Some Takeaways from the June 2022 CA Primary

The recent June 7 California primary was an important one for the Green Party of California. We were in danger of losing our ballot status if we didn’t get a 2% or greater share in at least one statewide race. Fortunately we were successful in crossing this threshold in several races. Here are some of the lessons we learned.

The CA primary is important.

There are two ways a political party can maintain its ballot status in CA. Either we get two percent or more of the vote in a statewide race or we have more than 0.33% of registered voters statewide. While our current registration (at about 0.4%) keeps us on the ballot for now, we want the assurance that comes from crossing the 2% electoral threshold as well.

Ballot status helps our party in significant ways. It permits candidates to identify themselves as Green on the official ballot. It also allows us to run a Green presidential primary. It brings the Green Party and our views before the voters.

We built a #Left Unity Slate with the Green and the Peace and Freedom Parties.

Peace and Freedom was founding in 1967, the CA Green Party in 1990. 2022 was the first year that the two parties agreed not to endorse candidates at the state level who would compete with one another. We called this the #LeftUnity slate. The joint slate is a natural alliance. Greens and Peace and Freedom share many ideas in common, especially on the environment, peace, and social justice.

This year we agreed to team up for eight state-wide partisan races, including Governor and several down-ballot positions. Greens were jointly endorsed for Governor (Luis Rodriguez), Secretary of State (Gary Blenner), Controller (Laura Wells), and Attorney General (Dan Kapelovitz). Peace and Freedom candidates were jointly endorsed for Lieutenant Governor (Mohammed Arif), Treasurer (Meghann Adams), Insurance Commissioner (Nathalie Hrizi), and Senate (John Parker). We also jointly endorsed Marco Amaral for the non-partisan position of Superintendent Instruction. Several additional Greens ran individual campaigns without state Green Party endorsement.

The #LeftUnity slate was a success

In races where Greens ran unopposed by P&F, we exceeded the 2% threshold in four races, winning from 2.2% to 3.8% of the vote. In races where P&F was not opposed by Greens, they won 3.6%, and 2.7%. P&F won 2.8% and 1.5% in races where non-endorsed Greens also ran. These results are illustrated in the figure below.

The next figure shows that candidates gained an average advantage of about 1.3 percentage points when Greens and Peace and Freedom did not oppose one another for the same position.

The joint work of Greens and Peace and Freedom paid off. Both parties gained over 2% of the vote, and safeguarded their ballot access for the next four years. However, we should not be lulled into a false complacency. These attainments are both modest and easily reversible.

The job is not over.

By working together, both parties have defended their ballot status. But this is only a small step towards realizing our common goals. We cannot be satisfied with just two or three percent.

Here’s one more important statistic: the turnout for the June primary was about 31%. In others words, over two thirds of the potential voters did not see a need to vote. They abstained. Greens need to understand who these abstentionists are and why they choose not to vote, even in California, where every registered voter receives a mail ballot. We need to listen to them where they are and share our vision for a better future.

The Green Party is a from-the-bottom-up, grassroots party. We take no corporate donations. The Green Party depends on our supporters and volunteers at all levels. We can use all the help we can get, not only when elections come around, but also throughout the year. If you are not already a registered Green, go to https://registertovote.ca.gov/ and register today. If you would like to volunteer to work with us, or attend our next meeting, email mailto:[email protected]?subject=volunteer. You can securely donate to the San Diego Greens through https://donorbox.org/green-party-san-diego.

Another world is possible!

Green Party San Diego monthly meeting

Saturday, June 25, 11:30am

Join the San Diego Green Party for our general membership meeting on Saturday, May 28, 11:30 am. We will be holding a hybrid meeting, both in-person (outdoors) and over Zoom. We will be discussing and planning our work in San Diego.
If you would like to participate, contact us at [email protected]

San Diego Green Party
http://www.sdgreenparty.org

Twitter - @sdgreens.
Facebook - Green Party of San Diego/Partido Verde de San Diego
Donate - https://donorbox.org/green-party-san-diego