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Rep. Adam Schiff on Pompeo, Mattis, Pence and the Russian investigation

Gay Cambridge Analytics whistleblower testifies on Wednesday

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Rep. Adam Schiff (Photo by Karen Ocamb)

Just spotting Rep. Adam Schiff makes fanboys of the crustiest of curmudgeons. But the excitement that greeted the Los Angeles area Democrat when he appeared in West Hollywood Saturday for a California Women’s Law Center event was more gratitude than hero worship. As Ranking Member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Schiff has diligently worked to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 elections to elect Donald Trump as president. But how he comports himself, the character that shines through to millions of unsettled television viewers as he explains the perilous stakes has transformed Schiff into the anti-Trump—smart, articulate, gracious and an elected official who grasps his pledge to be a public servant.

Are you worried we’re seeing an erosion of democracy? the Los Angeles Blade asked Schiff before the CWLC event.

“Absolutely. Absolutely,” Schiff said. “In the way this president denigrates the press, the independence of the judiciary, the independence of the Justice Department, trampling on any number of norms of office—we have had more backward moving movement in terms of our own democracy than any point in my lifetime.”

The latest jerk backwards is the expected Senate Foreign Relations confirmation of CIA Director Mike Pompeo as Trump’s new Sec. of State. Several Democratic members have already announced their opposition to Pompeo based on numerous anti-LGBT, anti-Muslim, anti-reproductive rights. Even if the committee votes not to confirm him, Pompeo is expected to win approval on the Senate floor with the help of two Democrats, Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.). Other Democrats in tight races in conservative districts may follow.

Schiff said he didn’t know how the Pompeo vote would end up but noted that many people thought his confirmation would not be so difficult.

Schiff, who has spoken on behalf of LGBT rights during his official trips abroad, as well as with former UN Ambassador Samantha Power, said he is concerned about how LGBT rights will be handled with Pompeo as the chief diplomat.

“I think that given the reactionary way this administration has conducted itself, probably anyone they put in that office—this is going to be a deep concern,” Schiff said. “As we see in the Defense Department, the Sec. of Defense, who is widely viewed as one of the few adults in the room, nonetheless is being forced to carry out these policies, which he doesn’t seem to agree with. There were recent reports that Sec Mattis urged the administration to come to Congress to seek authorization before the strike in Syria but was overruled.”

Told that many LGBT activists believe Mattis threw transgender service members under the bus with his latest report recommending the ban on open trans service, Schiff said he wasn’t sure the Sec. of Defense had a choice.

“Well, I don’t know, in the case of Mattis, whether he’s doing what’s he’s doing because he’s been told this is what you need to do by the administration,” Schiff said. “To the limited extent I’ve been able to see in his comments, it looked like this was policy the president announced on Twitter a year ago without any consultation that took the military by surprise and that the military, in fact, tried to resist it. Ultimately, it looks like the administration insisted they go forward and Sec. Mattis just had to carry out the president’s instructions. But in innumerable ways, this administration is hostile to LGBT rights, hostile to civil rights, hostile to minority voting rights, you could pretty much go down the line.”

Schiff said the House Intelligence Committee is continuing its Russia probe, despite obstruction from his Republican counterpart, Rep. Devan Nunes. Still considered a solid red seat in California’s 22nd congressional district, Nunes’ Democratic challenger Andrew Janz raised $635,931 in February after Nunes released a controversial and misleading memo alleging FBI abuse of a FISA surveillance warrant.

“We were in the midst of our investigations when Republicans decided to walk,” said Schiff. “Now on the Democratic side, we continue to investigate and we have the whistleblower Christopher Wylie of Cambridge Analytica coming before us next week {on Wednesday). We’ll invite the Republicans but we expect them to be a no-show. But there’s a lot more work to do.”

Schiff said the House Intelligence Committee Russia investigation has not looked at possible involvement by Vice President Mike Pence.

“The issue in which the vice president has come up is that the vice president went on national TV to say that [former National Security Advisor] Mike Flynn had never discussed sanctions with the Russian ambassador” Sergey Kislyak, said Schiff. “Now we know that’s not true and that was the subject of Mike Flynn’s guilty plea.”

“For that reason, I think the vice president would be a relevant witness, in terms of who within the administration knew that, in fact, there were these clandestine efforts to undermine the bipartisan policy of the United States,” Schiff said. “In the Flynn documents, submitted by the Special Counsel, it reports that senior transition officials were made aware of these conversations in real time. Now we don’t know whether that was K.T. McFarland or it was others and we’ve endeavored to find out—but the Republicans have tried to stymy us.”

There was a major uproar at the time about whether Flynn lied to Pence and what that meant regarding Pence’s stance within the administration. “Pence has been a bastion of credibility within the administration, as the president himself has trafficked repeatedly in unfounded allegations about crowd size at his inauguration and voter fraud in November,” Politico reported Feb. 10, 2017.

Acting Attorney General Sally Yates warned the administration about Flynn after Pence defended him on national television.

“One of the things she was concerned about was that it could make Mike Flynn subject to compromise if people were out publicly saying something the Russians knew was not true,” Schiff said. “But obviously Mike Pence was one of the senior transition officials and so there is a significant question about what he knew.”

But as the esteemed non-profit Committee to Investigate Russia points out, there are also open questions about when and how much Pence, who also headed the transition team, knew about Flynn’s lobbying for Turkey. Rep. Elijah Cummings, Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, sent Pence a letter on Nov. 18, 2016 asking about Flynn’s potential conflicts of interest.

“Pence’s team acknowledged receipt of the letter on November 28th. However, on March 9, 2017, Pence said in an interview on Fox News that he was hearing of Flynn’s ties to Turkey for the first time that very day,” according to the Committee to Investigate Russia.

And what about how Gov. Pence got the job in the first place when he was having reelection problems in Indiana? Trump originally offered the vice presidency to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie—but Trump’s campaign manager, Paul Manafort (now suspected of being a “back-channel” to Russians), politically out-maneuvered Trump to secure the job for his pick—Mike Pence, according to CBS News on Oct. 30, 2016.

