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The latest additions to the campaign website:

Coming Up

Upcoming campaign events:

11 February 2007 to 7 March 2007
deadline for potential candidates to register out of other parties to run in 3 June 2008 P&F primary
13 November 2007 to 8 December 2007
deadline for potential candidates to be registered as Peace & Freedom to run in 3 June 2008 P&F primary

 

Mike Lopez for Assembly, 5th District

The name of Mike Lopez of North Highlands will appear on the ballot as the Peace and Freedom Party candidate for state Assembly in the 5th Assembly District, which includes northern portions of Sacramento County (Folsom, Fair Oaks, Orangevale, Citrus Heights, North Highlands, Foothill Farms, Arden-Arcade, Elverta, and parts of the city of Sacramento north of I-80, or east of CSUS and north of US-50, or in a neighborhood just north of Cal Expo) and Granite Bay in Placer County.

Statement by P&F State Chair Kevin Akin

Late in 2005, Mike Roskey and Mike Lopez, two excellent active union members who work for the State of California, agreed to run for office as Peace and Freedom Party candidates. Mike Roskey took out papers to run for Congress in the 3rd District, and Mike Lopez took out papers to run for State Assembly in the 5th District. We knew that a number of state workers had run for partisan office before, and no one suggested that they would be violating any rule or law by running.

After they filed their signatures and their declarations of candidacy, they were confronted by managers who told them that they would be fired if they did not take their names off the ballot. They were told then, when it was too late to withdraw, that they work for a federal program run by the state, and thus come under the provisions of federal laws prohibiting civil service workers from running for partisan office. The California Elections Code does not permit the withdrawal of candidates after their declarations of candidacy have been filed, or their removal from the ballot. But in order to keep their jobs, Mike Lopez and Mike Roskey have been forced to issue statements and send letters withdrawing their candidacies. Both have withdrawn, but their names remain on the ballot.

The Peace and Freedom Party opposes limitations on workers who want to run for office. it is absurd to suppose that a researcher or a printer could exercise undue influence on others, or otherwise engage in the corruption the federal law was originally meant to restrain. But short of spending huge amounts of money on a court case, we are stuck with a situation in which two good candidates are unable to run, but will have their names on the ballot.

We are printing their letters below, to satisfy the demands their managers made in an agreement not to fire them. But their request that they not be considered candidates is not binding on their party, or on you, the voters. You may vote for them.

As State Chair of the Peace and Freedom Party, I urge voters to cast their ballots for Mike Roskey and Mike Lopez in order to indicate opposition to their unjust removal from the campaign, and to show your support for the Peace and Freedom Party. The Peace and Freedom Party and its candidates want US troops withdrawn immediately from Iraq, they want the minimum wage doubled and indexed to inflation, they stand for the rights of working people in Sacramento, in Washington, and all around the world. Only by placing your marks next to the names of the candidates of the Peace and Freedom Party can you send this message in this election. Even if the candidate has been forced to withdraw, that message will be heard loud and clear when you vote. Thank you!

Letter from Mike Lopez:

This letter is to offically notice the Peace & Freedom Party that I am withdrawing as a candidate for the office of State Assembly District 5. I no longer seek to run for this office for the Peace and Freedom party. I have also ceased any and all campaign-related activities related to this position. If elected, I will resign the position immediately.

This letter is also to request that you modify the information on your website to reflect my withdrawal as a candidate.

Sincerely,
(signature)
MICHAEL LOPEZ

Contact Information

Postal mailing address:
Mike Lopez for Assembly, 1403 Los Padres Way, Sacramento, CA 95831-2837
Phone number:
916/422-5395
Campaign email:
mlopez@peaceandfreedom2006.org
 

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