I ran for the office of State Controller in the 2018 California primary and I was able to obtain just under 4% of the vote (about 238,576 votes), making me one of several candidates that gained over the 2% needed to keep Peace and Freedom Party on the ballot in California.
Running a campaign is both educational and frustrating. It’s educational for both me and the people I came in contact with.” The current system purposely makes running a campaign, with its prohibitively ($2000 to $3000) high filing fees or excessively high (10.000) signatures-in-lieu of filing fees and charges for written statements, almost excluding workers on a fixed income from being able to run.
Read more: Reflections from the campaign trail: Mary Lou Finley on running for State Controller
Counting of votes on ballots cast in the 2018 California primary goes on, with turnout far higher than shown by returns counted on Election Day, the Peace and Freedom Party's statewide candidates have received more than enough votes for the party to stay on the ballot through 2022. Many California voters do not realize how many votes are counted after an election day. Voter totals increase daily as more ballots are counted, and this process will continue until 5pm on July 5, 2018, when the count for the June primary election is completed.
The late-counted votes include provisional ballots; mail ballots handed in at the polls; mail ballots postmarked by election day that arrive as late as three days afterward; certain delayed military ballots; damaged ballots; and a few smaller categories. In many counties, the late-counted ballots substantially outnumbered the ballots cast on election day.
For the Peace and Freedom Party, some good news was evident within hours after the polls closed. Three different Peace and Freedom Party statewide candidates – Mary Lou Finley, Kevin Akin and Nathalie Hrizi – received more than 2% of the vote, and this means that the party will stay on the ballot for at least four more years. State law requires only that a single candidate reach the 2% threshold in order to maintain a party’s ballot status, but three successful candidacies shows a solid base of support for the country’s only mass-based socialist party, with over 74,000 registered voter members statewide on election day.
Read more: California primary: Vote Counts Keep Rising for PFP Candidates [UPDATED]
On October 20-21, thousands will gather in Washington D.C. to participate in the Women’s March on the Pentagon. At the request of the event’s organizers, we are pleased to state that the Peace and Freedom Party officially endorses the Women’s March on the Pentagon.
The PFP is proud to note that the Women’s March steering committee is chaired by our own State Central Committee member Cindy Sheehan; our 2016 presidential nominee and 2018 gubernatorial nominee Gloria La Riva is on the board of organizers as well.
The dates for the demonstration were chosen to commemorate the original Women’s March on the Pentagon, which in 1967 drew some 50,000 participants. In 2018, the event is designed explicitly to “Confront the Bipartisan War Machine” of America in peaceful resistance to “the continuing march of military aggression by the USA.” Event organizers also seek to revive the concept of an antiwar agenda for activists in this country going forward.
Read more: Peace and Freedom Party endorses 2018 Women’s March on the Pentagon
On Monday, June 11, the below resolution on the continued unlawful incarceration of Kevin Cooper, on death row since 1985 was adopted by the Peace and Freedom Party. The resolution was written by Peace and Freedom Party member Carole Seligman and was submitted by PFP member/OPEIU Local 29 union member Alan Benjamin.
Whereas, Kevin Cooper, a Black man, has been on California’s death row since 1985 despite compelling evidence of innocence in the brutal murder of Peggy and Doug Ryen, their daughter Jessica (10), and Christopher Hughes (11), and the throat slitting of Joshua Ryen (8), who survived and communicated with a social worker in the hospital that the assailants were multiple white men; and
Whereas, DNA and other forensic testing could remove grave doubts surrounding Mr. Cooper’s conviction and death sentence, but, the State has refused to permit it, despite a defense offer to pay for this testing; and
Whereas, On February 17, 2016, having exhausted all of his appeals, Mr. Cooper submitted a petition for clemency to Governor Brown asking him to initiate a full investigation of his case for innocence, including DNA testing; and
Whereas, the Governor has the power to order a full investigation and should do so because the State must do everything in its power to avoid executing an innocent person; and
Read more: PFP supports San Francisco Labor Council resolution on Kevin Cooper
Peace and Freedom party nominee for State Treasurer in Election 2018, Kevin Akin, sat down with Fiorella Isabel of Our Revolution (Costa Mesa chapter) for what was originally slated to be a five- to 10-minute interview.
Instead, Kevin explains, “when Fiorella got going on the interview, she realized that I could answer all sorts of political questions, and she extended it to a little over an hour.”
Please click here for Fiorella Isabella's interview with Kevin Akin.
The interview itself begins at about 1:00 into the video, though pavophiles may want to check out the warmup small talk for a few words on their favorite birds.
Once the verbal ball gets rolling, Keven and Fiorella discuss a wide range of issues; including the relevance of third parties; the importance of emphasizing the worker’s importance on all levels of society; Clinton vs. Trump; a proportional voting system for California; gun owners’ rights and gun control; prison culture and the justice system.
We think Kevin presents an excellent case to vote Akin for State Treasurer, and we hope to get your vote on Tuesday. Thank you for your consideration!
Read more: PFP chair Kevin Akin's interview with Our Revolution [Video link]