“I don’t know if we’ll have a chance to look into issues like that,” Schiff said. “It’s been a challenge even to look into things that are front and center in the Russian investigations. So right now, we’re completely dependent on the willingness of people to come in voluntarily because since the Republicans have checked out, we have no subpoena power. Now interestingly, they haven’t checked out of doing an investigation—it’s just that they’re only interested in investigating the FBI and the Department of Justice, they’re not particularly interested in what the Russians did or what the Trump campaign did in combination with them.”

Schiff is keenly aware of the religious-Russian connection. “On the issue of how the Russians sought to inveigle their way into our political process,” Schiff said, “they appear to have tried to use the NRA (National Rifle Association) as one of their vehicles. But they’ve also tried to make outreach through the religious communities and, of course, one of the ways Putin has tried to frame the ideological struggle against the United States is in terms of family values and conservative values. So the Kremlin has been pushing these anti-LGBT legislative initiatives both at home and in their near-abroad as a way of trying to insinuate themselves into other countries, including our own.”

While reporters continue to look at Trump’s odd bromance with evangelicals, thanks in large part to Pence’s “Christian supremacist” beliefs, little attention is being paid to the possible Pence-evangelical-Russian connection.

Last May, Time reported that Pence met privately backstage with Metropolitan Hilarion Alfeyev of Moscow, an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin and chair of the Russian Orthodox Church’s external relations department, at Trump backer Franklin Graham’s evangelical Washington summit on religious violence against Christians. Hilarion stayed at the Trump International Hotel in D.C.

The summit was a two year effort between Hilarion and Graham, who met with Putin when he was in Moscow. Time reported that Putin “promised he would do all he could to help their cause.” The summit was originally planned for Moscow but after Trump’s election, “Graham moved the event to Washington at the Russian leaders’ suggestion.”

Hilarion addressed the summit and talked about “the curtailment of people’s rights to the public expression of their faith,” among other conservative issues. “He criticized the U.S. for its ‘ideology aimed at supporting sexual minorities and the propaganda of the homosexual life,’” Time reported. “His remarks echoed Graham, who in 2014 praised Putin for protecting ‘his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda’ when Russia passed a controversial anti-gay law ahead of the Sochi Olympics.”

After speaking with Pence, a number of other evangelical leaders and state department officials backstage, Hilarion told Time he felt “very positive” about the future of the relationship between the U.S. and Russia.“We will continue to work closely with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association but also with the larger evangelical community of this country,” he said. “We have many allies.”

A White House spokesperson confirmed Pence’s meeting with Hilarion to Time. But curiously, two months after the summit, on July 12, 2017, Pence’s press secretary Marc Lotter appeared on Fox News and repeatedly refused to answer whether the Vice President ever met with Russians during the campaign.

Schiff said his committee needed sufficient facts to jut down the religious road. “I think there’s probably, honestly, a lot left to be done that is so clearly within the issues of collusion and obstruction of justice that we haven’t done yet that we need to finish those area before we look beyond it,” Schiff said. “What we’ll end up doing, if we’re fortunate and take back the House, is we’ll look at what investigative work was allowed to go forward, what the Special Counsel, by that point, has been able to do, what the Senate has been able to do and we’ll figure out what more remains to be done.”

The Human Rights Campaign has created a campaign about the “real history” of Mike Pence. Hopefully HRC will keep an open page on Pence since history is happening now, behind the scenes.

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California Politics

2024 Election: A short guide to California propositions

Prop 3 would ensure marriage equality in state constitution

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Ballot drop-off in Los Angeles

The 2024 Election is upon us and this means that it is time to vote — if you haven’t already. 

For some, voting might be confusing or daunting. For others, it might be your first time voting, whether you are now old enough to vote, recently became a citizen or were previously incarcerated and can now vote in California

The election produces a lot of anxiety for Americans because there are a lot of issues to be determined. A poll by the American Psychological Association suggests that the future of the nation, economy, and presidential election, top U.S. stressors. 

The poll also suggests that the biggest concerns are the end of Democracy and political violence.

A Stress in America 2024 report by the APA, points out that 77 percent rate the future of our nation as a significant source of stress, 69 percent cite the presidential election and 73 percent cite the economy, as a significant source of stress. 

For people in the LGBTQ+, QTBIPOC, low-income, and otherwise marginalized communities in California, there are a few key issues that are at stake. 

We have summarized the propositions on the California ballot. 

California propositions

Proposition 2 would authorize $10 billion in bonds for upgrade, repair and construction on K-12 educational facilities, community colleges, charter school and career technical education programs. The bonds would cost California $500 million annually and have to be repaid with interest over the next 35 years. 

Proposition 3 is the Constitutional Right to Marriage ballot initiative that if approved, would guarantee that same-sex and interracial marriages will continue to be valid and recognized by the California Constitution, which currently only recognizes heterosexual marriages.  

This proposition would guarantee that if same-sex and interracial marriage were to be challenged on the federal level by the Supreme Court, there would be protections on the state level. 

Proposition 4 would authorize bonds for safe drinking water, wildfire prevention and protecting communities from natural disasters and other climate risks. A yes vote would approve the state of California to borrow $10 billion to fund activities aimed at conserving natural resources. The bonds would have to be repaid over the next 40 years, at $400 million annually. 

Proposition 5 would allow certain local bonds and related property taxes to be approved with a 55 percent vote of the local electorate, rather than the current two-thirds majority vote requirement. The bonds would have to fund local affordable housing, supportive housing and public infrastructure. 

Proposition 6 would amend the California Constitution to remove current provisions that allows jails and prisons to impose involuntary servitude to punish crime. State prisons would not be allowed to punish anyone who refuses to work. 

