Speaker of the California State Assembly Karen Bass, Senator Barack Obama and Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas.
Senator Ridley-Thomas is not only a California co-chair for the Barack Obama campaign, but was one of Senator Obama’s earliest and staunchest supporters. The two community organizers share much in common and have a strong friendship. In fact, when visiting California back in January, Obama singled out his “great friend,” Senator Ridley-Thomas, at the beginning of his remarks at L.A. Trade Trade Technical College.
Karen Bass is also an avid supporter of Senator Ridley-Thomas. See the Speaker’s enthusiastic video endorsement of the Senator here.
Eric Bauman, the Los Angeles Democratic Party Chair, emphatically urged Angelenos to vote for Barack Obama and Mark Ridley-Thomas at a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) rally in front of City Hall this afternoon:
“You know, I feel hope in the air. But why do I feel hope in the air? Because, since the 1st of January, one million new Democrats registered to vote in the state of California. One million new Democrats!
And that one million new Democrats says, “yes we can, si se puede”. And tomorrow night at 8 o’clock we are going to say, “yes we did, si se pudo”. Because one million new Democrats means victory in California.
But, one million new Democrats needs to know they can’t stop at the top. You can’t just vote for Barack Obama. You have to vote for Mark Ridley-Thomas for the L.A. County Board of Supervisors. We have to win the Board of Supervisors.”
Ridley-Thomas Engaged 2nd District Voters on ‘Election Saturday’, holding a Major GOTV Rally in Final Weekend Drive to Nov. 4 Vote
Approximately 300 supporters showed up to the Mark Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor campaign headquarters on Saturday for a major Get Out The Vote (GOTV) rally. Video from the event follows below…
Dr. Cornel West helped get the party started by joining 72-year-old volunteer Joe Stringer on an improvised dance floor!
Later, Dr. Cornel West pumped up the large standing room only crowd as only he can:
“When [Senator Ridley-Thomas] decided to run, I said I’m coming back again. Why? Because every election he’s had for 30 years I’ve been standing right by his side. Oh yes! Oh yes!
That’s why the folks call me up on the radio and TV and say, ‘Brother West, we want your endorsement’. No, endorsement is too weak. This is a wholesale, unequivocal, affirmation of who he is as a human being committed to unconditional truth and unconditional love and politics is just the vehicle for it.
That’s the kind of states-person we need. And that’s what you got here in L.A. County.”
Senator Ridley-Thomas followed Dr. Cornel West with a rousing speech of his own where he implored supporters to keep working “wall to wall until 7:59 p.m. [Tuesday] and then I’m going to squeeze the death out of that last minute”.
Earlier in the program, State Controller and Ridley-Thomas supporter, John Chiang, spoke about the sweeping change coming on election day:
“On Tuesday when we elect Barack Obama as President of the United States of America, when we elect Mark Ridley-Thomas as our next great county supervisor, we’re going to send a signal from the eastern shores to the midwest cornfields to the Rocky Mountains to our home here in Los Angeles, California that our hopes and dreams are alive.”
Prior to Chiang’s remarks, State Board of Equalization Chair, Judy Chu, enthusiastically endorsed Senator Ridley-Thomas:
“I’m so excited. I’ve known Mark Ridley-Thomas for 25 years now — ever since he was Director of SCLC. And ever since I’ve known him, he’s always been committed to equality, to justice and to the people. And that’s the type of person we need at the Board of Supervisors.”
Many other community leaders - including Inglewood City Councilman Daniel Tabor, L.A. County Young Democrats President Becca Doten, LAUSD Board of Education President Monica Garcia, and Cerritos Councilmember Joseph Cho, Ph.D - spoke about the importance of electing Mark Ridley-Thomas to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors.
1. Larry Aubry endorses Mark Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor in a must read Op-Ed in yesterday’s Los Angeles Sentinel:
“The county’s 2nd Supervisorial District deserves visionary, progressive leadership and State Senator Mark- Ridley Thomas fits the bill. His integrity, intelligence and audacious courage in the face of adversity have enabled him to navigate the truculent political terrain with his principles intact. He has precisely the leadership characteristics needed to meet the 2nd District’s daunting challenges.
