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None of the 2004 Peace and Freedom Party candidates had enough money or enough time, but they all ran vigorous campaigns that bolstered the Party's credibility and increased public understanding of important issues.
Strong pressure to support the "lesser evil" kept the vote totals down, but the campaigns helped build toward a stronger campaign and bigger vote in 2006. Some of the candidates developed interesting innovations that will be seen again in later elections. All the campaigns stressed the need to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, and pushed issues like healthcare and raising the minimum wage that directly affect workers.
Jim Smith in the 53rd Assembly district and Dr. Alice Stek in the overlapping 36th Congressional district ran a joint campaign for peace and justice that broke new ground. Both are elected members of the Venice Neighborhood Council, and their vote percentage in Venice was about twice the percentage in the district as a whole. "The most positive thing about the campaign was being able to reach out and work with new people and new groups," says Smith. Both Smith and Stek were well-received at public forums. Stek says "Many more people now know about P&F and have heard that there is a real alternative."
State Senate nominees Ian Grimes in the 3rd district (San Francisco/Marin/Sonoma) and Tom Condit in the 9th district (Alameda/Contra Costa) each came in third out of four candidates. Grimes' campaign was focused on college students and young workers, and he was introduced at concerts and received coverage in music-oriented internet venues. Condit spent most of his time working hard on Marsha Feinland's U.S. Senate campaign. Nevertheless, his 5.4% of the vote was the highest in the election, about twice the statewide Peace and Freedom average.
LeiLani Dowell ran for Congress in San Francisco's 8th CD against House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. "We are waging a campaign against the bankruptcy of the capitalist system," she said. She found particular enthusiasm among high school students. Dowell got one-third the vote of the Republican, while spending one-fiftieth as much.
Joe Williams of Santa Cruz was one of five opponents of Sam Farr in the 17th Congressional district. All five set up headquarters in the same office, sharing resources and media access, something that had never been done before. While the Williams campaign had some willing workers, a hard-working candidate, a good website, and built goodwill in the community, he only received 1.2% of the vote, coming in fourth. The large number of candidates reduced the vote for each, and no nominee of a smaller party reached the 2% level.
While John Reiger in Sacramento's 5th Congressional district was disappointed that he didn't get more than 1.8% of the vote, he had recognized that the struggle for votes would be uphill. A Green Party nominee also ran a strong campaign, and Representative Matsui was not the worst Democrat from California (that distinction probably belongs to the warhawk Jane Harman, Alice Stek's opponent). Reiger's campaign produced more literature than any other, and the Sacramento party group grew from the campaign. Reiger will run again in the special election caused by Matsui's death.
Kevin Akin of Riverside was the only P & Freedom candidate running against a Republican incumbent, the notoriously incompetent Ken Calvert of the 44th Congressional District. Calvert was hard to confront, because his handlers will not let him debate or answer questions in public. Akin received reasonable newspaper coverage, and made heavy use of internet election sites for his campaign, which he focused on "convincing Republicans to vote for a socialist." His 3.3% was a 50% increase over his vote last time he ran in the same district.
The brightest spot on the 2004 slate was Marsha Feinland's statewide U.S. Senate campaign. She won almost a quarter-million votes, about 2.1%, despite the heavy "lesser-evil" push, and came in third of five candidates. She beat Judge Jim Gray, the Libertarian, who campaigned full-time and spent at least 70 times as much money. Feinland took full advantage of free radio and TV opportunities, and made many appearances up and down the state.
The top of the ticket never does well, because of the greater influence of "lesser-evilism" in the race for President or Governor. Peace and Freedom Party presidential and vice presidential nominees Leonard Peltier and Janice Jordan received 27,607 votes, more than the American Independent and the Ralph Nader write-in, and less than the Green and the Libertarian. This is only about one-ninth the vote that was cast for Marsha Feinland for Senate. This is in line with the pattern of past years. But the Peltier-Jordan vote was much higher in some small counties with sizeable Native American Indian populations, something never seen before for one of our presidential candidates. Though Peltier was unable to campaign while framed-up in federal prison, Janice Jordan traveled to at least twelve California counties and conducted a very active campaign. Their vote total was the largest for a Peace and Freedom Party presidential ticket since 1976.
[Kevin Akin is State Chair of the Peace and Freedom Party.]
The story was bordered by photographs of nine Peace and Freedom Party California candidates, clockwise from the bottom left of the page: Ian Grimes, State Senate, 3rd District; Dr. Alice Stek, Congress, 36th District; Joe Williams, Congress, 17th District; Marsha Feinland, U.S. Senate; Leilani Dowell, Congress, 8th District; Kevin Akin, Congress 44th District; Tom Condit, State Senate, 9th District, Jim Smith, Assembly, 53rd District; John Reiger, Congress, 5th District.
The Leonard Peltier/Janice Jordan presidential/vice presidential slate came in 5th in California and 7th nationally with 27,607 votes (0.2%).
Marsha Feinland came in third for the U. S. Senate in California with 243,846 votes (2.1%).
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