Proposition 32 would raise the minimum wage to $17 per hour for employers with more than 26 employees effective immediately and then to $18 as of Jan 1, 2025, and for employers with 25 or fewer employees, to $17 effective on Jan 1, 2025, and $18 as of Jan 1, 2026. 

Proposition 33 would repeal the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995, which currently places limits on local governments from enacting rent control laws. A yes vote would mean that the state would not limit the kinds of rent control laws cities and counties could or could not have. A no vote would mean the state would continue to limit the kinds of rent control laws cities and counties could have. 

Proposition 34 would restrict spending of prescription drug revenued by certain health care providers by requiring providers to spend 98 percent of revenues from federal discount prescription drug programs on direct patient care. Increased state costs would likely total millions annually to enforce the new rules on health care entities. 

Proposition 35 would provide funding for Medi-Cal health care services by making an existing tax on managed health care insurance plans permanent. New rules would direct how the state must use revenue. 

Proposition 36 would allow felony charges for possessing certain drug types and for thefts under $950, if the defendant has two prior drug or theft convictions. This means that if approved, punishment for drug and theft crimes would increase such as longer prison sentences. 

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Los Angeles

Los Angeles opens nation’s first transgender vote center

Activists, local officials attended opening

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In a landmark development for electoral accessibility, Los Angeles County has opened the doors to the nation’s first general election Vote Center located within a transgender establishment. The Connie Norman Transgender Empowerment Center officially launched its voting facilities today, inviting the local trans community and all registered voters in Los Angeles County to participate in the democratic process.

The Vote Center at CONOTEC will operate for early voting from Nov. 2 – Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Registered voters in Los Angeles County can cast their ballot at CONOTEC, regardless of their residential address. This initiative not only creates a safe and affirming space for marginalized voters but also aims to foster broader community engagement.

During the grand opening, Los Angles County Registrar Dean Logan and West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson, celebrated this significant moment. 

Logan said, “The county and everyone in my office know that we need to make voting as accessible and welcoming as possible in every corner of the county. The CONOTEC leadership has done a great job preparing this Vote Center, and we thank them for opening their space to their community and all of the LA County residents who chose to vote here.”

Queen Chela Demuir, executive director of the Unique Women’s Coalition, left, and Queen Victoria Ortega, president of FLUX International. (Photo by Marty Morris, MPM Photography)

Queen Victoria Ortega (at podium), president of FLUX International, addressed the need for more action.

“We are tired of everyone discussing our safety while doing nothing about it. Now, we are taking matters into our own hands,” Ortega said. “We, the trans community, have created a safe space for the most marginalized to vote, and when you do that, you create a safe place for all. We are honored and duty-bound to be the first presidential election Vote Center in America at a transgender establishment.”

Queen Chela Demuir, executive director of the Unique Women’s Coalition, emphasized the historical legacy of trans rights activists.

“In the spirit of Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, we honor our transcestors and carry their legacy forward,” she said. “This voting center stands as a safe and welcoming space for our trans siblings, while also embracing all allies and residents of Los Angeles County. It’s a space where everyone’s voice matters, uplifting and empowering our community.”

Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition. (Photo by Troy Masters)

Bamby Salcedo, founder and CEO of the TransLatin@ Coalition, expressed her support for the initiative, stating, “My sisters at CONOTEC have done a great service to our community by securing this Vote Center. We all look forward to casting our vote in our community and appreciate the support as we work towards equality for all.”

Michael Weinstein is the president of AIDS Healthcare Foundation. (Photo by Marty Morris, MPM Photography)

Michael Weinstein, president and CEO of AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest and most influential AIDS Service organization, pointed out that around the world voting is a perilous adventure for LGB and particularly trans people. “AIDS Healthcare Foundation is in 47 countries around the world and in so many of those countries, the right to vote does not exist,” he said. “It turns my stomach to see on TV political ads targeting the trans community.” hightlighting the need for safe voting spaces like the CONOTEC.

Sunith Menon, executive director of the Los Angeles County LGBTQ commission, and Dean C. Logan, registrar-recorder/county clerk. (Photo by Marty Morris, MPM Photography)

Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised CONOTEC’s efforts to empower LGBTQ+ voters. “With our vote, each of us has the chance to write the next chapter of this nation’s story. And the nation’s story is incomplete without each one of us. When we show up, equality wins,” Robinson remarked, emphasizing the importance of collective civic participation.

West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson praised the innovation and offered WeHo’s support. (Photo by Marty Morris, MPM Photography)
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Politics

Meet the LGBTQ+ candidates running in key races from U.S. Senate to state houses

Baldwin in tight contest; McBride poised to make history in Delaware

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U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) became the first openly LGBTQ+ senator with her election in 2012, having previously served as U.S. representative from Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District as the first non-incumbent LGBTQ+ member elected to the chamber. She is running against Republican mega-millionaire Eric Hovde, whose campaign has targeted her sexual orientation with negative advertising, in a race that Cook Political Report considers a toss-up.

U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride (D) became the first openly trans state senator and the highest-ranking trans official in U.S. history with her election in 2020, having previously worked in LGBTQ+ advocacy and authored a memoir. She is running for Delaware’s sole seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, where she would be the first transgender Member of Congress. She is favored to win her race.

Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (Washington Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Mondaire Jones served as U.S. representative for New York’s 17th Congressional District from 2021 to 2023, during which time he was often described as a rising star in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, serving on the Progressive, Black, and Equality Caucuses. Jones was one of the first two openly gay Black members of Congress. He is running to reclaim his seat representing NY-17.

Mondaire Jones (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Gay Democratic U.S. attorney Will Rollins is gunning for U.S. Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-Calif.) seat after narrowly losing to the GOP incumbent in 2022. His victory is key for Democrats to retake control of the House, with Cook Political Report characterizing their race as a toss-up and POLITICO writing it will be one of the most “closely watched and expensive battleground slugfests in the country.”


