Ian Grimes will be mighty busy this summer. Handing out and posting flyers, going door-to-door and, maybe, even debating are some of the things that will keep him busy. But this SF State senior won’t be working your typical summer job — he’ll be campaigning for state office.

Running on the Peace and Freedom party ticket, Grimes, 24, is vying for a four-year term on California’s 3rd Senate District seat. The district covers half of San Francisco, all of Marin County and southern Sonoma County. Grimes, a broadcasting student, has been a Peace and Freedom member ever since he began to vote. After noticing in October that no Peace and Freedom candidate was on the ballot for the seat, Grimes sought the nomination and won it. In the March primary he received 325 votes. He doesn’t believe he’ll actually win, but that’s not deterring him.

Not many have heard of the Peace and Freedom party, but it is nothing new to Grimes. He grew up around the party in Berkeley — his mother introduced him to it.

“Instead of taking him to Marine World or things like that, I would drag him to demonstrations,” says his mother, Marsha Feinland, who is running for U.S. Senate. “I was totally thrilled when Ian told me that he was going to run. I thought he wasn’t interested in politics because I use to drag him out with me to events. He’s a smart young guy, he’s in touch with the youth and has a desire to make changes in the state.”

A change Grimes would like to see is alternative contenders for people to vote for in elections, like him.

“I’m doing this mainly because there is nobody to vote for,” says Grimes of the current candidates and elected officials. “Right now I truly feel that I’m not being represented by the people who are in office now. I present an alternative to the status quo as a Peace and Freedom candidate. Most of the politicians who are in office now are really just crooks. They’re just out to ride the gravy train, take money from big corporations, get elected and then vote for what the guys up in the suites want — not what the working class people want.”

The Peace and Freedom party, which has about 79,000 registered voters in California, stands for socialism, democracy, ecology, feminism and racial equality. They want to organize and educate the public and believe the role of government should be to make sure everyone has jobs, housing, education, health care and equal rights.

“It’s not a big party in any sense,” says Grimes. “We’re the only socialist party out there and it all started here in California, back in the late 60s. It’s a group that I’ve known about for a while now and has been growing ever since. I want to be a part of it and it’s not going to be an easy job in any sense.”

Grimes got his name on the ballot by getting out and doing footwork. He gathered signatures from Peace and Freedom party members in San Francisco by hitting the streets, knocking on doors and attending anti-war demonstrations and other protests.

“Gathering those signatures wasn’t easy,” Grimes says. “Many came from friends who weren’t registered voters and the rest came from going out to different political rallies, where I thought I’d find Peace and Freedom members.”

After receiving about 60 signatures and paying nearly $400 dollars, Grimes was officially the Peace and Freedom party candidate. Once he graduates, Grimes plans to start working full time on his campaign.

“This summer is my time to get out there and campaign,” says Grimes. “I going to hit the streets, put up and hand out flyers, things like that to spread the word. I’ll also go to places that I hang out at, like nightclubs and DJ bars and tell people what I’m doing. I want to get my peers to come out and vote.”

Along with getting his generation to the ballots, Grimes also hopes to get the word out about what he considers extremely important issues, including health care, education and increasing the minimum wage.

“Everyone should have basic health care, we pay and pay these insurance companies but when it comes time for them to pay, we have to fight,” says Grimes. “As for education, ask any student right now at this school if they’re feeling the repercussions of our current elected officials. And you can also ask them if they think they could live here in San Francisco on minimum wage.”

Meanwhile, he is finishing up his studies at SF State and interning at Tech TV in San Francisco, working with studio operations in the audio department. At school, Grimes stays busy with his major work, doing a number of projects as an editor and videographer. Just like any soon-to-be graduate Grimes is looking for a job and the senate seat could be his next task.

“I could use the job,” says Grimes of the $99,000 a year salary given to state senators. “If elected I would be a public servant and not a politician. My one campaign promise is to work hard to help strengthen California.”

Sources:
Ian Grimes 415 713 4947
Marsha Feinland 510 845 7251
www.peaceandfreedom.org
http://www.ss.ca.gov/elections/sov/2004_primary/contents.htm