Daraka Larimore-Hall, long head of Santa Barbara County’s Democratic Central Committee, emerged out of the nastiest, most bruising state Democratic Party convention in decades — held a week ago in Sacramento — winning election by overwhelming numbers to the number two spot in the party hierarchy as male vice chair of the California Democratic Party. If Larimore-Hall’s lopsided victory — he took 84 percent of the votes — was lost in the din, that’s because of the high-octane vitriol, rancor, and vituperation that boiled over between activists claiming allegiance to Bernie Sanders and the more mainstream activists in the battle to succeed John Burton as party chair. The outcome of that contest even now remains hotly disputed as candidate Kimberly Ellis — who appears to have lost by just 62 votes — filed an official challenge this Tuesday.
Ellis, an African-American from Richmond with the organization Emerge, ran against established party leader Eric Bauman, a gay-rights advocate from Los Angeles, by surfing a wave of activist insurrection against the status quo of moderate, mainstream party officials. They took to the streets, demanding, among other things, that the Democratic Party cease accepting donations from oil companies. They shouted down Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez, whom they accused of cozying up to big corporations, prompting outgoing statewide party chair Burton, famous for his freewheeling use of F-bombs, to tell them to “shut the F up.” (Burton would also lead party leaders on stage in a collective middle-finger salute directed to President Donald Trump.)
“It was the most divisive I’ve ever seen,” said Larimore-Hall, known in Santa Barbara political circles for his fierce, take-no-prisoners brand of progressive politics. “We need to figure out how to come together as a party.” Larimore-Hall noted that both candidates supported Hillary Clinton for president, single-payer health insurance, and LGBT rights. “It’s not a difference on policy; it’s more a matter of style and personality.”