One of the candidates running to replace Barbara Lee as our representative in Congress is having a hard time getting attention, so she's posted this video:

When the candidate and her campaign consultant(s) set out to make this, did they read up on the horseshoe theory of politics and just try to turn it into a YouTube video? What an odd combination of "far-left" and "far-right" positions and attitude all mashed together...

Anyway, I share this video less about its contents and more as an example of how here in California, the real election is often in the primary.

Lateefah Simon decisively won the primary in March:

Presidential Primary Election - 03/05/2024 results from AC Vote

Jennifer Tran may have used her boxing gloves to metaphorically knock out some competitors — but those competitors that she successfully beat in the open primary were, in 3rd and 4th place:

Tony Daysog, running for US Congress on his own "horseshoe"-like platform for universal healthcare combined with withdrawing US troops and monetary support from our NATO allies in Europe. It's unclear how that squares with his 2016 comments about how he thinks of himself as a "moderate Republican" or squares with his actual track record of votes and non-votes on Alameda City Council. (In any case, now's the time to bookmark the 4 pages he sent in to the Green Party of Alameda County in pursuit of their endorsement for US Congress, before he fully transforms himself back into whatever milquetoast form he thinks will enable him to be elected Mayor of Alameda in two years.)
Stephen Slauson, who's since moved on to running for Alameda City Council on this November ballot a platform of climate-change denial.

💡

No doubt that enough "insiders" got the message in advance that Lateefah Simon was interested in running for this seat for Congress that they cleared out of her way before the primary.

However, if other established Dem elected officials had ran in the primary, then a brand-new newcomer like Tran would almost certainly not have advanced to the general election and been able to make her video saying that "the corporate mega party is trying to steal our Congressional seat in DC."

In any case, the California Democratic Party is ideally welcoming newcomers and potential candidates into the "big tent" — but not necessarily as candidates for US Congress, a role that requires deep experience and relationships.

💡

Sometimes California's "top two" open primary races do lead to major general election races. As the national news media have re-told Kamala Harris's biography, they often seem to leave out her 2016 race for Senate, in which she fought and won a contentious general-election race against another experienced Dem. It's good evidence of how Harris knows how to win elections.

Here's a similarly short video on YouTube about Lateefah Simon, when she recently spoke from the stage of the Democratic National Convention:

For what it's worth, I have no need to hear a debate between the two candidates in this general election for our US Congress seat. Based on her statements and performance during the primary, I, for one, am confident casting my vote for Lateefah Simon for US Congress.

"Top two" open primary races can make for strange general elections, like the inner East Bay's race for Congress