On Thursday, corporate Democrats in Sacramento showed their true colors yet again. Hundreds of activists fighting for affordable and accessible housing – many of you, I know! – had gathered at the statehouse to urge lawmakers to push through legislation that would repeal the Costa Hawkins Act, which limits rent control measures by localities to covering only buildings built prior to 1995. When only one more vote was needed for this necessary legislation to clear committee, two Democrats, Assembly-members Jim Wood (AD-02) and Ed Chau (AD-49) abstained from voting, effectively killing the legislation and bucking the California Democratic Party’s platform.

Make no mistake that their inaction was a massive payback to the landlords and corporations who buy politicians like Wood and Chau, and a blow to tenants who are seeing their rents eat away more and more of their income. The Costa Hawkins Act is a major roadblock to democracy in localities where voters desperately need and want to vote expand rent control. This is why we must organize across the state in our communities to gain real political power in Sacramento and our cities. People, not landlord contributions, must prevail!

In Richmond, with the presence of a strong progressive alliance, and corporate-free politicians like myself in office, we were able to successfully push through the first new rent control measure in 30 years despite big landlords trying to trick voters about our efforts. While many cities have failed at this, we could do it because of people power we had built with the Richmond Progressive Alliance. That fight and the many successes we had in Richmond with the RPA is why I am focusing so much on using our campaign for Lt. Governor as a organizing campaign. It is clear to me that only way we will get the change we need is through a network of progressive alliances organizing locally across the state.

We need more than just rent control on old housing. We need economic self-determination for our communities – that’s not the right to get rich, it’s the right to hold fair votes on what we need for our communities.

This vote shows that Democrats won’t save us. I expect the three Democrats running for this Lt. Gov seat to spend millions. And I expect them to bring as much change as we saw in Sacramento on Thursday. We must take political power, in our communities and in Sacramento.

I need your support to do exactly that. Together we will organize California and send me to Sacramento not just as one person, but with a movement of corporate-free progressives ready to fight!

Click here to make a contribution of any size to my people-first campaign!