Dear Ventura County Democrats: I’m asking for your vote in the January 2021 ADEM election
By: Max Ghenis
Tags: Elections, Politics, Basic Income, Democratic Party, California

I’m running to represent Assembly District 44 (which makes up most of Ventura County, as well as Westlake Village) as a California Democratic Party delegate. Visit maxforadem.com to learn more about my campaign, including my poverty-focused platform. If you’re a Democrat in California, you can request a ballot to vote in your district at ademelections.com by January 11.

California’s 44th Assembly District. Source: CALmatters

At the 2016 California Democratic Party convention, party delegates from across the state voted to endorse Democratic candidates for elected office, as well as ballot measures, platform language, and party rules. One of those endorsements was Scott Wiener, a first-time state Senate candidate running against another Democrat in an open seat. Two years later, delegates met again, and made national news by adding universal basic income to the party platform.

These delegates’ votes mattered. Wiener won his election by two points, and earlier this month, he co-authored a bill to enact universal basic income in California. He’s also passed some of California’s most important housing legislation, changing the national discussion around exclusionary zoning. Research suggests party endorsements can sway close races like his.

I’m running to be one of those delegates, because I want the California Democratic Party to make more good decisions like these — and because I think we can do even better.

While California leads on progressive issues like the environment, equity, and immigration, one in five Californians live in poverty — the highest rate in the country. In Port Hueneme and Oxnard, where I live, the poverty rate jumps to one in four. As an economist, I have found that poverty is rooted in policy choices: choices to exclude the poorest from assistance programs, to prevent people from moving to economic opportunity, and to raise the cost of living by forbidding the construction of multifamily housing. With better policy choices, California can lift millions out of poverty.

I consider poverty eradication a moral imperative, and if elected, I will vote to endorse candidates and platform language reflecting that urgency. But I will also rigorously study all issues before me as a delegate, ensuring the Democratic Party considers our region’s unique challenges, while also addressing the needs of all Californians and promoting the interests of the country and the planet.

My public policy knowledge and experience in political activism equips me for the role. I am the founder and president of the UBI Center, a global research organization that models universal basic income policies — unconditional cash grants to all members of society. I also founded Ventura County YIMBY, a grassroots group that advocates for more abundant, affordable, and sustainable housing. I serve on the legislative committee of the Greater Oxnard Organization of Democrats, and I am a member of Ventura Citizens’ Climate Lobby. I have volunteered for over a dozen Democratic political campaigns at all levels of government (I’m disappointed my first campaign won’t involve any door-knocking!).

If you’d like to learn more about the ADEM election, or my campaign, background, or platform, please visit maxforadem.com. If you’d like to help, feel free to reach me at max@maxforadem.com. And regardless of who you vote for or where in California you live, please make your voice heard in this important election by requesting a ballot at ademelections.com by January 11.

Thank you,

Max