The choice is clear. There are fundamental differences between Ridley-Thomas and his opponent, L.A. City Councilman Bernard Parks, who tends to favor business interests over residents’ concerns and at times, seems oblivious to systemic factors that negatively affect communities of color.
Ridley-Thomas’s world view, philosophy and political priorities differ substantially from Parks’; his group-oriented emphasis, challenges the prevailing individual/materialistic model that infuses America’s values and traditional politics. (To their detriment, Blacks have internalized these values.) Ridley-Thomas’s firm grounding in civil and human rights informs his politics and life’s work. His strategies are designed to change the existing political and economic landscape; his proposals and legislation at both the city and state levels reflect Mark’s deep concern for actual change.”
3. “Dermot Givens, a lawyer and political consultant who used to work for Bernard Parks” predicts that Ridley-Thomas will win the Supervisors race because of “a better-run campaign and because Parks has surrounded himself with figures like [Yvonne] Burke, [Magic] Johnson and Rep. Maxine Waters.” “He’s surrounded himself with the old guard,” Givens said. “This is an election cycle for change.”
4. L.A. Observed posted a nice photo of Senator Ridley-Thomas voting in the June primary election with his wife and two sons.
5. LAPD Reform Officers endorse Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas for 2nd District Supervisor:
“This endorsement is based on Senator Ridley-Thomas’ record of leadership as the head of the Los Angeles Southern Christian Leadership Conference, leadership on the Los Angeles City council, leadership in the California State Legislature, and his record and position on issues important to the citizens of Los Angeles and California.”
6. Senator Ridley-Thomas encourages Californians and the Nation to make Election Day a family affair in an Op-Ed posted at California Progress Report:
“Given the historical significance of this election and the crucial issues facing our country, November 4th is the perfect day to actively engage our children in a civics lesson and give them the opportunity to witness democracy in action. By doing so, parents will sow the seeds of civic participation and democracy that our children will harvest in the future.”
7. Betty Pleasant has an easy solution for remembering who and what to vote for on November 4th:
“So, when you go to the polls Tuesday, keep it simple and vote “yes” on Barack Obama; “yes” on Mark Ridley-Thomas and “no” on just about everything else.”
8. Ridley-Thomas Crisscrosses 2nd District Ahead of Final Weekend’s GOTV Push to Nov. 4 General Election Vote
Friday, October 31, 2008 – State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas will crisscross the sprawling Second District today to deliver his message of “Working for Change & Delivering Results” when he pays a visit to teachers and school children in Exposition Park, senior citizens and caregivers in Carson, and families served by a learning complex in South Los Angeles.
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Ridley-Thomas Delivers for Education
Alexander Science Center School
700 State Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90037
United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), L.A. School Board President Monica Garcia, L.A. School Members Marguerite Poindexter-LaMotte, Yolie Flores Aguilar and Marlene Canter, and the L.A. County Education Association have endorsed Sen. Ridley-Thomas. He will join teachers and elementary school children in their celebration of Halloween. Sen. Ridley-Thomas will serve as a judge for the students’ annual Halloween costume contest.
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Ridley-Thomas Delivers for Senior Citizens
City of Carson Senior Recreation Center
801 E. Carson Street
Carson, CA 90745
Sen. Ridley-Thomas engineered a $28 million investment in senior housing and community-based senior citizen service centers. He passed legislation to protect client choice in In-Home Support Services. He passed state laws to provide low-cost prescription drugs needed by seniors on fixed incomes. Ridley-Thomas will join 1,000 seniors at a luncheon in the Carson; including many that attended his “Senior Scam Stoppers” Town Hall meetings held this year in his 26th Senate District.
