Democratic Primaries

brooklynite

(94,502 posts) Wed Nov 6, 2019, 06:03 PM Nov 2019

DNC says UCLA will no longer host upcoming Democratic debate

Politico

The Democratic National Committee on Wednesday announced that the University of California, Los Angeles, would no longer host the December presidential primary debate, citing a campus controversy related to an ongoing labor fight.

“In response to concerns raised by the local organized labor community in Los Angeles, we have asked our media partners to seek an alternative site for the December debate,” DNC senior adviser Mary Beth Cahill said in an emailed statement. “We will be in touch with more information when it is available.”

The news of the venue change from the party organization comes amid a boycott of speaking engagements at the University of California demanded by AFSCME Local 3299, the school’s largest employee union, which has been locked in a dispute with the the 10-campus system for nearly three years.

UCLA said in a statement that it did not wish to become a "distraction" for the upcoming debate. "With regret, we have agreed to step aside as the site of the debate rather than become a potential distraction during this vitally important time in our country’s history," the statement read.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden