Party Faithful Throng Local Democratic Headquarters for Traditional Labor Day Kick Off

Over 250 party faithful attended the Pasadena Democratic Headquarters grand opening on South Lake Avenue during a traditional Labor Day kick off event, with a number of prominent local Democratic political figures and elected officials addressing the noisy gathered crowd.

“This is huge, seeing all of you leads me to believe that we indeed are going to win in November,” U.S. Congresswoman Judy Chu said. “We need you now more than ever in this country, we need Democrats to win election because it is the Democrats that will help move this country forward.”

Chu was joined by former Pasadena City Councilmember and current Assemblymember Chris Holden, who reminded the gathering there are 64 days before the election in November.

“When you think of it like that,” Holden said, “we don’t have a lot of time.”

Eric Bauman, Chair of the Los Angeles County Democratic Party, told the crowd and that as a country we are on the cusp of shattering the glass ceiling that has held women back for decades.

“That’s the sound of millions and millions of shards of glass falling from the last great glass ceiling that has kept women from full equality in America,” Bauman said. “Last week, we celebrated 96 years since women got the right to vote. Now, we are on the precipice of elected the first woman president in American history.”

Bauman went on to say that the secret weapon to Democrats winning the election is the power of the people gathered at the Pasadena Democratic “HQ.”

“When you guys are here, turnout, call, and go campaigning in other states like Arizona and Nevada, guess what happens? Democrats win!” Bauman said.

Darrell Park, a Democrat who is currently running for Los Angeles County’s District 5 Supervisor’s seat, said it’s time to end the reign Republicans have had over that office for the last 36 years.

“This budget [Los Angeles County’s]  is not a small one, it’s $30 billion of your money which is currently not being spent properly,” Park said. “Do not let anyone tell you that this is a Republican district, because it is not. We are registering more voters than we ever have, we are doing what we need to be doing.”

Anthony Portantino, a former Assembly member now running for the California State Senate against Michael Antonovich, proclaimed to the crowd that his opponent in this race was “Trump before Trump.”

“There’s this little thing called the senate race that I’m intimately involved with,” Portantino said. “When I was standing shoulder to shoulder with Planned Parenthood next to City Hall, my opponent was going to a funeral with the extreme right-wing for aborted fetuses.”

Pasadena Mayor Terry Tornek attended, sat with the elected officials and spoke. The office of Mayor in Pasadena is a nonpartisan position.

Tornek told the audience that unless there are Democrats in high-ranking state and national elected offices, Pasadena couldn’t be the great city that it is.

“I know very well that even though we have a nonpartisan [city] election in Pasadena, unless we can get a solidly Democratic progressive Congress and White House, we can’t get the job done,” Tornek said. “All the things we’ve talked about — healthcare issues, housing assistance, and the minimum wage require the Democrats to control Washington D.C. I’m here today to tell you that we need your help. I’ll be here, too, making the phone calls necessary to make that happen.”

The Democractic HQ, which runs the campaigning aspect of elections for the Pasadena area, has about 1,000 volunteers city-wide who have made it their goal to make phone calls on behalf of Democratic nominees, according to Pasadena United Democratic HQ campaign manager Bill Hacket.

Hacket said his team has created a jam-packed weekly calendar of events which includes movie nights, artistic performances and food.

“We have folks that go out walking door to door every Saturday to meet their neighbors and educate them about everything there is to know about the election process,” Hacket said. “It’s a great opportunity to get involved. We already have about fifty interns on board, but we are looking for a lot more. We want them to learn all about the political process and put a few hours in and have fun while doing it.”

Hacket aimed to create a working environment that was not only business-like, but fun and interesting.

“We encourage everyone to register to vote. Too many people fought too hard in this country for voting right and civil rights and to not exercise your right to vote is a shame — so we encourage everyone to go out and do that,” said Hackett.

For more information about calendar events, election information and how to get involved, visit http://pasadenaDemocrats.nationbuilder.com/ or http://pasadenafoothillsDemocrats.com/.

The United Democratic HQ is located at 400 S. Lake Ave. in Pasadena. For more information, phone (626) 817-3694. Hours of operation are Monday-Thursday: 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Friday: 10:00 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.; Saturday: 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.; Sunday: 1:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.