On Sunday, Feb. 19, Kimberly Ellis, a candidate running for the chair of the California Democratic Party, visited California State University, Stanislaus (Stan State), to discuss her campaign. The event was hosted by the Democratic Club at Stan State.
Ellis was previously the executive director at Emerge California, an organization based out of Oakland that trains and encourages women to run for office.
Ellis explained during her speech that she has been running to be the chair of the Democratic Party for 16 months, initially launching the campaign in Sep. 2015. She further explained knowing then that the Democratic party was at a crossroads after the outcome of the 2016 election, and posed the question, “Where do we go from here?”
“We feel that coming out of this election, we have lost our way and lost our values, and it’s time for us to get back to basics,” Ellis added. “So I’m running to be the next chair of the democratic party, not just to be the new voice, not just to bring a new perspective, not just to bring a new style of leadership to change the culture and the tone of politics, but I’m running to redefine what it means to be a Democrat.”
She continued, “I’m running to make sure we are able to distinguish ourselves from the other side and to give back so that people remember that Democrats are the ones who care about poor people, and that Democrats are the ones who care about young people, our seniors, the planet and the environment.”
Many differing political groups around the area believed it was important to attend Ellis’ speech.
“I came here with the group ‘Our Revolution in Turlock,’ which is basically a grassroots group that worked to promote the Bernie Sanders campaign.” Loribeth Aguilar (graduate, Social Work) said. 
Aguilar continued, “I really like the way she said she is trying to differ the Democratic party and the Republican party because I feel like right now you can’t really see the difference, which is something I noticed during the presidential election. I like that she wants to make the Democratic party more progressive.”
Ellis also explained that the democratic party does not require their endorsed candidates to read the party platform. Something she is pushing for her campaign is that if a candidate is endorsed by the party, it is required that the representative first and foremost reads the party platform.
Martha Gamez, regional director for region four of the California Democratic Party, expressed her support for Ellis.
“I’ve been involved in the California Democratic party for some time now, and it’s important to me to have a head of my state party who reflects my values such as inclusion and diversity. I don’t want to see any more business as usual, sort of old boys back room deal. I want an open and diverse party,” Gamez emphasized.
Ellis urged the importance of preparing early for the next election cycle by stating, “One of the best things we can do here in California is to start preparing for 2018. It is imperative in 2018 we do everything we can to take back Congress and the Senate.”
Andrew Dadasovich (senior, Political Science), a Fresno State student, was determined to travel to Stan State in order to attend the meeting and hear Ellis speak. He said that it was necessary to hear the candidates in person in order to choose the most progressive candidate.
One of Ellis’s talking points that struck a chord with Dadasovich was about equity of representation.
Dadasovich made it clear that as an active member of the Democratic Party who takes part in the groundwork, walking and going door to door in varying weather conditions that representation was key adding, “That’s the hard work of the party, we sweat…we go out in October, November; it’s really hot. I think that the state party is the most important to recognize us.”
Another topic that Dadasovich touched upon was privilege. He said that if you are someone who has no care about politics that you are someone who can use your privilege to voice those minorities who do not have a voice.
It is clear that many went home with many new outlooks and with a lot to consider before 2018. As for the outcome of the event, this is what Gamez had to say:
“I want people to know how important it is to be involved within the party structure. I’ve seen so many people be passionate, engaged and concerned who want to make a change, but they don’t know how to go about doing it. Doing it from within the party is how we are going to get the change we all want.”