Five Santa Monica residents, including Mayor Kevin McKeown, were elected Sunday as delegates to the California Democratic Party Central Committee, which oversees the statewide party platform and Democratic endorsements.
McKeown, tied for top vote-getter in the balloting at the Beverly Hills Library, has been a delegate for almost a decade, and also serves as Southern California vice-chair of the party's Irish-American Caucus.
"Our community has long been a leader on affordable housing, social justice, living wages, environmental protections, and excellent public education," he said. "I'm privileged to carry Santa Monica's strong progressive values into the statewide Democratic Party policy discussions on platform and endorsements."
Other Santa Monicans elected as part of a progressive slate that swept the voting include Genise Schnitman, who is married to McKeown, and who won her third two-year term. Dr. Sion Roy and Jon Katz are both, like Schnitman, members of the Executive Committee of the Santa Monica Democratic Club. Jessica Yas is a community organizer and activist. Yas and Katz were first elected two years ago; Roy, a cardiologist, is a first-timer.
"I'm honored to be elected by my fellow Democrats to be delegate from our assembly district to the state party as part of the progressive slate," said Roy. "As delegate, I'm eager to advocate for progressive measures that increase access to quality healthcare, close the achievement gap in public education, and fight poverty."
The newly elected delegates will represent California's 50th Assembly District, which includes Santa Monica, at state party functions for the next two years, including the Democratic Party State Convention in Anaheim this mid-May.
