Central Coast political parties discuss whats next on their agenda
CENTRAL COAST, Calif. (KION) Both political parties on the Central Coast will continue to fight for who they believe should represent them.
The Santa Cruz County Democratic Party sees this as a victory and said this is a very strong statement on behalf of continuing the policies of Governor Gavin Newsom and his programs. This includes vaccination, health access, housing expansion, and climate change. But they are now steering their focus on the next election.
“We want to learn about what worked and what didn't work," said Santa Cruz County Democratic Chair, Andrew Goldenkranz. "We had several thousands of new voters since last November. So we want to make sure that they're incorporated into the fold. And that basically, the job for turnout in elections is to take some time voters or new voters and turn them into regular voters.”
Jeff Gorman with the Monterey County Republican Party said the Democratic Party has failed. They're disappointed but their focus is also shifting to next year's election, he said.
According to Gorman, there is work to be done on republican participation. The confidence in elections is very low as many feel disenfranchised. But he also said they're glad that Larry Elder stepped up and proved himself to represent the Republican party.
"We are proud of Larry Elder, he spoke well, and he brought through many of the problems California face with a republican perspective," said Gorman. 'We're hopeful the Democrat Party and the voters of California will realize our ideas are worth listening to."
The Monterey County Republican Party will be attending a convention next week in San Diego. They hope it will produce a great platform to let every Californian know what the republicans stand for.
Political Analyst Dr. David Anderson said the Latino population is growing in California to become the largest single ethnic group. This is why the focus should go on this group and the issues that matter to them such as education, heath, and job security.
"Moving ahead, the Latino population has to get involved in the political process," said Dr. Anderson. "That's important for all political leaders, Latino, not Latino, Republican, Democrat, independent libertarians. Everybody needs to be thinking about that voting group."
