Vote
  The 2008 election
 
  

 
The Next Election

The Palisades Democratic Club is working to support our endorsed candidates and ballot measures. There is a lot to be done and we need your support. If you are interested in volunteering, please email info@palisadesdemclub.org

Congratulations to Democrats nationwide, who worked tirelessly and passionately to win back Congress. Our victory was achieved in a dramatic fashion with Democratic majorities elected in both the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.

I want to take this opportunity to share the results locally in Pacific Palisades as well as your Club’s efforts in achieving them. The following information is based on the provisional results as reported by the LA County Registrar Recorders Office and the Office of the California Secretary of State.

On the national level, we projected correctly that our congressional representative Henry Waxman was not in any danger of his re-election. He won here handily by 67% of the vote. The same was true with Senator Dianne Feinstein, who won with 69.1% of the vote in the Palisades precincts. Given our confidence that Feinstein and Waxman were safe, our Club strategy was to invest our resources in other Congressional Districts in an effort to turn Red Districts Blue. The principal target selected was a race in the CA 11th CD representing the Stockton area. Democratic candidate Jerry McNerney won by 53.2% dramatically defeating incumbent Republican Richard Pombo. We also financially supported Charley Brown in the CA 4th CD and Ellen Simon in AZ 1st CD contests. Although both candidates made significant gains against their entrenched incumbent Republican opponents, they were unsuccessful in unseating them.

In all the contests for State office, the Democratic candidates garnered a greater portion of the votes in Los Angeles County. However this did not reflect the final outcome statewide or mirror the results in the Palisades where the voters did not vote along political party lines for the top of the ticket. In spite of a substantial margin of registered Democrats in both the State and Pacific Palisades, Governor Schwarzenegger was returned to office by 56.1% State wide and 53% in the Palisades vote. The remainder of all offices, with the exception of the Insurance Commissioner, was won by the Democratic candidates Statewide as well as in the Palisades precincts by substantial margins. In the Pacific Palisades precincts, the Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor John Garamendi won by 59.8%, Secretary of State Debra Bowen won by 55.7%, Comptroller John Chiang won by 57.8% , Treasurer Bill Lockyer won by 61.4% , Attorney General Jerry Brown won by 65.7% , and Board of Equalization candidate Judy Chu won by 59%. In the contest for State Assembly, Julia Brownley won by 60.6% of the local vote in the 41st AD, while Mike Feuer in the 42nd AD won by 70.4%. The margin of the wins can likely be attributed to independent voters who decline to state a party affiliation.

The primary task of the Club is to get the vote out in an election, especially a mid term election that historically has a low turn out. Good voter turnout is critical to a successful outcome. The turnout in the Palisades was projected at 56.5% taking into account that 26.8% of Palisadians were estimated as having voted by absentee ballot. This exceeds the State wide 49.6% voter turnout for this past election. To achieve this result, the Club sponsored a phone bank and a weekly stand at the Farmers market, distributed lawn signs, published a recommended slate in Club newsletter as well as repeated display ads in the Palisades Post, and initiated a follow-up effort to assure that the registered Democrats in the Palisades precincts exercised their vote on Election Day.

The results of the vote on the various ballot measures again showed the independence of the electorate in our community. The Palisades precincts supported 9 of the 12 recommendations on State measures made by the Executive Board as well as all three of the LA City initiatives, most by substantial margins.

The breakdown of the registered voters in California is 43% Democratic 34% Republican, 18.% declined to state a party affiliation , other minor parties less than 3.0% . However, the advantage margin between Democrats and Republicans registrations is reduced to 7% as the Republican turn out is greater. LA County has 26% of the States likely voters and has a 50.2% Democratic Registration. 16% of the Independents vote Democratic.

This bodes well for the 2008 Presidential election and provides an instructive lesson that, in order for us to achieve similar results, we need to continue to attract the Independent voter to our cause by recognizing the importance of staying centered and constructing a large tent to accommodate a broad spectrum of opinions. I believe this is true locally in our Club operations as well as in the positions to be taken at the state and national levels.


 
   
 
     
Copyright 2005 Pacific Palisades Democratic Club. All rights reserved.