Most voters haven’t heard of ADEMs, but in California it’s an important way to influence state policy. ADEMs is a function of the state Democratic Party and stands for Assembly District Election Meetings. These meetings are held in all 80 of California’s Assembly Districts to elect 14 representatives to represent each district. Elected delegates get to vote on state party endorsements and influence policy, so it’s important to make sure there are transit advocates involved in the process.
Our endorsement questionnaire asked candidates whether they support or oppose 12 different policies we’ve pursued at the state level. A score of 100% means they support all 12. The policies are:
An end to freeway widening
Making it easier to build rail, bus, and bike projects
Fully funding and expediting CA High Speed Rail, along with regional and local transit systems
Abolishing all parking minimums
Decriminalizing fare evasion
Expanding e-bike incentive programs
Fare free transit
Imposing additional fees on heavier cars sold (ex. the electric Hummer)
Prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to pay for parking
Decriminalizing sidewalk riding for cyclists
Ending right turn on red
Parking maximums around transit
How do I vote?
If you requested a vote by mail ballot by the deadline, all you have to do is mail it back — you do have to use your own postage, and your ballot must be received by January 31st (so you should mail it back in advance).
If you have not registered yet, it is too late to request a mail ballot — but you can still vote in person by registering here. Note, you must register as a Democrat to be able to vote. There are 80 total polling places across California and a list of locations and the dates and times they have voting available can be found here.
Note that the ADEMs ballot does not list candidates’ names, only their candidate numbers. All candidate numbers and their statements can be found here, by district. In our guide, we have listed the candidate numbers of all candidates we recommend.
RECOMMENDATIONS BY DISTRICT & CURRENT REPRESENTATIVE
AD 34 (Vince Fong)
In this district that spans Bakersfield and Palmdale, one candidate received a 100% score on our questionnaire: Ann McKeown. This district is a Republican stronghold, which is unfortunate because one of the longest regular commutes in the country is Palmdale-Los Angeles. Only 2% of this assembly district uses public transportation, and high speed rail would be a big boon to the local economy.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 2 (Anne)
AD 40 (Pilar Schiavo)
There are two slates running in AD 40: United for AD 40 and an unnamed slate with no website.
Both slates contain progressives and those who are less progressive, so there is no clear cut recommendation here. From United for AD 40, only two candidates filled out the survey: Renay Grace Rodriguez (2) only supported 6 of SFA’s policies, (she opposed ending freeway widening, making it easier to build mass transit projects, ending parking minimums, imposing additional fees on heavier cars, ending right turn on red, and parking maximums). Brandon Zavala (3) supported all 12 of our policies, however, so we strongly recommend him.
Although Loraine Lundquist (15) did not fill out our questionnaire, she is a longtime SFA ally and worked on the SFA-endorsed campaign for Caroline Menjivar.
From the rival unnamed AD 40 slate (Melissa Garcia, Ann Dorsey, Christine LaMonica, John J. Paladin, Sondra Stowe, Tiodoso “Theo” Sal Rivas, Steven Boyd, Steven Kassel, Arlette Kassel, Christine Farabaugh, Gilbert Barajas, and Anna Barajas), a number filled out the questionnaire. Ann Dorsey was one of them — she only supported 3 out of 12 of our policies (making it easier to build rail, bus, and bike projects; fully funding and expediting CA High Speed Rail, along with regional and local transit systems; prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to pay for parking). Candidate Melissa Garcia (11) on the other hand received a 100% score on our questionnaire, supporting all of our state policies.
We wish there was one slate we could recommend, since the West Valley is such a pivotal neighborhood for improving and expanding transportation.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 3 (Brandon Zavala), 11 (Melissa Garcia), 15 (Loraine Lundquist)
AD 41 (Chris Holden)
In this district, which represents Altadena, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, San Dimas, and much of the Angeles National Forest, there is one major slate called AD 41 People’s Action. All members of the slate supported 100% of our policies.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 21, 28 (People’s Action Slate)
AD 42 (Jacqui Irwin)
Stephanie Bunker (18), Sean Weisman (4), and Francesca Truncale Adams (7) were the only candidates in this race who filled out our questionnaire. They support 100% of our state policies, making this an easy recommendation.