U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D) is the first LGBTQ+ member of Congress from Minnesota and the first lesbian mother to serve in either chamber. In the House, Craig has opposed Republican-led efforts to implement anti-LGBTQ+ policies, especially in schools. She is facing off against Republican Joe Teirab in a race that, according to Cook Political Report, is shaping up in her favor/lean Democratic.

U.S. Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D) is a former meteorologist and the first openly gay member of Congress from Illinois. While he is the first Democrat to represent portions of the state’s 17th Congressional District in decades, particularly the towns of Rockford and Peoria, Sorensen’s race is “likely” Democratic, per Cook Political Report. He is running against Republican Joe McGraw, a judge and former prosecutor.

U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids is a former mixed martial artist and attorney serving as the first Democrat to represent a Kansas congressional district in Congress in more than a decade. She is also the first LGBTQ+ Native American and one of the first two Native American women (along with Interior Secretary Deb Haaland) elected to the chamber. Her race is “likely” Democratic according to Cook Political Report.

U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D) is the first openly gay man from New Hampshire to serve in Congress following his election in 2018 and reelection in 2020 and 2022. He is running against Republican Russell Prescott in a race that Cook Political Report expects will be “likely” Democratic. New Hampshire Public Radio called Pappas the 1st Congressional District’s most successful Democrat in more than four decades.

U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

There are four other openly LGBTQ+ members of Congress, all serving as co-chairs of the Equality Caucus under chair Mark Pocan, Democratic U.S. representative from Wisconsin: U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Mark Takano, Democrats from California, Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Becca Balint (D-Vt.). They are all expected to win their bids for reelection.

Gay Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) is running for auditor general of the Keystone State, squaring off next week against incumbent Republican Tim DeFoor and three third-party candidates. Appointed by President Joe Biden to chair the Presidential Advisory Commission on Advancing Educational Equity, Excellence and Economic Opportunity for Black Americans, Kenyatta is considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.

Tampa native and mother of two teen boys, Ashley Brundage has built programs to help educate people and facilitate economic empowerment for entrepreneurs, earning a “Spirit of the Community Award” for her work from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. And if she wins her race next week to serve in the Florida House of Representatives, Brundage would be the state’s first out transgender elected official.  

Aime Wichtendahl is the first transgender official elected in the state of Iowa, serving on the city council of Hiawatha, a suburb northwest of Cedar Rapids, since 2015. Her work has focused on expanding infrastructure, reducing property taxes, and helping small businesses. If elected to the Iowa House of Representatives next week, Wichtendahl would be Iowa’s first openly trans state legislator.

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Politics

Harris cites Stonewall in closing message at the Ellipse

Upwards of 75K people attended vice president’s speech

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Vice President Kamala Harris at the Ellipse in D.C. (YouTube screenshot)

Vice President Kamala Harris delivered her closing message on Tuesday night, contrasting her campaign’s message of hope, as well as her policy plans on behalf of the people, with her opponent’s focus on grievance, division, and the needs of wealthy donors and moneyed special interests.

Speaking from the Ellipse, south of the White House — the site where former President Donald Trump fomented a violent insurrection into the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021 — Harris addressed an audience that is reported to exceed 75,000, shattering records.

The vice president repeated a pledge she has made often on the campaign trail, that she will be president for all Americans regardless of whom they voted for or what they believe. Trump wants to put those who disagree with him in jail, she said. “I’ll give them a seat at the table.”

Harris made a direct reference to the LGBTQ+ community by invoking the Stonewall rebellion, birthplace of the modern struggle for LGBTQ+ civil rights.

Earlier, she said, “For as long as I can remember, I have always had an instinct to protect. There’s something about people being treated unfairly or overlooked that, frankly, just gets to me. I don’t like it.”

Harris continued, “It’s what my mother instilled in me — a drive to hold accountable those who use their wealth or power to take advantage of other people, the drive to protect hard working Americans who aren’t always seen or heard and deserve a voice. And I will tell you that is the kind of president I will be.”

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Politics

Dems launch six-figure ad buy on Grindr highlighting Project 2025

‘Donald Trump’s MAGA GOP wants to drag us backwards’

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Grindr's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (Screen capture: YouTube/NYSE)

The Democratic National Committee launched a six-figure ad campaign Wednesday that will run on Grindr, the location-based social networking and online dating app for gay and bisexual men and transgender users.

The campaign will highlight how former President Donald Trump, his vice presidential nominee U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), and their Republican allies would strip away rights and freedoms from LGBTQ Americans through their Project 2025 governing blueprint.

“LGBTQ+ Americans have fought tirelessly for equality — but Donald Trump’s MAGA GOP wants to drag us backwards and roll back our hard-earned freedoms,” DNC Rapid Response Director Alex Floyd said in a press release that was previewed by the Washington Blade.

“We cannot afford MAGA Republicans’ extreme, anti-equality Project 2025 agenda that will put our rights at risk and our lives on the line,” Floyd said. “Our votes are powerful, and it’s crucial that LGBTQ+ voters make their voices heard at the ballot box in this election to stop the Trump-Vance ticket’s dangerous Project 2025 blueprint.

He added, “This November, the American people — including LGBTQ+ voters — will choose Vice President Harris and Gov. Walz’s vision of equality for all over the ultra-MAGA GOP’s campaign of extremism and hate.”

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California Politics

Ysabel Jurado: A political maverick changing the narrative in LA politics

Jurado says it’s time for something different and she is it.

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Tenant rights attorney Ysabel Jurado is known as the progressive, grassroots candidate in
the race for the hot seat that her opponent Kevin De León currently holds in Council District 14, even after years of recalls following a racism and homophobia scandal.

Jurado says it’s time for something different and she is it.

“I’m an API woman, I’m educated, I’m a citizen and English is my first language–
among others,” said Jurado in an interview with Los Angeles Blade. “And I’m also proud that on this team, we are largely led by LGBTQ+ folks, women of color, and people of color.”
As an out candidate, Jurado says she is intentional about the people she hires as part of
her campaign team. She is inclusive of nonbinary people and anyone who identifies as part of the QTBIPOC and LGBTQ+ acronyms, because she doesn’t just want to talk about them, she also wants to incorporate their lived experiences in her campaign mission. She says this in part
because of her own identity, but also because of the scandal that rocked De León’s political career.

