Jay Chen elected to California Democratic State Central Committee with the top vote
1/11/2009
Dear Supporters,
Many thanks to all who could make it to the caucus and spent part of Sunday waiting in line (in nice weather at least). To be honest, the day did not start off auspiciously; I awoke at 5 am with the same cold I had been fighting all week. My garage door chose an inopportune time to prove Murphy's law by breaking down and imprisoning my car, so I had to scramble to borrow my mother's. And of course I was up against an incredibly powerful slate that was serving free breakfasts to bring out its supporters. I forgot to eat breakfast and I was pretty envious to say the least.
In the end, 277 voters showed up, and after two hours of famished campaigning and an eon of vote counting I ended up with the top vote out of the 23 candidates, winning 140 votes. As my narrative indicates though, this race was much more difficult than the final numbers suggest, and I am very grateful to all of those who trekked out to Montebello to support me. Your votes made a world of difference in getting me elected, and giving me a mandate. I look forward to representing the 58th Assembly District with pride and dignity at the 2009 and 2010 Democratic State Convention in California, and I thank you for giving me that chance.
Sincerely,
- Jay
Jay Chen for Assembly District 58 Delegate for the California Democratic State Convention!
With Congresswoman, Secretary of Labor Nominee, and fellow Hacienda-La Puente graduate Hilda Solis
Caucus Sunday, January 11th, 2009
Registration and voting between 12 noon and 2 pm
You can register, vote, and leave without staying for the entire meeting
Quiet Cannon (VIP Room)
901 N. Via San Clemente
Montebello, CA 90640
You can vote in this caucus if you are a registered Democrat as of November 4th 2008 (or if you turned 18 or naturalized after November 4th 2008), and you live in the 58th Assembly District. The 58th AD includes the communities of Hacienda Heights, Rowland Heights, South San Gabriel, South San Jose Hills, Valinda, Montebello, Pico Rivera, portions of City of Industry, Downey, La Mirada and Whittier and portions of East Los Angeles.
Please click here to find your district:
http://www.cadem.org/c.
jrLZK2PyHmF/b.1097471/k.94E5/Elected_Lookup/siteapps/advocacy/search.aspx
My name is Jay Chen, and I am running to be a delegate for the California Democratic Party state convention, representing Assembly District 58. I am running because we cannot expect the change our nation needs to come just from the top down; we must also do our part from the bottom up. The candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton energized the electorate last year, but it is up to us to keep the momentum going.
I have been involved in the Democratic process at all levels. As the youngest elected member of the Hacienda-La Puente school board I have made college awareness and accessibility my top priority, and have held free college application workshops for students and parents in my district.
I was proud to be elected the sole pledged Obama delegate from CD38, and as the only Asian American district-level delegate from Southern California I made it a point to promote Obama's candidacy in the Mandarin-language media outlets. As a community organizer I led a group of nearly 100 Californians to campaign for Obama in Nevada. This was one of the largest out-of-state groups to visit Nevada and I am proud of our contribution in turning that state blue.
For our democratic process to operate efficiently and effectively, we need representation from all regions, races, ethnicity, ages, and education levels. Young people and minorities have for too long sat on the sidelines of the political process as critical decisions have passed them by. I hope to activate these communities and bring them into the political fold in greater numbers, and in the process strengthen the governance system that makes our country so great.
As a product of the local public school system and Harvard University, and someone who speaks both Spanish and Mandarin, I believe I am uniquely qualified to represent our district at the state level, and I hope that I can earn your support.
- Jay