All three of these candidates are part of a slate called Unite 42 that is endorsed by Jacqui Irwin.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 4 (Sean), 7 (Francesca), 18 (Stephanie)
AD 43 (Luz Rivas)
No candidates from AD 43 filled out our endorsement questionnaire.
AD 44 (Laura Friedman)
In this massive district which encompasses much of the east SFV, there are two major slates running: the Progress 44 slate which is closely affiliated with State Senator Anthony Portantino, and the Forward 44 slate which is closely affiliated with State Assemblymember Laura Friedman.
Both slates have noteworthy allies on them -- Progress 44 includes cycling advocate Dan Brotman (24) and SFA-endorsed Carmenita Helligar (13). Forward 44 includes SFA ally Nick Schultz (21) and SFA member Branden Whalen-Castellanos (7).
The Forward 44 slate scored a 100% on our endorsement questionnaire. Progress 44 has not returned our questionnaire, but the guide will be updated when they do.
NUMBERS TO FILL:
If you want to vote for the Forward 44 (Friedman) slate: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 14, 15, 16, 20, 21, 22
If you want to vote for the Progress 44 (Portantino) slate: 13, 18, 19, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33
AD 45 (James C. Ramos)
Two candidates from AD 45 filled out our questionnaire: James Ramos (7) and Jesus Medina (17). James supported 50% of our policies but opposed ending freeway widening, ending parking minimums, decriminalizing fare evasion, fare free transit, decriminalizing sidewalk riding, and ending right turn on red. Jesus Medina supported 11 of our 12 policies, only opposing an end to right turn on red. We highly recommend a vote for Jesus Medina.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 17 (Jesus)
AD 46 (Jesse Gabriel)
There are two major slates running in this district which represents the West SFV: the AD46 Progressives slate and Valley Grassroots Slate (no website).
Without hesitation, we recommend voting for the AD46 Progressives, which includes SFA-endorsed Congressional candidate Shervin Aazami (13) and SFA ally Logan Fisher (1). Their slate received a 100% score on our endorsement questionnaire, supporting all 12 key SFA state policies. The Valley Grassroots Slate has not filled out our questionnaire.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 11, 13, 16, 17, 18, 25, 27, 29 (AD46 Progressives)
AD 47 (Eloise Reyes)
This district is slightly beyond the area SFA normally organizes in, as it represents the Inland Empire and San Bernardino. Several delegates filled out our questionnaire. There is a progressive slate called Forward 47 running that shares much of SFA’s mission.
From Forward 47, we received survey responses from five slate members: Karina Quintanilla (7), John Siegel (21), Jo Ann Bollen (1), Christina Alaniz (18), and Samuel K Turley (32). Jo Ann and John both supported 11 out of 12 policies, while Karina, Christina, and Samuel all supported 12 out of 12 policies.
We also received a response from Eric Cunningham, who is not part of a slate. Eric supported 9 out of 12 of our policies (he opposed decriminalizing sidewalk riding, ending right turn on red, and parking maximums).