3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Ridley-Thomas Delivers for Families
Rita D. Walters Learning Complex
915 W. Manchester Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90044
As part of a $500 million economic development agenda while serving on the Los Angeles City Council, Senator Ridley-Thomas spearheaded the development of the mixed-use Rita Walters Learning Complex. The complex houses a school, community clinic and a soon-to-opened school-based health clinic. NOTE: Sen. Ridley-Thomas passed legislation to expand school-based health clinics to serve the health needs of 6 million young people at schools statewide.
9. Don’t miss tomorrow’s Get Out The Vote rally with Dr. Cornel West. More info here.
Speaker of the California State Assembly Karen Bass offers a heartfelt endorsement of Mark Ridley-Thomas for L.A. County Supervisor:
“I have worked with Mark Ridley-Thomas for over 30 years and, like Barack Obama, Mark Ridley-Thomas was a community organizer, a civil rights leader, a legislator. We’ve been serving in the State Assembly and Senate together for the last few years. And he has the same set of values I do — a strong, deep commitment to social and economic justice.
And frankly, the Board of Supervisors in Los Angeles County, that is the institution that, from my point of view, manages the lives of poor folks. And I believe that his commitment to improving the quality of life for those in our society who are the most vulnerable makes him the most qualified to do the job.”
Senator Ridley-Thomas and Speaker Bass Rally Dems at West L.A. Headquarters
Speaker Bass: “Let me just tell you that the Obama factor up and down this state is going to have us picking up seats in the Assembly, and in the Senate and we have to take advantage of this opportunity and send Mark Ridley-Thomas to the County Board of Supervisors.”
1. Our Weekly endorses Mark Ridley-Thomas for 2nd District L.A. County Supervisor.
2. L.A. Weekly endorses Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor:
On Parks: “He was simply a disgrace as LAPD police chief, an obsessive Captain Queeg–like tyrant who busted out street cops for not shining their shoes while he closed his eyes to the corruption and mayhem as Rampart Division imploded. Many of the root problems at Rampart were incubated when Parks ran Internal Affairs, apparently while blindfolded. As a City Council member, he has consistently represented the interests of big business and landlords (at least when he’s found the time to stop his petty feud with his LAPD successor, Bill Bratton).”
On Ridley-Thomas: “He’s made generally good and reasoned decisions and has demonstrated an earnest investment in his responsibilities. He’s running an impressive ground campaign with the help of the massive L.A. County Federation of Labor, with whom he has forged close ties. In this case, that’s something I’m comfortable with. It’s a better group of friends than Parks has rallied and represented. Ridley-Thomas has shown serious commitment to the economic redevelopment of South Los Angeles and he has distinguished himself as someone fully able and willing to cross racial lines, adding a measure of harmony to some of the more rough-edged shifts of power among L.A. blacks and Latinos. Mark Ridley-Thomas for county supervisor.”
4. L.A. City Beat endorses Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor:
5. Anthony Asadullah Samad, Ph.D, says Tuesday will “represent [a] watermark change in American society” with the election of Barack Obama. He goes on to urge voters to vote for change at all levels of government:
“Change is going to come at every government level. From the top of the ticket at President, congressional seats, and local government seats and initiatives. The most important race in Los Angeles will be the race for County Supervisor, considered the most powerful position in the state (after Governor and Assembly Speaker). Don’t sleep this seat, and don’t be tricked out of this seat. Mark Ridley-Thomas is the choice for this position. The expectation is that many voters, particularly younger ones will vote for Barack and nobody else. Vote Obama and Ridley-Thomas and everything in between. Change at the top can’t happen alone. Don’t bypass the opportunity to make great change this election, and don’t let this change pass you by.”
6 The Bernard Parks campaign is now $338,423 in debt. And this is in spite of raising at least $52,000 from companies that contract with the MTA — where Parks is a sitting member of the Board.
7. “If you like Burke, you’ll love Parks,” according to Dr. Suzanne De Benedittis on The Front Page Online:
“I wonder if [Burke] considers her mockery of democracy as patriotism, and her endorsement of Bernard Parks as a way of continuing her reign.
