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times
Proposition 6 – Eliminates Consititutional Provision allowing Involuntary Servictude for Incarcerated Persons. Legislative Constitutional Amendment.
YES – Dolores Huerta, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times, ACLU
Proposition 32 – Raises Minimum Wage. Initiative Statute.
YES – Congresswoman Nanette Barragán, One Fair Wage, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide
Proposition 33 – Expands Local Governments’ Authority to Enact Rent Control on Residential Property. Initiative Statute.
This is one of those initiatives that is very confusing. Yes, rent is too high. But as I understand it this could undermine fair housing laws statewide in order to favor local municipalities. Means wealthier suburbs would make different decisions and that doesn’t seem equitable. AIDS Healthcare Foundation supports it but Assemblymembers Atkins and Wicks, who I almost always agree with and are some of the biggest affordable housing proponents in the legislature, oppose it. Atkins and Wicks say the ballot initiative contains a “Trojan horse” provision. They say it would undermine pro-housing laws by allowing wealthy coastal cities that oppose new development to impose steep affordability requirements that would effectively freeze growth.
YES – Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa, Housing CA
NO – Assemblymember Atkins and Wicks, Housing Action Coalition, Abundant Housing LA
Proposition 34 – Restricts Spending of Prescription Drug Revenues by Certain Health Care Providers. Initiative Statute.
This is the other super confusing initative, which is really about who controls rent control. Primary sponsor of the initiative is the CA Apartment Association that represents the states rental property landlords. The way this initative is written it only affects one organization — the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. In recent years, AHF has spent more than $150 million on ballot initiatives – including rent control measures in 2018 and 2020. The nonprofit’s annual budget is about $2.5 billion. The vast majority of the nonprofit’s revenue comes from its network of 62 pharmacies – largely a result of a federal drug discount program. This year, AHF is bankrolling another ballot initiative that is not popular with the California Apartment Association: Prop 33, which would remove state limits on rent control and allow cities and counties more leeway to enact stricter local rent control laws.The California Apartment Association’s new prop would effectively stop the AIDS Healthcare Foundation from ever backing another one. I’m no fan of AHF, who have been legitimately accused of being slumlords in the units they own, and who have opposed PrEP in order to protect their HIV drug revenues. I think there’s not enough transparency in their work or in these initiatives, but I also think revenge initiatives are a bad precedent, so I’m voting against.
YES – CA Apartment Association, CA Association of Realtors
NO – National Organization for Women, Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, LA Times (which calls it a revenge initiative)
Proposition 35 – Provides Permanent Funding for Medi-Cal Health Care Services. Initiative Statute.
YES – Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, La Defensa, CA Democratic Party
NO – Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, Indivisible LA
Proposition 36 – Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes. Initiative Statute.
NO – Courage Campaign, LA Progressive Guide, La Defensa, LA Times, ACLU
NATIONAL ELECTION
President
Kamala Harris and Tim Walz LETS GOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
U.S. Senate (vote for both Full Term and Short Term)
Adam Schiff, Courage Campaign, LA Times
All recommendations based on voting guides sent out by:
Planned Parenthood Advocacy Project Los Angeles County
Courage California Progressive Voter Guide
And after reviewing my very smart friend Allison Morgan’s voter guide
Prepared by Lara Bergthold
Bergthold Election Voter Guide 