All candidates who filled out our survey expressed the need for a rail connection between the Coachella Valley and Los Angeles, which we believe is a major issue in this region.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1 (Jo Ann), 7 (Karina), 18 (Christina), 21 (John), 25 (Eric), 32 (Samuel)
AD 48 (Blanca Rubio)
SFA ally County Supervisor Hilda Solis has thrown her support behind the People’s Champs slate, and so have we (Therese B. Garcia, Elizabeth Renteria, Ryan Serrano, Steve Pritchard, Daniel Luna, Brian Tabatabai, and Stephanie Serrano). This slate filled out our questionnaire and scored a 100% in supporting our transit policies.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 2, 4, 5, 6, 10, 18, 19 (People’s Champs slate)
AD 49 (Mike Fong)
There are two major slates running in AD 49, which represents a large portion of the SGV: AD 49 Democrats for Justice and San Gabriel Valley Berniecrats. Democrats for Justice supported 8 out of our 12 policies as a slate (they did not support funding and expediting high speed rail, imposing additional fees on heavy cars, prohibiting landlords from requiring tenants to pay for parking, or parking maximums). The SGV Berniecrats supported all 12 of our policies.
Although there are some fantastic transit advocates on the Democrats for Justice slate (member Je-Show Yang has helped SFA organize in the SGV for several months), we recommend voting for the SGV Berniecrats: Katie Chan, Cliff Olin, Robert S Bilheimer, Tony Vong, Ann Chen, Jean Balest, David Bailey, Melissa Michelson, Geoff Jennings, Brandon Tran, Paul Cole Padilla, Nanette J Ocana, Samantha Lau, and Margaret Cole Padilla.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 29, 31 (SGV Berniecrats)
AD 50 (Eloise Gomez Reyes)
Only one candidate from AD 50 (which covers Rancho Cucamonga and Fontana) filled out our questionnaire. Carolina Verduzco (17) supported 8 of our 12 policies. She opposed an end to freeway widening, unfortunately, but supported many other of our policies like imposing fees on heavy SUVs.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 17 (Carolina)
AD 51 (Rick Chavez Zbur)
There is one major slate running in AD 51 (which encompasses much of Central and West LA), known as the Progressive Slate. Members of the Progressive Slate supported 100% of our state policies. The members are Dan Hall, Angela Scott, Isabel Storey, Steve Dunwoody, SFA-endorsed candidate Caroline Torosis, SFA-endorsed candidate Louis Abramson, Jan Goodman, Alison Simard, Barry Snell, Erick Matos, Cristina Navarro, Naomi Goldman, Mike Rose, and Eric Greene.
Although Pam O’Connor (21) did not fill out our endorsement questionnaire, she does have a strong track record of supporting our mission.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 2, 7, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 26 (Progressive Slate)
AD 52 (Wendy Carrillo)
There are two slates running in this key LA district — one led by SFA ally Eunisses Hernandez (AD 52 People’s Action) and another led by Wendy Carrillo (unnamed). There are also a number of independent candidates without slates to choose from. No one slate completed our questionnaire in full, but individual members of different slates did.
The following candidates supported 100% of our policies: Luke Klipp (11, Carrillo slate), Angelica Lopez Moyes (23, People’s Action)
The following candidates supported 11 out of 12 policies: Josh Nuni (17, People’s Action), Claire Simonich (22, People’s Action)
The following candidates supported 10 out of 12 policies: Brian Kohan (2, no slate)
Although Eunisses Hernandez (15) did not fill out our questionnaire, we recommend voting for her because she has long demonstrated a commitment to our mission.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 2 (Brian), 11 (Luke), 15 (Eunisses), 17 (Josh), 22 (Claire), 23 (Angelica)
AD 53 (Freddie Rodriguez)
Only one candidate in this district (which represents Pomona and Ontario) filled out our questionnaire. Timothy Cotran (1) supported 100% of our state policies and we recommend a vote for him.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1 (Timothy)
AD 54 (Miguel Santiago)
The primary slate running in this central LA district is the People’s Slate, which contains a number of SFA allies including member Nuriel Moghavem (23) and SFA-endorsed Congressional candidate David Kim (16). A number of other activists on this slate have been proven transit advocates, including Selene Betancourt (13), Lauren Buisson (20), and others. The entire slate supported 100% of our state policies and without hesitation we recommend voting for each member.