The scandal follows various City Council members of CD-14 ranting about other BIPOC
members of Council and their LGBTQ+ families. The leaked audio recording included her
opponent De León — who at the time had his eyes set on running for mayor of Los Angeles.

“A lot of the groups talked about in these tapes are the people that we’ve recruited and
who we are making sure to build a coalition with,” said Jurado.

Going into this campaign race, she asked herself: ‘How do I go into this institution and
not become the worst parts of it?’

“If I ever become that, I want you to put my feet to the fire and shift me out of there,
because at that point I have betrayed myself,” responding to the question she had asked herself.

Jurado is currently facing backlash from many community members who support the
police force in Los Angeles, after she was elicited to respond to a question regarding her stance
on police funding. Some of those community members are now actively pushing for her to drop out of the race for Council District 14.

According to NBC4, family members of fallen Los Angeles Police Department officers
have spoken out to say they worry the remarks she made in regards to her stance on police
funding would hurt the LAPD’s ability to recruit new officers.

“In a meeting with students at Cal State LA, I quoted a lyric from a song that’s been part
of a larger conversation on systemic injustice and police accountability for decades…,” said
Jurado to NBC4.

Later, other news outlets reported that the person who elicited the ‘f-ck the police,’
response from Jurado, was a staffer working for De León.

“When you look at what I say and when you look at what I’m doing, I walk the walk and
I’m not going to take any bullshit sitting down, even though [De León] tries,” said Jurado in an
interview.

Jurado has been campaigning for this position since last summer and has since made
dozens of headlines that suggest she is a political force to be reckoned with and has been
building gains in the mostly Latin American Council district. She also brings up the long and problematic history of candidates and elected officials who have resigned, been indicted for corruption, or who have been asked to ‘step down over shady backroom deals.’

“The focus isn’t about me and him and what petty back-and-forth things we say, it’s
about our communities and wanting to make sure we talk to voters and rising above. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the work,” said Jurado. “It’s not about the noise and trying to bring it back to who gets hurt by all these conversations, which are the constituents.”

Jurado is an out LGBTQ single mother and lifelong resident of Highland Park who has
tirelessly fought for tenant rights and protections during her time as a tenants’ rights attorney and housing justice advocate. She prides herself in being a self-made politician who started her journey at Pasadena City College, then earned her bachelor’s degree at University of California, Los Angeles and then went to law school.

Jurado then went on to fight gentrification-driven displacement and in her candidate
statement, she says she spends her days protecting neighborhoods from corrupt developers and politicians.

“This campaign is for ‘the other.’ Being a daughter of immigrants, or whatever your
identity is, you become fluent in two different modalities,” said Jurado. “You know what the
dominant culture is and what the non-dominant culture is and you learn how to navigate through it. I think that is a superpower our people have, people who have always been ‘othered.’

Jurado is currently canvassing in the community, leading up to the election with support from Hugo Soto-Martinez, LA City Council Member of CD-13 and Eunisses Hernandez, LA City Council Member CD-1.

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Politics

Equality PAC raises record $20.7 million for LGBTQ+ House candidates

Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus fundraising arm to benefit 15 candidates

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U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) is among the House incumbents and candidates for whom Equality PAC has raised money in this election cycle. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Equality PAC has raised a record $20.7 million during the 2024 election cycle, channeling support to Democrats in competitive House races nationwide.

The political arm of the Congressional LGBTQ Equality Caucus is backing 15 openly LGBTQ+ candidates for the House, including six newcomers and nine incumbents, with the aim of securing the largest-ever LGBTQ+ presence in Congress. 

Founded a decade ago with modest funds, the PAC has significantly expanded its influence. 

U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who co-chair the PAC, noted the caucus’s evolution into an “unmatched force in LGBTQ politics,” and a more diverse coalition.

“We have not only expanded our caucus, but we have drastically changed its composition from what used to be an all-white, almost all gay male delegation into a strong and diverse coalition that will soon have members from every region of our nation,” Takano and Torres said in a statement. 

A record of six openly LGBTQ+ women — U.S. Reps. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Sharice Davids (D-Kansas), Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride, Washington state Sen. Emily Randall and Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson — are running for the House this election.

Takano and Torres highlighted potential historic firsts: If they win, Johnson would be the first openly LGBTQ+ representative from the South, Randall would be the first openly queer Latina in Congress, and McBride would become the first transgender person ever elected to federal office.

Although not backed by Equality PAC, Alison Esposito, a House candidate from New York, could make history as the first openly gay Republican woman elected to Congress.

Equality PAC is also supporting candidate Will Rollins (D-Calif.) and former U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), who were both narrowly defeated in 2022, and Evan Low, a California State Assemblymember who is running to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.). 

Other incumbents the PAC has endorsed include U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Rep. Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), as well as Takano and Torres. 

Equality PAC has also sent more than $763,000 to pro-equality ally candidates across the nation, with the aim of securing a congressional majority that could advance legislation like the Equality Act, which seeks to amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to enshrine protections for LGBTQ+ people.

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California

LGBTQ+ leaders from across Los Angeles gather to endorse Measure G

The ballot initiative would push toward more accountability and transparency from Los Angeles County officials

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(Photo Courtesy of Measure G press release)

On Wednesday, leaders from the Los Angeles LGBTQ+ community gathered at West Hollywood Park in support of Measure G, a ballot initiative that would hold county officials and all departments accountable for corruption, fraud and closed-door deals. 

“As Mayor of West Hollywood, I’m proud to support Measure G because it’s a vital step toward making LA County’s government more transparent, accountable, and responsive to the needs of all its residents,” said West Hollywood mayor John Erickson. “This reform is crucial for strengthening the voice of West Hollywood and every part of LA County. I urge everyone to vote yes on Measure G and help build a county government that truly works for all of our people.”

