San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club

The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club (LDC) rejects GrowSF’s irresponsible statement mischaracterizing the LDC’s reasons for departing from the San Francisco Democratic Party (SFDP).

San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club Announces Departure from the SF Democratic Party  

The SFLDC will recharter outside the SF Democratic Party with other entities

San Francisco, CA - The San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club (SFLDC) announces today that we are formally withdrawing from the San Francisco Democratic Party and will no longer recognize the local party as a legitimate representative of our community's values or interests.  

President’s Column

This year has offered new beginnings, a time of reset, reflection, and recentering. For our city, we have a new Mayor, 5 new supervisors, and a sense of hope. For the first time in a long time, there seems to be camaraderie and a willingness to listen that has been lacking under previous leadership, and our city is anticipating better days ahead locally. However, these are not normal times.

We - as a community- must remain vigilant, and grounded, if we are to ensure these better days come to all of us, not just the select few. Nationally, we are in troubled times for the Latino community, where so much fear and anxiety abound, not just for our newcomer immigrants, but with the xenophobic attacks on birthright citizenship rights for generations of Latinos, which is currently advancing to the Supreme Court. In sane times, the Constitution makes these unalienable rights clear. However, these are not normal times.

We have insurrectionists and impeached felons in the highest office in the land. We have activists disappearing for exercising first amendment rights of free speech, mass layoffs at the federal level to dismantling our government by unelected corporate oligarchs, corrupt “democratic” leaders making immigration enforcement deals in exchange for charges waived. And we have some of our same democratic leaders platforming nazis and election deniers, while scapegoating trans youth, all for selfish future presidential hopes. Just yesterday,  ten Senate Democrats voted against their caucus to pass a budget deal that slashes Medicare, food benefits, and affordable housing. We cannot normalize this.

Appeasing those who wish to eradicate us is a piss poor solution; and not a winning strategy. Democrats should avoid this and focus on base building through engaging our community. The LDC is especially focused on it this year, as we look to expand language access and bilingual voter drives to increase our membership ranks and cultivate our future leadership. If we are to win, we must bring Latinos back to the Party, and we do this by fighting for Latino issues, with trusted Latino messengers. The SFLDC’s voice is critically required, as these are not normal times.

Kevin Ortiz, President
San Francisco Latinx Democratic Club