On June 7, 2022, Californians will be voting in primary elections in advance of the statewide election in November. These elections will determine who holds positions including California governor, lieutenant governor, senators, state representatives, attorney general and several key executive official positions.
Two parties on the California ballot reject corporate rule, and agree on many important issues. In preparation for the June 2022 primary election, a Left Unity Slate has been formed by activists from both the Peace and Freedom Party and the Green Party, with seven candidates for statewide office endorsed by both parties.
The Peace and Freedom Party has endorsed the following candidates, most of whom also have Left Unity, California Green Party, or local Green Party backing.
Luis J. Rodriguez, Green Party – Governor
Luis J. Rodriguez is a working writer and speaker who is a former Poet Laureate of Los Angeles. Luis ran for California governor in 2014 and, as previously, is running on a campaign based in addressing the state's massive economic disparities and environmental justice. As governor, Luis would seek to close the wealth gap, accentuate eco-friendly actions, demilitarize the police and reform the state's prison-industrial complex. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party; also endorsed by the US Justice Party. [Official campaign site]
Mohammad Arif, Peace & Freedom Party – Lieutenant Governor
Mohammad Arif is the Kern County Chair of the Peace & Freedom Party. He and his wife are immigrants from the Punjab and have four children born in California. He earned a bachelor's degree from Hailey College and a masters in economics from Punjab University. After coming to California in 1991, Mohammad attended Abraham Lincoln Law College in Los Angeles, and has worked as a legal administrator for law firms to handle the legal needs of immigrants for many years. He speaks English, Punjabi, Urdu, and Hindi, with some Arabic. He was the Peace & Freedom Party candidate for State Senate from 16th district in the 2013 special election. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party.
John Parker, Peace & Freedom Party – US Senate
John Parker is a longtime member of the Peace & Freedom Party, coordinator of the Harriet Tubman Center for Social Justice and leading member of the Socialist Unity Party. Among his work for the people of California was his authorship of the first Los Angeles $15 minimum wage ballot initiative in 2013. John’s campaign is grounded in the realization that our primary institutions are no longer capable of providing for individuals or community, and that the current system will only change when corporate and financial monopoly ownership of the industries of production and finance are transferred to the majority – to those who it oppresses and exploits. This campaign is about building a movement to make that systemic change possible. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party.
Gary Blenner, Green Party – Secretary of State
A longtime Green Party member, Gary is running on a five-point platform: prioritizing The Representation For The People Act, which would expand the state legislature and state assembly while introducing proportional representation in State Assembly voting; implementation of ranked-choice voting where possible; abolish of California state primaries; expansion of full voting rights to those of age 16 and older; and maintenance/enforcement of the integrity in our election system. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party. [Campaign Facebook page]
Meghann Adams, Peace & Freedom Party – Treasurer
Meghann Adams has been a Bay Area local and activist for 15 years; she is an organizer with the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and most recently has participated in the Cancel the Rents and No Cuts to the Classroom campaigns. As state treasurer, Meghann calls to defund/demilitarize the police; to transform the military budget to fund people’s infrastructural and social assistance needs; to prevent the perpetuation of environmental destruction; to allocate more money to public education; and to address inequities in the healthcare system. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party.
Laura Wells, Green Party – Controller
As Laura Wells sees it, the basic job of Controller is to “follow the money” and report to the boss — and the boss is the public. She believes that solutions to provide great healthcare, economy, education and environment for Californians do exist, but also that these solutions won’t be implemented by politicians financed by billionaires and corporations. Laura promises to work for public banking not based in speculation; taxation of the super wealthy; revamping the healthcare system; improving water use; divesture from our state’s prison-industrial complex; and creation/stimulation of meaningful, carbon-neutral jobs. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party. [Official campaign site]
Dan Kapelovitz, Green Party – Attorney General
Dan Kapelovitz is a Certified Criminal Law Specialist who has served as a federal judge for the United States District Court of the Central District of California and who currently also teaches at the People’s College of Law. In addition to his career in civil rights and animal rights law, Dan is a longtime progressive who has consistently stood against corporate interests and duopoly party elites. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party. [Campaign Twitter feed]
Nathalie Hrizi, Peace & Freedom Party – Insurance Commissioner
San Francisco school teacher and community activist Nathalie Hrizi is once again running for state Insurance Commissioner on a platform which emphasizes the importance of a universal healthcare program. As a candidate for the same office in June 2018, Nathalie earned over 316,000 votes: Evidence that her position on healthcare and insurance matters are in true lockstep with many Californians. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party.
Marco Amaral – Superintendent of Public Instruction
Marco Amaral says that it's time to elect a teacher to be the next Superintendent of Public Instruction and promises to “put the ‘public’ back into ‘public education.’” Marco earned a Ph.D. in Special Education at UCSD; he has since gained valuable experience as a special ed teacher, a South Bay Union School District school board trustee and as member of various community organizations and collectives – experience he looks to put to work for Californians. Left Unity Slate candidate – endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party. [Official campaign site]
José Cortes, Peace & Freedom Party – US House of Representatives, 51st District (San Diego County)
José has been a political organizer since 2016 when the rising violence of the Trump campaign and an unjust police shooting in his hometown compelled him to take to the streets and organize. He has since participated in campaigns all over San Diego fighting for rent control, closure of for-profit concentration camps, and an end to the criminalization of the homeless and poor. José is committed to ending destructive US wars abroad, to shuttering military bases in occupied countries, and to allowing self-determination for the people of Hawaii, Puerto Rico and all former and current US colonies. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party and the Green Party.
Tania Sole, Green Party – California State Assembly, 21st District (San Mateo County)
Born in New York to a Guatemalan father and a mother who was a daughter of German Jewish refugees, Tania has lived in San Mateo County for 30 years. Her campaign is grounded in three main issues: housing, particularly in relation to SB 9 and SB 10, which provided almost none of the affordable housing promised; the current corporate stranglehold on the state water supply; and healthcare, of which the necessity to address is being shown by the present pandemic. Endorsed by the Peace & Freedom Party. [Official campaign site]