Inland Empire Progressive

The 31st CD race is shaping up to be an act of Dem on Dem violence. Dr. Rita Ramirez-Dean, Pete Aguilar, and Renea Wickman are competing for this seat. Rita Ramirez-Dean spoke first. She talking about Education (her strong suit), Jobs, Veterans, and defending Social Security. Pete Aguilar went after the Do Nothing Congress and fixing a broken Washington D.C. He also went after Republicans Miller and Hutton. Mr. Aguilar stressed his work as mayor: standing up to the Redlands Tea Party and maintain a balanced budget. Renea Wickman spoke about creating jobs by eliminating oil and insurance company subsidies and reinvesting those saving to Green Jobs, High Speed Rail, and Internet access. On Foreign Policy she wanted to build a global middle class. She also would not raise the retirement age on Social Security. This fight was essentially between Renea Wickman and Pete Aguilar. There were 2 No Endorsements, both from the Redlands Area Democratic Club. Pete Aguilar received 46% of the ba...

The biannual Democratic pre-endorsement caucus, which is held in Claremont because of its centrality to L.A., I.E., and O.C. areas was held today. I arrived at the caucus 30 minutes late, but I didn’t miss that much. So here are the events as they transpired and some opinions on them. AD 47 Joe Baca Jr. VS. Cheryl Brown I missed the first half of this race between Joe Baca Jr. and Cheryl Brown when both gave their speeches to the delegation. The Latino Delegation in this AD broke heavily in favor Baca Jr., but Ms. Brown did well for herself. The result was 57% to 42% in favor of Joe Baca Jr. The final vote count was 29 to 21 with provisional ballots included. This is going to the California Democratic convention because no one got 70% of the vote, but Mr. Baca Jr. received above 50%. AD 52 Norma Torres Norma Torres received the endorsement of the Democratic Party. No one contested her race. Ms. Torres spoke on engagement with the community, her work on housing, and welcomed Fonta...