SACRAMENTO, CA --Thousands of Democrats take to the Sacramento Convention Center for the 2017 California Democratic Convention this weekend.
Convention attendees have a jammed packed weekend of meetings that will help decide priorities of the party and will be electing a new State party leader.
Outgoing chair John Burton lead the party through a host of policy victories like raising state minimum wage to $15 to the expansion of healthcare for all children including undocumented.
The California Democratic Party may be on the verge of electing a progressive candidate, Kimberly Ellis. If she wins the election, Ellis would be the first African-American and only the third woman to hold the post.
Ellis formerly served as executive director of Emerge America, an organization whose mission is to get more Democratic women elected to political office. The organization has chapters in 18 states and has trained more than 2,000 women.
Her challenger is longtime political veteran and Los Angeles Democratic Party Chair Eric Bauman. Bauman is also State party chair and has served since 2009.
Under his leadership, the LA County Democratic Party has been twice awarded Campaigns and Elections Magazine's Reed Award for the "Best Automated Call," and has received 18 Pollie Awards from the American Association of Political Consultants in categories as diverse as Social Media, Vote-by-Mail, Video, Direct Mail and Automated Calls.
