With the vote tallying complete in most districts of California, Peace and Freedom Party officially congratulates our two candidates running for state offices in the March primary: Cassandra Devereaxu and José Cortes.

Cassandra Devereaux wins nearly 8,500 votes in AD 14
In the race to advance to the general election for State Assembly District 14, Cassandra Devereaux earned 7.7% of the vote, good for a total of 8,446 votes. Cassandra finished third in the race, thanks mainly to an 11th-hour entry onto the ballot by patient healthcare advocate Janell Elizabeth Proctor. Proctor was backed by the Republican Party after essentially zero campaigning, seemingly in order to prevent the Peace and Freedom Party candidate from advancing to the general-election ballot.

Cassandra’s campaign was particularly proud of her showing in Solano County, where she got nearly 9% of the votes. A primary plank in Cassandra’s campaign was the need to address rights violation by and accountability for the Vallejo Police Department.

José Cortes’s message heard in Congressional District 50
In California’s Congressional District 50, José Cortes outpaced all non-corporate party candidates to earn 1,378 votes, or 0.7% of the total vote.

Despite a near total blackout of José’s campaign by mainstream media and duopoly-favoring election rules, the campaign took matters into its own hands in early February to crash the stage before a debate with four corporate party-backed candidates. As José’s and his volunteers were being ushered out of the building, former San Diego city councilman Carl DeMaio seized an opportunity to grandstand, promising to debate José after the regularly scheduled event.

That didn’t happen, but we may at least note with some schadenfreude that DeMaio finished third in the primary and so, like José, will not be advancing to the general election ballot.

Peace and Freedom Party wants to thank Cassandra and José for doing PFP and our common cause proud! We are looking forward to seeing these exciting new voices on the California political scene again in future campaigns.

Peace and Freedom Party Keeps Adding Voters
In October 2019, the number of Peace and Freedom Party registered voters went over 90,000 in California, becoming the fifth-largest party rather than the sixth-largest party in the state in terms of voter affiliation. The subsequent report in January 2020 showed more growth, to just over 94,000 statewide, and the most recent numbers released in early March, reflecting the registration statistics of February 18th, show that PFP now has well over 95,000 registered voters, adding over 1200 to the previous mark.

In addition to the rise in sheer numbers, PFP’s percentage of all voters has also increased: The October registration put the party at 0.44% of all voters, and the new February figure represents a bump to 0.46% of all voters.

As the choices become clearer during the months leading up to the November general election, it would not be surprising to see still more voters choosing to register as members of the Peace and Freedom Party.