Community leaders say this ballot initiative is crucial reform on the November ballot. This initiative aims to increase representation and accountability in the LA County government. 

Other than adding more seats to the Board of Supervisors, Measure G would also create an independent ethics commission, create an elected County Executive brand and open the County budget hearings to the public for more financial transparency. 

This measure is not only supported by local LGBTQ+ leaders, but also from leaders across many other communities and industries like nurses and small businesses. 

The ethics commission would work to prevent former politicians from lobbying within their first two years after leaving office, authorize the suspension of County politicians who are criminally charged with a felony. 

The measure would create an elected County Executive position, where they would be directly responsible for the accountability of the public by putting an end to the current system where an elected bureaucrat controls LA County’s full $45 billion dollar budget. 

Among other things, the measure would also require County departments to hold public budget hearings and require a minimum of five days’ notice to the public of County’s new legislation. This would prevent politicians from making secret closed-door deals.


The press conference was led by Drag Laureate, Pickle the Drag Queen and included other prominent LGBTQ+  voices like Trans Latin@ Coalition President and CEO Bamby Salcedo, Equality California Executive Director Tony Hoang and Los Angeles LGBTQ+ Commission Vice-Chair Sydney Rogers. 

“For too long, our community has struggled to access essential services like housing, healthcare, and support programs due to inequities in the allocation of county resources. Measure G ensures that public funds are distributed fairly and that the needs of marginalized communities, including trans and gender nonconforming people, are prioritized, said Bamby Salcedo, President and CEO of the Trans Latin@ Coalition.

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Politics

Anti-LGBTQ ads dog Democrats in key races as polls tighten

Victory Fund’s Sean Meloy speaks with the Blade about recent attacks

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Key congressional races and the contest for the White House have become even tighter according to polling data released this week, as Republican campaigns, including former President Donald Trump’s team, targeted their opponents with $65 million in anti-LGBTQ and especially anti-trans attack ads.

With just 20 days until Nov. 5, Sean Meloy, vice president of political programs at the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, spoke with the Washington Blade about how the GOP’s “despicable” paid media strategy is impacting races up and down the ballot.

“This is gonna be the most anti-LGBTQ [election] year probably since 2004, when it comes to presidential rhetoric,” Meloy said.

Many of the LGBTQ candidates supported by his organization are now contending with attacks against their very identities. Among them is incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin of the key swing state of Wisconsin, an out lesbian who made history with her elections to the House and then to the Senate — but is now, Meloy said, in the “fight of her life.”

Her reelection is critical for Democrats to retain their narrow majority in the Senate so Vice President Kamala Harris can effectuate her agenda if she wins the White House.

For most of the campaign, Baldwin has maintained a narrow lead over Republican challenger Eric Hovde, but the real estate and banking tycoon polled ahead of her for the first time in an internal survey whose findings were released over the weekend by the National Republican Senatorial Committee. Cook Political Report considers their race a toss-up.

“Tammy has done an amazing job fighting for all people in Wisconsin, whether it’s farmers, whether it’s laborers, and, of course, LGBTQ constituents, too,” Meloy said. “I don’t know how you get a better senator than Tammy Baldwin, and I’m not just saying that because she’s probably going to be — knock on wood — our only [out] LGBTQ voice in the U.S. Senate.”

Baldwin is not shaken by anti-LGBTQ attacks

The senator has “been the target of hundreds of millions of dollars in attacks, including these anti-LGBT, these anti-trans attacks,” but also of ads “talking about, you know, where she sleeps and who she sleeps with,” Meloy said — messages suffused with the kind of overt homophobia that for decades was considered out-of-bounds in electoral politics.

“The race has absolutely tightened,” Meloy said, and in response Hovde’s campaign is “deploying everything and the kitchen sink, including these anti-trans ads, including the attacks against [Baldwin] and her girlfriend.”

“Even though she was being attacked about her identity, she’s not running from who she is,” he said, pointing to the “wonderful story” she shared on X to honor National Coming Out Day on Friday.

“I think that that is exactly what people want in their congresspeople, what they want in their senators, what they want in their government,” Meloy said. “They want their government to look like the people they represent and people who aren’t going to put their finger in the wind just because tens of millions of dollars in ads are attacking them about who they are.”

Baldwin has “done the work, she’s proven herself, she’s built those relationships and helped make sure our community was represented in an amazing fashion, and that’s why so many folks are excited to support her.”

The next 20 days will prove critical, Meloy said, as the “Victory Fund is working with her campaign to make sure that she gets the resources that she needs in order to combat” the lies and bad-faith attacks from Hovde. He noted a recent rapid response call was organized to help Baldwin through the “anti-trans and anti-LGBTQ ads.”

Victory has “already raised over $300,000,” Meloy said, adding, “I wouldn’t be surprised if [Baldwin is] the candidate that we’ve raised the most for this year,” nor if the fundraising total for her 2024 campaign “is a record number, because she absolutely is in the fight of her life.”

Straight allies in close Senate races respond to anti-LGBTQ attacks

Other Democrats in close Senate races, like U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Texas, who is running to unseat anti-LGBTQ U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, and U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is fending off a challenge from Republican businessman Bernie Moreno, have been targeted with anti-LGBTQ advertising, too.

The ads, riddled with falsehoods, focus primarily on the lawmakers’ support for allowing trans women and girls to compete on sports teams aligning with their gender identity.

In response, Allred cut a commercial in which he says, “I’m a dad. I’m also a Christian. My faith has taught me that all kids are god’s kids. So let me be clear. I don’t want boys playing girls sports, or any of this ridiculous stuff that Ted Cruz is saying.”

Brown’s team also responded to the attack with an ad in which the senator calls out misinformation and clarifies his stance — that the participation of trans athletes in competitive sports should be decided not by the government but by the individual leagues.

