background

Our democracy is in peril. From racist voter suppression laws to limitless corporate dark money donations to political parties and candidates, our democratic institutions are eroding under corruption and institutional racism. We need significant reform, and we need it now.

vision

The right to vote is sacrosanct for any real democracy. We must guarantee voting as a human right, abolish the corporate stranglehold on our democracy, and empower every American to get civically engaged.

Abolish the filibuster

• While authority to eliminate this racist Jim Crow relic lay in the hands of the Senate Majority Leader, we need as many progressive voices calling for its abolition as possible. Minority-rule is antithetical to democracy and the filibuster is blocking passage of structural reforms like guaranteed healthcare, voting rights, and other priorities and that is why I proudly support its elimination.

Eliminate the corrupt impact of money on politics by:

• Passing a constitutional amendment declaring that “money is not speech” and thus repealing Citizens’ United and Buckley v. Valeo;

• Eliminating Super PACs entirely, and requiring full donor disclosure by 501c4s and other political entities; and,

• Barring corporate and lobbyist contributions to all political parties and candidates.

Eradicate racist voter suppression laws and partisan gerrymandering.

• Voter suppression laws and gerrymandering policies have been weaponized against Black, Indigenous, and Latinx communities for centuries. As the Supreme Court further erodes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, we are witnessing an assault on democracy as conservatives continue to push anti-Black and anti-democratic policies by purging voter rolls, enacting voter ID laws, and restricting absentee voting. 

• Many states are able to pass these racist laws with ease because of anti-democratic gerrymandering policies shutting out the voices of people of color, and working class communities.

• We must protect voting as a human right by enacting policies like the For The People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act, while also working to break our two-party corporate duopoly.

Enact public financing of federal campaigns and new systems of voting like Ranked-Choice Voting and STAR Voting.

• We need electoral power in the hands of the people - not concentrated in the hands of the wealthiest among us, corporations, or their lobbyists. Cities like Los Angeles already have public financing of campaigns, making it easier for working class people to run and win elections. We need these reforms nationally to stop our federal elections from becoming auctions.

• I also strongly support newer and more democratic voting systems like Ranked Choice Voting and STAR voting, which reduce the divisiveness of “winner takes all” elections and allow for more collaboration and civic engagement in the electoral process. 

Abolish prison gerrymandering. 

• Prison gerrymandering is the process by which the federal Census Bureau, state, and local governments count incarcerated individuals as residents of the location where they are incarcerated, as opposed to their home communities. With prison populations disproportionately Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, this practice has effectively allowed rural, predominately republican districts - where most prisons are located - to artificially inflate their population numbers, even though incarcerated individuals lack the right to vote. 

• While several states, including California, have enacted statewide bans on prison gerrymandering, this heinous practice still continues undeterred in the majority of states nationwide.

Fully restore the right to vote for all current and formerly incarcerated individuals.

• Incarceration has been weaponized to disenfranchise Black and Brown communities for decades. There is no room in a fair and just democracy to strip ANY citizen of their inalienable right to participate in our elections.

Strengthen civic engagement through proportional representation and expansion of political parties.

• Here in California’s 32nd, the second largest voting bloc are registered No Party Preference, behind registered Democrats. Nationwide, roughly two-thirds of Americans support a third party and think it is necessary. With so many Americans believing that our corporate duopoly has failed us, we must respond by empowering democracy, not stifling it by suppressing the American people’s right to develop a multi-party system.

• Legislation like the Fair Representation Act (HR 3863) would establish multi-member districts to elevate the public’s voting power, while also abolishing anti-democratic policies like partisan gerrymandering.