A Message from your CMDC Board: The Primary for Congressional District 47

We are gearing up for a competitive Democratic primary in the 47th Congressional District and California Senate race. We want to explain how the Costa Mesa Democratic Club will be approaching the primary given our role in the party as a chartered club.

It’s important for our members to understand and help educate the rest of the community about the importance of a fair playing field for all candidates running to represent us in Congress and the Senate. Given the competing candidates that some of us may be supporting, our priority is maintaining fairness and equity in the process until we coalesce around a single candidate in the primary election on March 5, 2024. 

In November 2023, the California Democratic Party and Democratic party of Orange County will undertake an endorsement process with candidates for the 47th Congressional District and California Senate seat. Once that endorsement is made, our club is required to adhere to that endorsement, meaning that we will not be able to support or platform any candidate other than the endorsed candidate. 

Here are some details on the process: our club will have a role in the endorsement process by sending representatives to the CA Democratic Party’s pre-endorsing conference. Our club gets 1 representative in the pre-endorsement conference for every 20 club members. These representatives will make an official recommendation to the CA Democratic Party on which candidate to endorse based on the CM Dem Club’s choice.

Before the endorsement process is complete, candidates and campaigns will be attending our meetings and networking with members, but no candidates will be given the opportunity to speak to the membership unless we offer an equivalent opportunity to all other candidates. CMDC is committed to allowing our membership the opportunity to get to know all the candidates in this important race for Congressional District 47. We are organizing a 47th Congressional District Candidate Forum for Summer 2023, to which all Democratic candidates are invited. 

Our club bylaws bind our club representatives to only support a candidate for endorsement if they receive 60% or more support from the entire CMDC membership. This means our representatives in the state party conference will only vote to endorse a candidate for Congress if there is a 60%+ consensus among our club membership. We will hold a poll for all club members after our Congressional District Candidate Forum later this year. To vote in this process you must have paid your CMDC membership dues of $20 for the 2023 calendar year.

We are excited to work with all of you to elect a Democrat to represent us in Congress and the Senate come the election next year! We hope to see you at our club meetings to engage with these candidates and their campaign staff.