Meloy noted that Victory does not work with non-LGBTQ candidates, so he has limited insight into their campaign operations, but he stressed that while Allred and Brown were criticized by some LGBTQ advocates for appearing to signal a willingness to walk back their support for trans athletes, both have strong records of fighting to advance rights and protections for the community.

“I think that we know where their hearts are when it comes to believing in not discriminating,” Meloy said, and running against candidates like Cruz means having to dispel “a lot of misinformation, a lot of lies.”

In such circumstances, “sometimes, nuance is not going to be your friend,” he said, adding that the Republican “bigots” who are “using this rhetoric” to weaponize LGBTQ lives and identities in hopes of winning in November must be defeated.

“And then, we as a community need to make sure we hold their feet to the fire” to ensure the lawmakers reciprocate the support they received from their LGBTQ constituents — specifically, by passing the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination rules across the board, and by codifying into law protections for reproductive rights.

Anti-trans strategy will fail, but the most effective messages concern sports

“I think in the end, it’s going to prove not to work,” Meloy added, referring to the GOP’s strategy of “demonizing our community for political points.”

Echoing remarks from other LGBTQ leaders like Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, Meloy said the Republicans who leveraged anti-LGBTQ/anti-trans attacks in elections last year and in 2022 were mostly unsuccessful.

The strategy has “not been effective in winning swing districts, in winning battleground states, or even in conservative states,” he said. And “if these messages largely don’t work with independent voters,” Meloy asked, “who are they aimed at?”

Trump and other Republican candidates “are starting to bleed some of their base voters, and they need to continue to churn them out,” he said. So, with their transphobic rhetoric, the campaigns hope to get their right-wing supporters “foaming at the mouth again” while also reaching and engaging with the kind of disaffected men who are less likely to vote and who may admire anti-trans self-styled contrarians like Elon Musk.

The GOP’s strategy of using “trans lives to win votes” while “lying, all along the way, about those lives to do so” reeks of desperation, he said, while also inhibiting outreach to conservative or independent LGBTQ voters, to the extent that Republican campaigns ever sought to win over these voters in the first place.

At the same time, the New York Times reported last week that “Republican strategists said the focus on transgender women and girls in sports had been particularly effective with a key group of voters the party has hemorrhaged support from in recent years: college-educated suburban women.”

The conservative Wall Street Journal editorial board agreed, publishing an opinion piece on Sunday that was titled, “Transgender Sports Is a 2024 Sleeper Issue.”

“An ad in Wisconsin says Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin ‘voted to let biological men into women’s sports,'” the authors wrote, while “Hovde gets spontaneous applause when he raises the issue at campaign events.”

Meloy conceded Republicans will likely find more success with the sports issue relative to their other anti-trans messaging, but stressed that it remains “just the best of a bunch of bad narratives that don’t fully get the job done when it comes to moving folks in a purple district to 50+ one.”

He pointed to last year’s elections in the Virginia Legislature, which saw anti-LGBTQ messaging from Republicans, including attacks focused on the participation of trans athletes in competitive sports.

Nevertheless, Danica Roem won her bid for the state Senate, becoming the first openly trans official elected to serve in both chambers of a state legislature. Four of her Democratic colleagues who were targeted for their support of the trans community also won their races. And together, their victories helped to secure a Democratic pro-equality majority in the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia State Senate.

Harris might discuss trans athletes issue with Joe Rogan

The vice president is reportedly considering a sit-down with Joe Rogan, whose podcast boasts 17.3 million subscribers and is especially popular among young men.

Rogan has repeatedly inveighed against trans athletes participating in competitive sports. “It’s f—ing up women’s sports in a huge way,” he said last summer. “If you care at all about biological women, you should be against that.”

“Kamala Harris has proven to be a very strong ally of LGBTQ people and trans people,” Meloy said, “and so I think that she’s not going to be afraid to tell the truth there” if she chooses to do the podcast.

The Democratic nominee would be “going on there to show people that she’s not all what the right wing is making her out to be” with their attacks on her record, background, and identity.

The Trump campaign and his Republican supporters are lying about Harris just as they’re lying about trans people, Meloy said. “Her showing up, her being visible and saying, ‘Hey, I’m here. I’m actually wanting to do these things. Trans people are just trying to live their lives.’ I think that conversation will go really far in hopefully adjusting people’s mindsets from ‘oh, these these ads are saying one thing,’ when in reality they’re just not truthful.”

He added, “I’m very hopeful these tactics and Trumpism are repudiated so we can get back to a system, right? We can close that chapter. As Kamala Harris says, we can close this chapter in our history and get back to healthy and robust debate that is not based around who you are, but what ideas you have for the people. And I think the work is happening to help make sure that that kind of win happens.”

The campaign led by Harris and her vice presidential pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, is emblematic of that positive, forward-looking message, Meloy said. “So many Americans across every single demographic” are resonating with their focus on “freedom and protecting democracy and turning the chapter on this very, very difficult past eight years.”

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California

What you missed at the CD-14 debate between Ysabel Jurado and Kevin De León

LGBTQ+ candidate faces off against opponent Kevin De Leon on community forum on Wednesday

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Kevin De Leon and Ysabel Jurado face of in CD-14 forum discussion at the Dolores Huerta Mission Catholic Church in Boyle Heights. (Photo by Brenda Verano for CALÓ News)

Los Angeles Council District 14 (CD-14) candidates Ysabel Jurado and Kevin de León sparred over their qualifications in what could have been their last in-person debate before the November election. 

Wednesday’s CD-14 debate, a district home to approximately 265,000 people, 70% of them Latin American, offered the public a chance to hear from both candidates and their stand on issues such as homelessness, public safety and affordable housing, among other things. 

CALÓ News was one of the media outlets that were present inside Dolores Mission Catholic Church in Boyle Heights, where the debate was held. Below are our reporter’s main takeaways.  

People showed up and showed out. More than 300 people attended the debate, which was organized by Boyle Heights Beat and Proyecto Pastoral. More than 260 people gathered inside the church and the rest watched via a livestream projected on the church’s patio. 

