CA Dems soul searching on how they lost Latino, young voters

From CalMatters politics reporter Yue Stella Yu: 

Boos. Heckles. Accusations. 

At the California Democratic Party convention in Anaheim over the weekend, some Latino Democrats waged a contentious referendum on their leaders — and won.

Nilza Serrano, a Los Angeles consultant, was elected chair of the party’s Latino caucus, upsetting longtime activist Carlos Alcala, who had chaired the caucus for more than a decade. Serrano was among a dozen Latinos who won caucus leadership positions during the convention under the banner of “La Nueva Voz” — “the new voice” in Spanish.

Instead of settling political differences, the fight was more a referendum on leadership style, as incumbents ran on a platform emphasizing their experience. But the newcomers’ victories exposed deep frustration among Latino Democrats with the exodus of Latinos from the Democratic Party last November, as well as a widespread perception that the party had failed to cement Latino support. The caucus is tasked with building the Latino base for Democratic candidates in California. 

• Serrano, to CalMatters: “We did not get the messaging that we were supposed to get (out). There wasn’t a big effort on getting younger people involved in the party, and I think that’s key to our success.”

The election also followed an intense drama between the incumbent caucus officers and the challengers, so acute that the state party had to intervene. Challengers accused Alcala of cheating by allowing some delegates to vote remotely even though they didn’t have disabilities, in violation of party and caucus bylaws. Party officials ruled against Alcala. 

But Alcala decried the decision and argued remote voting was necessary to protect delegates terrified of flying due to their immigration status or those on a limited income, drawing boos.

The Latino caucus’ fight wasn’t the only sign of reckoning at the convention, as Democrats licked their wounds from November and tackled how to step up the party’s ground game ahead of challenging midterms.

Young Democrats also expressed frustration with the party’s failure to resonate with their age demographic. At the convention, they said that in order to mobilize young voters, party leaders and candidates should focus on California’s affordability issues, be willing to tackle progressive issues, and keep the messaging simple.

• Carter Beardsley, an 18-year-old Bakersfield resident: “At the end of the day … people want to vote for someone who’s going to make their lives easier.”

Read more here.

Let’s dive into some criminal justice news:

• Prison searches: Beginning today California prisons will subject anyone entering their facilities, including visitors, staff and attorneys, to a canine search. The new policy is to curb the “introduction of illegal drugs and contraband” into prison facilities, according to a corrections department memo. But criminal justice advocates and family members of incarcerated people argue that increased searches will negatively impact the ability to visit incarcerated people. Said the executive director of California Public Defenders Association: “The contraband is coming from the employees of the institution. But they are blaming everyone else.” Read more from CalMatters’ Cayla Mihalovich.

• Death penalty policy change: Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson has moved to walk back resentencing recommendations for people on death row, according to records obtained by CalMatters. The recommendations were originally filed by the previous district attorney, Pamela Price, who was recalled in November. Price recommended resentencing 30 people after being required to launch a review of death penalty cases for prosecutorial misconduct. Since then, 20 were resentenced. But in one of the first major signs that the office is departing from Price’s policies, Jones Dickson is withdrawing the recommendations for at least four of the remaining 10, arguing that her predecessor made flawed legal arguments. Read more from Cayla.

Amid growing trade tensions between the U.S. and China, one of President Donald Trump’s latest actions is sowing fear among international students, writes CalMatters’ Adam Echelman.

The Trump administration on Wednesday said it is working to “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students,” including those connected with the country’s communist party or “studying in critical fields.” The directive has the potential to affect as many as 50,000 students in California.

Because international students pay higher tuition than in-state students, and they help boost local economies, revoking these visas has the potential to reduce by 3% the budgets of the University of California and the California State University system. UC Davis, for example, is the UC with the highest number of Chinese international students, with more than 3,600 students, or over 9%, accounting for its student body.

Some international students also said they were concerned that the new policy would lead to more discrimination.

• Huhu, a Chinese international student at UC Santa Barbara: “If we’re in a state where our visa could be canceled at any time, it’s an action that encourages people to discriminate against the international student community.”

Read more here.

The Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office said on Friday that it will not file DUI charges against state Sen. Sabrina Cervantes. The Riverside Democrat was involved in a car crash in Sacramento and police officers cited her for driving under the influence of a drug. Cervantes denied this, and a blood test revealed that she had “no measurable amount of drugs or alcohol in her system.”

While some are urging the Sacramento Police Department to apologize to Cervantes, the department said officers “remained professional throughout.” Read more from CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow.