EM: .As a candidate for the chair of the Democratic Party in California what is your vision for California Democrats and the State of California?
K. Ellis: My central belief is that our greatest asset is our membership. The biggest problem with the way our party has been run in recent years is that we don’t listen to them! I want to work with our delegates to change the rules in order to encourage a more “bottom-up” process. Our party should do all it can to empower the citizens and activists whose ideas have too often been ignored in favor of corporate interests and big donors.
Democrats need a new path forward, and that means getting back to basics. I believe that the first step of organizing is to listen, and so as Chair I would work to redirect resources away from high-priced consultants and media buys, towards recruiting and hiring year-round, on-the-ground organizers, especially in communities that are classically ignored outside of elections.
I believe we should embrace California’s role as a national leader. From all across the country, Democrats travel to California to raise money. Let’s use that leverage to press for more progressive, principled candidates not only in California but throughout the US, so that together we can forge a new path forward, beyond 2018 and even 2020.2.
EM: Can you explain the crossroads that the Democratic Party is at?
K. Ellis: Nationally, we are a party in crisis. But even here in California I sense a growing disillusionment amongst our most dedicated party members – the feeling that even with a super majority in the state legislature, the policies and behaviors coming out of Sacramento don’t reflect their values. Many people who have been in the party for years no longer believe their leaders are really on their side. If we don’t hold our representatives responsible when they betray our values, and if we keep making excuses for the petty corruption and transactional politics that drove so many voters away from the party nationally, I worry we’ll end up in the same position.
We have to decide if we are a party that represents consultants and billionaires, or if we are a party who stands up and fights without apology for the working people of our state. I will never hesitate to stand up for the latter.
Kimberly Ellis
Photo Credit, Kimberly Ellis for CA Democratic Chairrperson