The debate was bilingual, with translation services available for all, honoring the many Spanish speakers that live in the district, as Brendan P. Busse, pastor of the church, said in the opening statement. 

As part of the event guidelines, Busse also shared that no applause or booing was to be permitted, a rule that was broken within the first ten minutes of the forum. “Where you are tonight is a sacred place. People who are in need of shelter sleep here and have for the last 40 years,” he said when referring to the church transforming into a homeless shelter at night for over 30 adults. “Power and peace can live in the same place.”

That was the most peaceful and serene moment throughout the two-hour forum. 

What followed was traded insults and competing visions from both candidates. 

One of the first stabs occurred when De León accused Jurado of wanting to “abolish the police” and when Jurado reminded the public of De Leon’s “racist rhetoric,” referring to the 2022 scandal over the secretly recorded conversation with Gil Cedillo and Nury Martínez where they talked about indigenous Mexicans, Oaxacans, the Black and LGBTQ+ communities and councilman Mike Bonin’s adopted son.

“I made a mistake, and I took responsibility. I have been apologizing for two years,” De León said. “Just as in the traditions of the Jesuits, love, reconciliation [and] peace, one must choose if we are going to be clinging to the past or move forward. I choose to move forward.” 

When Jurado was asked about her stance on police, she said she had never said she wanted to abolish the police. “Don’t put words in my mouth,” she told De León. “I have never said that,” she said. “We put so much money into public safety into the LAPD yet street business owners and residents in these communities do not feel safer. The safest cities invest in communities, in recreation and parks, in libraries [and] youth development.”  

De León and Jurado also discussed their plan to work with the homeless population, specifically during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles. In Los Angeles County, an estimated 75,312 people were experiencing homelessness, as stated in the 2024 homeless count. For CD-14 the issue of homelessness takes a higher level as it is home to Skid Row, which has one of the largest homeless populations in the U.S. 

“We should continue to house our unhoused,” De León said. 

He followed this by saying that under his leadership, CD-14 has built the most interim housing than “in any other place in the entire city of L.A.” He made a reference to the Boyle Heights Tiny Home Village and 1904 Bailey, both housing projects in CD-14. 

“We need safety when the Olympics come,” he added. 

Jurado said De León’s leadership has fallen short in his years in office, specifically when it comes to the homeless population and said that housing like the tiny homes is not sufficient for people in the district to live comfortably.

“My opponent has governed this district, Skid Row, for over 20 years. Has homelessness in this district gotten better? We can all agree that it hasn’t,” she said. “County Supervisor Hilda Solís put up 200 units that are not just sheds; they have bathrooms, they have places and they have support services. Why hasn’t [CD-14] gotten something better than these tiny homes?”

One of De León’s repeating arguments in various of his answers was the fact that Jurado has never held public office before. “I’ve dedicated my whole life to public service, to the benefit of our people. My opponent, to this day, has not done one single thing,” De León said in the first few minutes of the debate. 

In one of the questions about low-income elders in the district, he listed some of his achievements when helping this population, including bringing free vaccines for pets of seniors of this district and food distributions, which, as De León noted, help people with basic food needs, including beans, rice and chicken. “The same chicken sold in Whole Foods,” he said.

Jurado defended herself against the reality of never holding public office and said her work as a housing rights attorney and affordable housing activist have given her the tools and experience to lead the district in a different direction than the incumbent, De León.  “We can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results,” Jurado said. ‘We need long-term solutions,” she said. 

Last month, The L.A. Times also reported on Jurado’s past political experience, including working on John Choi’s unsuccessful 2013 run for City Council, as well as her work as a scheduler in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office and how she was appointed by Garcetti to the Human Relations Commission in 2021.

She later added that she was proud to already have the support of some of the L.A. City Council members, such as Eunisses Hernández, Nithya Raman and Hugo Soto-Martínez, which De León later referred to as the “socialist council members.” 

After the debate, CALÓ News talked to both candidates and asked how they thought the debate went. 

“It was a spirited debate, no question about it,” De León said. “Sometimes elections can take a real ugly twist that is very similar to Trump-ian characteristics. Like Donald Trump just says whatever he wants to say, no matter how outlandish [or] inaccurate it is.”

When asked the same question, Jurado said, “ I think my opponent said a bunch of lies and said that he has plans for this district when he’s had four years to execute all of them. It’s really disappointing that only now he suddenly has all these ideas and plans for this district.”

Both candidates told CALÓ News they will continue working until election day and making sure CD-14 residents show up to vote. 

“But I think past the debate[s], it’s just [about] keeping your nose to [the] grindstone, working hard, and taking nothing for granted, knocking on those doors and talking directly to voters,” De León said. 

Jurado said she still has a couple other events that she and her team are hosting before election day. “I’m out here talking to voters. We want to make sure that people know who I am and that they have other options. People are disappointed. We’re going to keep folks engaged and make sure that [they] turn out to the polls,” she said.

Jorge Ramírez, 63, from Lincoln Heights, said he has been supporting De León since his time in the State Senate and said he will continue to vote for him because he doesn’t know much about his opponent. “He is the type of person we need. He’s done a lot for immigrants,” he said. “The other person, we don’t know much about her and she’s not very well known. She doesn’t have much experience in this field.”

Alejandra Sánchez, whose daughter goes to school in Boyle Heights and lives in El Sereno, said she believes CD-14 has been in desperate need of new leadership and worries that many people will vote for De Leon just because he is who they have known for so long. “It’s very powerful to see a woman leader step in… It’s been an incredible year to see a woman president elected in Mexico, a woman running for president in the U.S. and a woman also running for leadership here in our community,’ she said. “That’s part of the problem… we are afraid to think about something new, about the new leadership of someone doing things differently.”

General election day will take place on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. Early voting began on October 7. You can register to vote or check your registration status online on the California Online Voter Registration page.

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