What the heck is the ADEM election and why should you care?
Want a bigger say in Democratic Party politics? Now’s the time to elect delegates for the California Democratic Convention. Deadline to register is Dec. 31, 2022.
If you’re a Democrat in Sebastopol and you’ve still got some fire in your belly when it comes to the ins and outs of big-D Democratic politics, you should consider voting in the ADEMS, which is the in-party election that chooses a third of the delegates for California’s Democratic Convention.
Although you have to register to vote by mail in the ADEMs by Dec. 31, 2022, at midnight, the election isn’t until the end of January, which will give you some time to read about the candidates and make a decision.
About the ADEMs
Although the majority of delegates to the California Democratic Convention are Democratic office holders and their nominees, progressive activists within the Democratic Party several years ago convinced the party to open a third of the delegate seats to direct election. That’s what the ADEMs are—a chance for any Democratic voter in California to influence the direction of the party by influencing who the delegates to the convention are.
The ADEMs are important because big decisions get made at the state convention – decisions about which candidates and ballot measures to endorse and what ends up in the state Democratic Party platform.
ADEMS (which stands for Assembly District Election Meetings) are held in odd-numbered years, and, as the name would suggest, ADEM elections, pre-COVID, happened at local meetings that were rather like caucuses.
Though the old meeting style had its charms – you got to meet the candidates face to face and hear them give little two-minute speeches – it also took up a big chunk of the day, which mostly limited participation to political diehards.
This year, however, it’s vote-by-mail, with ballots due by Jan. 31.
Sebastopol’s role in the ADEMs
Thanks to recent redistricting, all of Sebastopol proper is now a part of Assembly District 2, which stretches from Sebastopol to the Oregon border. (The rural areas south of town are part of Assembly District 12, which includes southern Sonoma County and Marin.)
There are 25 people running for the 14 delegate seats in District 2, and they hail from all over the district, which includes all of Trinity, Mendocino and Humboldt counties and the north half of Sonoma County (including Sebastopol).
In each ADEM district, voters are asked to elect seven women and seven men (or as the California Democratic Party calls them “7 self-identified female and 7 other than self-identified female”) to be delegates.
Jim Wheaton is the only delegate candidate from Sebastopol this year. (Author note: For the sake of transparency, I should note that he’s a friend.)
Wheaton was a delegate for four years, then took a two-year break. Now he’s back and he’s running as part of what’s known as the “Progressive Labor Slate,” a group of would-be delegates who, as he describes it, lean in the Bernie direction.
“As you know, progressive doesn't mean ‘tear down the government’ or communism, right? It means government taking care of people, as opposed to corporations and big money,” he said.
Though Wheaton is a part of the progressive slate, he says you don’t have to vote the whole slate (though he’d like it if you did).
“You can vote for any 14 people you want – or fewer than 14. You can just vote for the people you know or the people whose statements you like,” he said.
(You can read statements from all the candidates for District 2 here.)
Wheaton said the ADEMs are a rare opportunity to influence Democratic party policy from a grassroots level.
“Activists in the California Democratic Party worked hard many years ago to allow more input from grassroots people and organizations,” Wheaton said. “The Assembly District Delegate program is one of the few ways that regular people can influence the decisions of the State Party. It’s worth getting involved!”
“It can seem so abstract and out of our normal lives when we read about the decisions being made by politicians,” he said, ‘but when you know a neighbor or local organization who is plugged in to the process it can make people feel much more connected to the system we call Democracy.”
Register to vote by mail in the ADEMs here by midnight on Dec. 31. (If you miss the deadline, there may be an opportunity to vote in person in Santa Rosa.)
Learn more about the ADEMs here.
Not a Democrat? Here’s how the Republicans do it
There are no elections for delegates to the Republican Party Convention.
According to Matt Heath, chair of the Sonoma County Republican Party. “There are two different types of delegates.” The first are, for lack of a better word, automatic delegates. These include Republican nominees for legislative and statewide offices.
“Any Republican who was the Republican nominee for governor, lieutenant governor, all those statewide offices, all of the congressional seats, all the State Assembly seats and the State Senate seats, they're automatically delegates,” Heath said.
Certain party officials, such as the chair of the party of each county and a smattering of Republican Party officials, are also automatic delegates.
“The second line of delegates are appointed delegates,” Heath said. Appointed delegates are appointed by the nominees and party officials.