June 2016 Home Page

Welcome to the website of the California Peace and Freedom Party’s 2016 campaign.

Re-register Peace and Freedom!

If you registered out of the Peace and Freedom Party in order to vote for Bernie Sanders, now is the time to register back into the party. If you have never been registered Peace and Freedom, now is the time to join.

The Peace and Freedom Party has long advocated many of the things Bernie Sanders brought to the fore during his primary campaign. Things like tuitionfree college and university education, free healthcare, and housing for all are things we, as a party of the working class, support.

The Peace and Freedom Party is a ballot-status socialist, feminist party, the only ballotstatus socialist party in California. If you consider yourself a socialist you belong in the Peace and Freedom Party. Register today!

Register to vote with the Peace and Freedom Party

June 7 Results

These are the final results for Peace and Freedom Party candidates in the June 7, 2016 June election. Clicking on a candidate’s name takes you her or his page on this site.

Presidential Primary: Non-binding Peace and Freedom Party Presidential primary:

Note: Dr. Jill Stein was excluded from the Peace and Freedom Party primary ballot by the Secretary of State.

Legislative offices: The Peace and Freedom Party endorsed these candidates for Congress.

  • U.S. Senate – John Parker, 35,998 votes, 0.5%, 22rd place out of 34 candidates
  • U.S. Congress
    • 20th District – Joe Williams, 6,400 votes, 3.9%, 3rd place out of 5 candidates

Alameda County Central Committee, 5th Supervisorial District: This was the only district in which there was a contested Central Committee election. The top five candidates were elected.

  • Marsha Feinland, 91 votes
  • Dave Welsh, 56 votes
  • Edie Hallberg, 58 votes
  • Mary McIlroy, 47 votes
  • Norma J. F. Harrison, 43 votes
  • Stan Woods, 38 votes
  • Eugene E. Ruyle, 37 votes
  • John Comly, 35 votes
  • Write-ins (not counted in this case), 18 votes

Why Vote Peace and Freedom Party

Sick of Republicans who are clueless? Tired of Democrats selling you out? There is an alternative! That alternative is the Peace and Freedom Party.

We fight for the things all working people need: free education, from pre-school through university; an end to U.S. intervention throughout the world; free health care for all, such as enjoyed by workers in every other industrialized nation in the world; full employment at union wages, with generous paid vacation and other benefits. Workers, both documented and undocumented, have the right to organize, safe working conditions, and paid sick leave. We can pay for these things if the rich are taxed at rates they can well afford.

These are not just planks in our platform, these are issues Peace and Freedom candidates and members work for. The many problems facing the working class concern us because we are a part of that class. We know we can’t get what we need just by voting for it, so we participate in mass organization and direct action as part of the labor, anti-war, civil rights, and other movements, and now the Occupy movement. But we also know we can’t get what we need unless we also vote for it—and that’s why we need an electoral party rooted in and responsible to the movement.

Beyond these specific issues and movements, we understand the underlying reason why we have to keep struggling for the things we need is the ownership of the world and the conditions of our labor by a very few, very wealthy people—capitalism. To win any of these struggles finally and for good, we need to replace capitalism with a working-class democracy in which production is planned to meet human needs—socialism.

Top Two Elections: Bad for Democracy

This June your ballot will be different. Except for the Presidential primary (which hasn’t changed), you will no longer vote for candidates to represent your political party in November. Instead, you will vote on which two candidates get to run again in the fall. The party labels that appear next to the candidates’ names will have little meaning because political parties no longer control the use of their names.

But you won’t see the real change until November, when you will have only two choices. They might well both be Democrats or both be Republicans. “Top two” elections relegate small party and independent candidates to June when fewer people turn out to vote.

Blame Prop. 14, passed in June 2010 as a result of several million dollars worth of advertising by big business friends of Arnold Schwarzenegger. They thought that by weakening political parties, both large and small, they could use their money more efficiently to influence elections. We think it’s unconstitutional and are joining with other plaintiffs to challenge it in court.

Statement of Purpose

The Peace and Freedom Party’s statement of purpose for the June 7, 2016 Presidential primary election, as posted by the Secretary of State. At some elections (but not this one), these statements are included in the Voter Information Guide mailed to all voters.

The Peace and Freedom Party is a working-class party in a country run by and for the wealthy and their corporations. We should not have to sacrifice our health, our livelihoods, and our planet for our bosses’ profits. We can tax the rich, whose wealth is created by workers, to pay for society’s needs.

We favor:

Social justice & equality: *Free universal health care for all. *Decent jobs and labor rights for all. *Free education for everyone, preschool through university. *Ending all discrimination. *Comprehensive services for disabled people. *Marriage equality. *Full rights for immigrants.

Justice reform: *Abolishing the death penalty. *Stopping police abuse and prison torture.

Peace: *Bringing the troops home now. *Ending drone attacks.

Environment: *Reversing climate change. *Restoring and protecting the environment.

Legislative: *Repealing California’s “top two” election law, restoring voters’ choices in the general elections. * Legalizing marijuana.

While capitalism puts the wealthy first we will continue to suffer war, police brutality, low wages, unsafe workplaces, and pollution. We advocate socialism, the ownership and democratic control of the economy by working people. By joining together to take back our industries and natural resources, we can make progress for the common good.

Register Peace and Freedom Party!