There is an additional slate running known as the Allied for Progress Slate but there is very little information about them online and they did not fill out our questionnaire.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 3, 5, 13, 14, 15, 16, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 25, 26 (People’s Slate)
AD 55 (Isaac Bryan)
In this district that encompasses parts of West and South LA, there are two slates running: Forward 55 and AD 55 United.
The entire Forward 55 slate supported 12 out of 12 of Streets For All’s policies, and contains a number of SFA’s allies: former Culver City Mayor Dr. Daniel Lee (18) and former L.A. Councilmember Mike Bonin (30) both fought for mobility during their tenure on their respective City Councils as SFA-supported candidates, Leah Pressman (2) ran former Councilmember Alex Fisch’s SFA-endorsed re-election campaign, Mae Gates (19) worked on Senator Lola Smallwood-Cuevas’s SFA-endorsed campaign, Shetarrah Byfield (3) and Herman Jones (25) both worked for SFA ally Assemblymember Isaac Bryan, and Olga Lexell (21) is a transportation justice activist and member of the SFA Board. The Forward 55 slate has been endorsed by the major Democratic clubs in the area and allies like Abundant Housing.
Of the AD 55 United slate, Aura Vasquez (1), who has been vocal in the past about her support for public transportation, supported 12 out of 12 of SFA’s policies. The other members of the slate did not fill out the questionnaire. Significantly, slate member and currently Culver City Mayor Albert Vera has opposed major mobility improvements in the district while serving on Council: he opposed reopening the Jackson Avenue gate to the Ballona Creek bike path, opposed abolishing parking minimums, fought to exclude downtown Culver City from the city’s first complete streets project, and has voted to remove the city’s first car-free street. Slate member Denice Rentería, who SFA openly opposed in her run for Culver City Council, also ran on a platform of undoing Culver City’s first complete streets project in favor of car-oriented infrastructure.
A number of candidates are running without a slate, including long-time transit advocate and car-free Angeleno Rachel Pearl Bracker (7). Rachel filled out our questionnaire and supported 11 out of 12 policies, although she expressed a willingness to work with us on the policy she did not support.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13, 14, 18, 19, 21, 25, 30 (Forward 55 Slate)
AD 56 (Lisa Calderon)
There is one major progressive slate running in AD56 known as Democrats for Justice. Timothy Phan (11) and Ricardo Martinez (22) on this slate have both supported public transit initiatives in the past, and Annabella Acosta (20) was previously endorsed by allied organizations like Sunrise LA, but no candidate in this race filled out our endorsement questionnaire. This progressive slate has historically supported efforts like ending freeway expansion, so we anticipate they would be good on transportation issues.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 27, 29, 30 (Democrats for Justice)
AD 57 (Reggie Jones-Sawyer)
There is one major slate called Progressives of AD57, and the entire group supported 100% of our state policies. The members of the slate are Jocelyn Edith Portillo (20), Luz Portillo (9), Janet Kelly (8), Marcial Rene Romero (1), Ed Garren (11), Michael Daurio (10), Javier Moro (2), Senator Savala (7), Emmanuel Alcantar (6), and Ruffin Patterson (12). Additionally, one candidate without a slate, Jamaal Gulledge (5), also filled out our survey and supported 10 out of 12 policies.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 20 (Progressives of AD57 slate and Jamaal)
AD 61 (Tina McKinnor)
There are a number of progressives running in AD61, including one slate called the People’s Progressive Slate. Only two members of the slate, Andy Sywak (10) and Ahmanise Sanati (6), filled out the questionnaire. Andy only supported 5 out of our 12 policies, but has done some local work on improving street safety. Ahmanise supported 9 of our policies but expressed she did not oppose any of them, and just needed more information about the ones she did not openly support. We believe she would be a good delegate to work with.
