At this time of the election calendar, candidates for the fall are meeting with elected officials and other constituents in hopes of securing a big-name endorsement or, at the very least, pad their growing list of supporters. It’s apparently what Jovanka Beckles, a candidate for the open 15th Assembly District seat this November, was attempting to accomplish Sunday by meeting with Rep. Ro Khanna.
Beckles’ campaign had publicized the scheduled meeting with Khanna on its Twitter feed two weeks ago, raising speculation that Khanna, who has moved vigorously over the past year to burnish his progressive credentials, might endorse her campaign over that of fellow Democrat Buffy Wicks.
But Khanna did not pull the trigger on the endorsement of the Democratic Socialist over the weekend. Instead, Beckles’ campaign issued a press release effectively touting Khanna’s words of encouragement.
“I admire Jovanka’s standing up for Richmond against Chevron and her advocacy for the environment. I also appreciate the fund she voted for to support scholarships for Richmond students,” said Khanna, in a press release from Beckles campaign on Sunday.
“That is the type of bold, progressive leadership that will help us create a more just community, state, and nation. It was a pleasure to meet with her and to discuss issues of economic and racial justice.”
Khanna’s flirtation with Beckles is further curious since he shares with Wicks many of the same individuals who also helped him run for Congress in both 2014 and 2016. Wicks has close ties to President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election team. That group sought to apply the same then-groundbreaking electoral strategies that fueled Obama’s re-election to other levels of government. One of their initial campaigns was Khanna’s first attempt at unseating Mike Honda in 2014.
The endorsement game, though, has been noticeably treacherous for Khanna as of late. Progressives torched Khanna for initially backing centrist Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley over the Justice Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in last week’s New York primary, despite Khanna being the group’s most high-profile member. Khanna quickly backed down and offered Ocasio-Cortez a dual endorsement.
Now Ocasio-Cortez is the darling of the far-left after trouncing Crowley, who was potentially in line to lead House Democrats in the near future. The major upset has insurgent progressives across the country, including Beckles in the East Bay, hoping for a similar result this fall.
In addition, Khanna is also feeling strong opposition within his own district for offering an early endorsement to Fremont City Council candidate Yang Shao, despite his votes as a current Fremont school board member, in opposition to the LGBT community.
ebcitizen.com 
Theomordha: Your post of July 4th is so far off; so inflammatory; so intellectually dishonest, it is hard to reply. No vote? 3/5’s? Poll Test? Poll Tax? Separate but Equal?
Are you just having a stream of conscientious after watching CNN?
I am suggesting nothing of the kind. How could you remotely read that into what I wrote?…here or on my website?
The sick, old, disabled, deserve help, not the lazy.
You are getting boring. Every objection is made to sound like the other side is a “hater.”
You’ll have to do better if you want to have an adult dialogue.
In another comment, you listed how important “facts” are. So, lets grow up a bit. Aye?
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Jovanka is going to have to do it all by her self. the Democrats are going to circle the wagons around a carpetbagger who embraces YIMBIS.
Sad and yet predictable.
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I don’t trust Khanna at all; progressive only when it’s to his advantage
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Ron,, I do not want to misquote you. Are you saying that that the unemployed and lazy deserve nothing and in fact should not be allowed to vote? I think that while that may reflect the original US Constitution,where voting was restricted to property owner’s only, no women and slaves got only 3/5’s of a vote. Are you advocating poll tests and poll taxes? Are looking to go back to Separate But Equal? That is what it sound like.
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Khanna looks to be going as far as he can to support the experienced, progressive candidate in November’s AD15 race, Jovanka Beckles, after endorsing Wicks in the primary. Khanna is on record supporting a ban on PAC campaign money and he proposed legislation in Congress to charge large corporations, such as Walmart, for the costs of federal assistance to underpaid employees. These align with Beckles’s progressive agenda.
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On this, Mr. Khanna is very wise. The looney-tunes Justice Democrats are starting to make even Bernie Sanders blush, by calling to “abolish” I.C.E.
Mr. Khanna knows, that while this radical sliver of the (D) party is getting a lot of press, with Justice Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14th District), Ro knows even most (D)s find them too radical.
There are significant statistics we see in the Republican party showing that many Blacks and Latinos are becoming MORE conservative (I said conservative; not necessarily, Republican)…as all mature people do over time, as they prosper and pay taxes. So, again, Ro is wise not to join the over-emotional Social Justice Warriors of the Justice Democrats.
21% of voters in California are No Party Preference (because they are sick of BOTH parties) and the NPPs swing ALL the elections. Ro knows Ms. Ocasio-Cortez and Ms. Jovanka Beckles make the NPPs
nervous because those candidates are LEFT of LEFT. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez may be having great parties in her district in the Bronx and Queens, and chatting on The View, but 5 miles East or West of the NY-14th District, they’ll have none of it. Money does not grow on trees. Many people are lazy and deserve nothing. Strong borders are important. European Socialist Democratic societies can afford all their benefits because the U.S. pays for their defense. That’s unfair. Capitalism, with all its faults, is the greatest wealth and happiness mechanism, known to mankind. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez disagrees.
By the way, I, Ron Cohen received almost 27,000 votes in our June 5th California Primary, but came in second to Mr. Khanna’s 73,000 votes. Ms. Ocasio-Cortez won the (D) primary with a mere 16,000. The REAL STORY is that so few care, nor voted. https://nypost.com/2018/06/28/most-voters-stayed-home-for-stunning-alexandria-ocasio-cortez-win/ So the media and Ms. Ocasio-Cortez should calm down, just a bit, before talking about her presidential run. And, in my opinion, Ms. Jovanka Beckles is picking the wrong part of the (D) party to team-up with…although it might work for her in Richmond.
I always chuckle to hear Ro is having problems with his party, because a (D) Congressman, from Silicon Valley, California, to some, IS NOT LIBERAL ENOUGH! LOL.
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Once again it’s clear that Ro Khanna is not a progressive but a regular Democrat with little understanding of local politics. His support of the anti LGBTQ Fremont council member Yang Shao shows either his true allegiance or poor staff work on his part. Of course his not supporting Beckles implies that he will support Democratic insider Wicks. Ro is already grooming himself for the Senate. Lots more to hear here.
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