I wonder why Mr. Parks was not there to use his influence and power as Los Angeles Councilman to demand that Burke take the time to do this thing right and avoid lawsuits from his constituents?”
8. Senator Ridley-Thomas and Bernard Parks spar on KPCC over the future of King Medical Center.
9. Culture Kitchen, a community blog committed to providing a platform to political activists and cultural creatives, endorses Mark Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor.
10. Senator Ridley-Thomas convened a high-level symposium on the foreclosure crisis to discuss “strategies for implementing recently passed loan-refinancing legislation authored by Ridley-Thomas.”
11. According to Betty Pleasant at The Soulvine, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, “one of Mark’s staunchest supporters,” might have interest in the Senator’s senate seat.
UPCOMING EVENTS
12. Help Amigos de Mark Ridley-Thomas make bilingual outreach calls to Latino voters in the 2nd District from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. tonight at campaign headquarters (2092 W. Jefferson Blvd, L.A., CA 90018).
13. Poll monitor training session tonight at the Inglewood Office, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., at 235 E. Manchester Blvd., CA 90301.
14. GET OUT THE VOTE (GOTV) rally featuring Dr. Cornel West this Saturday at 11 a.m. at campaign headquarters (2092 W. Jefferson Blvd., L.A., CA 90018).
15. Poll monitor training session on Monday at campaign headquarters, from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., at 2092 W. Jefferson Ave., CA 90018.
From left to right: Chip Matthews, Patrick Soon-Shiong, Senator Ridley-Thomas, Rick Caruso and Jerome Stanley.
L.A. Business Journal’s “Developer of the Year,” Rick Caruso, held an event on behalf of the Mark Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor campaign on Thursday, October 16th. Among the many business leaders in attendance were Abraxis BioScience CEO Patrick Soon-Shiong, M.D., sports agent Jerome Stanley and attorney Chip Matthews.
Obama Senior Advisor Dr. Cornel West – Scholar, Author, Civil Rights Activist, Princeton Religion Professor – Set to Fire Up Volunteers for Ridley-Thomas Campaign at ‘Get-Out-The-Vote’ Rally for Final Weekend Push to Election Day
Dr. Cornel West firing up volunteers before the primary election.
State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas today announced that Barack Obama senior advisor and Presidential campaign surrogate, Dr. Cornel West, will rally more than 200 supporters and volunteers preparing to canvass key precincts throughout the 2nd District for “Get Out The Vote Weekend” on Saturday, November 1 at 11:30 a.m. at Mark Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor Campaign Headquarters (2092 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles 90018)
Dr. West – a noted scholar, author, and Princeton professor of Religion – will be the featured speaker at the kickoff of the Ridley-Thomas for Supervisor campaign’s major district-wide voter outreach and mobilization drive during the final two-day weekend before Election Day (Tuesday, November 4).
Dr. West will be joined at the rally by Democratic Club members, elected officials, representatives from business and organized labor, religious leaders, women’s groups, environmentalists and community activists.
Former NFL stars and USC Trojan Football heroes Keyshawn Johnson and Rodney Peete took a moment from their busy private sector business ventures this week to endorse Mark Ridley-Thomas for L.A. County Supervisor. The two former pro and collegiate gridiron standouts, who are now successful local small business owners, crossed the goal line in support of Senator Ridley-Thomas — a fellow USC Trojan alum — because of his leadership qualities, successful track record in economic development and job creation, and his commitment to people of all backgrounds. As Rodney Peete states:
“And you knew with Mark Ridley-Thomas, he was going to fight for you. He was going to be a champion for the community. Not just on economic terms, but also on education, on healthcare. He was going to be that champion, that voice that sometimes we don’t always have. And he’s that guy.”
From left to right: State Assemblyman Mike Eng, Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, State Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu and State Controller John Chiang.
The photo above of Senator Ridley-Thomas with three of his endorsers was taken on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at a banquet for California State Board of Equalization Chair Judy Chu.
