California Democratic leaders clash over endorsement battle

from Maya S. MillerCalMatters

This story was originally published by CalMatters. Sign up for their newsletters.

For a Democratic convention with a “Together We Win” theme, there was plenty of infighting, culminating in a Sunday morning showdown between two Democratic heavyweights.

State Party Chairman Rusty Hicks and Sen. Mike McGuirethe former Senate president, got into a heated exchange that some viewers described as unnecessarily petty, highly personal and highly unprofessional.

Delegates from the region voted Saturday by a 74 percent margin to support McGuire in his bid for the 1st Congressional District over Democratic primary challenger Audrey Denny, sending the decision to Congress for pro forma approval Sunday.

But at 8 a.m., Hicks took eleventh-hour action to block McGuire’s approval by approving a review requested by Denny.

“What the hell is going on here?” asked McGuire, the favorite to win the heavily redrawn district after voters accepted maps in favor of Democrats by passing Proposition 50 last November.

Although Denny’s move was legal under the party’s bylaws, the challenge irked McGuire and his campaign, who saw it as an unnecessary holdup given the broad support he had already garnered the night before.

What made them nervous Sunday was that Hicks essentially put her thumb on the scale to ensure the review committee would consider Denny’s challenge regardless of whether her team had submitted the necessary signed petitions. Denny’s campaign manager said the campaign submitted the required 20 signatures Saturday night, received word that night that it was approved, and didn’t know Hicks would also be involved.

“This hearing is an embarrassment. We are supposed to be Democrats — people who believe in the sanctity of elections, the integrity of voters and that every vote counts,” McGuire said during a five-minute speech. “Instead, this morning, because of two people trying to put their finger on the scales, the headline coming out of this hearing is about party bosses trying to overturn votes behind closed doors in the dead of night.”

McGuire’s supporters say Hicks has a personal vendetta against their candidate dating back to 2023, when Hicks launched a surprise bid for an open seat in the Assembly. Hicks, who refused to give up his position as state party chairman to seek the post, was heavily criticized for trying to brute-force his way into the state legislature.

Instead of endorsing Hicks, McGuire, as Senate leader, backed his opponent, Chris Rogers, a decision McGuire supporters say made him a target for leadership retribution.

Chris Snyder, a delegate and Democratic executive board member from Sonoma County who supports McGuire, said there was “some animosity toward him throughout this race,” though he acknowledged he could not prove that personal politics motivated Hicks to warrant a review of Denny.

Even a delegate who had consistently supported Denny throughout the process said he couldn’t bring himself to support removing McGuire from the consent calendar after 74 percent of delegates supported it.

“That vote changed it for me,” said Janet Jonte, chairman of the Glenn County Democrats. “Continuing what may be a bitter campaign over the next few months also comes at a cost.”

In the end, Hicks voted with everyone else to reject the challenge, paving the way for McGuire’s support.

Hicks did not say why he took steps to ensure Denny’s challenge would be heard.

“The committee was convened to look at the issues that were brought up and ultimately decided to put the senator on the consent calendar,” Hicks told CalMatters.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.