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Friday, October 16, 2026

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News + PoliticsElectionsVoting for the future direction of the California Democratic Party

Voting for the future direction of the California Democratic Party

Competing slates vie for roles as party delegates; ballots are in the mail and the in-person elections are this weekend.

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The election for delegates to the state Democratic Party is never high profile, although in the past it’s been a strange single-day event, somewhere between chaos and direct democracy.

It’s still possible to vote in person, if you are a registered Democrat, Saturday/7, for Assembly District 17, and Sunday/8 for District 19. The AD 17 election is at IFPTE Local 21, 1167 Mission #2; the AD 19 election is at Café Doelger in Westlake Park, 145 Lake Merced, Daly City. You need to register here.

Now, in the Covid era, people who signed up in advance can vote by mail, and the ballots should arrive in the next few days. There are, as usual, essentially two slates of candidates on the East Side of town (D17), one supported by State Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Matt Haney, and one supported by former Assemblymember Tom Ammiano and Sup. Hillary Ronen, among others.

You can see the Wiener-Haney slate here (it’s called Stronger Future SF). You can get information about the Grassroots Community Slate supported by Ammiano and Ronen here.

The delegates don’t get a lot of attention, but they in essence set the agenda for the state party. They elected the party chair and vice chairs, they vote on party endorsements and on a party platform, and they elect regional directors.

Seven people who identify as women and seven who identify as men are elected from each assembly district.

In the past few years, the incumbent assembly and senate candidates have managed to get more of their folks out to the polls.

As always, this election depends on turnout.

48 Hills welcomes comments in the form of letters to the editor, which you can submit here. We also invite you to join the conversation on our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. 

Tim Redmond
Tim Redmond
Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.
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