Outside of that slate, Tanisha Saunders (18), Ronald Gomez (1), SFA-endorsed City Council candidate Erin Darling (16) all filled out the survey as well. Tanisha supported 7 of our policies and expressed wanting to learn more about the others while working with Streets For All. Erin supported 10 of our 12 policies and, having worked extensively with us during his city council campaign, we know he would be a key ally to transportation advocates. Ronald supported all 12 of our state policies.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1 (Ronald), 6 (Ahmanise), 16 (Erin), 18 (Tanisha)
AD 64 (Blanca Pacheco)
There were rumors of two slates associated with Bob Archuleta and Blanca Pacheco but it is difficult to find any information confirming this. There are three advocates running who are not part of any slates but who have been allies to our mission — Martha Camacho Rodriguez (1), Genesis Jara (17), and Nicole Lopez (16). Hilda Solis has strongly backed candidate Antonio Chapa (2) as well.
No candidates from this district filled out our endorsement questionnaire, so we cannot unfortunately predict how any of them would vote on state policy.
NUMBERS TO FILL: NO RECOMMENDATION
AD 65 (Mike Gipson)
The obvious choice for this South Bay district is the People’s Voice slate, which contains: SFA-endorsed candidate Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, Esperanza Romero, Tiffanie Noelle-Smith, Lynn Finley, Jennifer Flores, Regina Lumbrano, Jasimen Phillips, SFA-endorsed candidate Bryant Odega, Jim Brandt, Brandon Molina Berrios, Brandon Mims, Ernie Gutierrez, Ryan Chlanda, Lawrence Chaves. The entire slate supported 100% of the policies in our questionnaire.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 13, 21, 24, 28, 30, 34, 35 (People’s Voice Slate)
AD 66 (Al Muratsuchi)
We recommend the People Over Profits 66 slate, which includes Jean McClain, Jane Affonso, Peter Aziz, Carol Moeller, long-time SFA ally and Sunrise LA organizer Nicolas Gardner, Wade Kyle, and Susan Brooks. The entire slate supported 100% of our state policies.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 4, 9, 17, 18, 19, 24, 27 (People Over Profits)
AD 69 (Josh Lowenthal)
There is one slate running called the Progressive Dems Unity Slate, which only contains 13 members.
One candidate who is not a member of a slate in this district (spanning Long Beach and Catalina Island) filled out our questionnaire and supported 100% of our policies: Tracy Luu (4). Since she previously worked for SFA-endorsed candidate David Kim’s campaign, we trust that she has a progressive background.
The Progressive Dems Unity Slate filled out our questionnaire collectively, and unanimously supported 6 policies — they did not support abolishing parking minimums, fare free transit, imposing fees on heavier vehicles, decriminalizing sidewalk riding, ending right turn on red, or parking maximums. For this reason, we hesitate to enthusiastically recommend the entire slate — however, they still supported significant efforts like decriminalizing fare evasion, expanding e-bike incentives, and making it easier to build active transit infrastructure. We would recommend a vote for Tracy over one of the Slate’s SIF candidates, if you want to vote for as many candidates as possible.
Candidate Alex Mohajer (2) of the Progressive Dems Unity Slate submitted his own individual questionnaire as well, supporting 10 out of 12 of our policies, so we do recommend a vote for Alex. Candidates Jennifer Kumiyama (17) and Alyssa Gutierrez (11) of the Slate also submitted questionnaires with 100% support of our proposals, and both come highly recommended. Candidate and slate member Chris Chavez (15) supported 11 out of our 12 policies and has a strong background in clean transportation.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 2 (Alex), 4 (Tracy), 11 (Alyssa), 15 (Chris), 17 (Jennifer)
AD 73 (Laurie Davies)
There is one candidate running in this Orange County district who we recommend without any hesitation: Marc Vukcevich (17), a Streets For All state policy director, who scored a 92% on our endorsement questionnaire. Unfortunately, Youssef Kaddeche (co-founder of RISE Irvine and SFA ally) filed to run but has decided against pursuing an ADEMs seat.
NUMBERS TO FILL: 17
