Professor McDaniel Comments on Race for California Democratic Party Chair

LOS ANGELES TIMES -- A pivotal election is underway in California that could push this Democratic stronghold even further left and recalibrate the direction of arguably the most influential state political party in the nation. Staunchly liberal and pro-union, the top two contenders for chair of the California Democratic Party offer a sharp contrast in style and strategy. Eric Bauman is a bullish, Bronx-born union organizer and the consummate party insider. Democratic organizer Kimberly Ellis is a provocative Bay Area progressive, embraced as the outsider by a wave of Bernie Sanders supporters leading an insurgency against the party establishment. Jason McDaniel, a political scientist at San Francisco State, questions whether the wave of new delegates will be enough to reshape the party leadership. The other two-thirds of delegates are longtime party loyalists, Democratic elected officials or appointees of those politicians. “These are people who are happy with the Democratic Party,” McDaniel said. “They want a chair to help raise money and elect candidates.”