NEA Democratic Caucus Midterm Mixer 2026

NEA Democratic Caucus

Oct 16

3 min read

Updated: 28 minutes ago

Please join us for our 2nd Biennial Midterm Event event featuring :

Connie Chan for Congressional District 11 (Nancy Pelosi's Seat)
Dr. Richard Pan for Congressional District 6
Chris Anderson for Lodi City Council
Karen Sher for County Superintendent of Ventura Public Schools

See the Zoom information below.

Event Recording (Coming Soon)

Special thanks to Chair Owen Jackman and 2nd Vice Chair Rori Abernethy for organizing this event. And to 1st Vice Chair Patrick Crabtree who created the event in 2022.

Event Recap

The meeting was a pre-election mixer for the NEA Democratic Caucus, chaired by Owen Jackman. Several candidates shared their platforms and experiences. Christopher spoke about his campaign for city council in Lodi and the "See Educators Run" program, emphasizing the importance of educators running for office and the value of one-on-one voter engagement. Connie Chan, running for Congress in San Francisco, discussed her background as an immigrant and her commitment to public education, affordable childcare, and regulating AI. Dr. Richard Pan, a pediatrician running for Congress, highlighted his work in school health and special education funding, and he addressed concerns about data centers and AI.

NEA President Princess Moss briefly joined to express support for pro-public education wins. Owen closed the meeting with strong remarks against a controversial political ad and urged members to get out and vote.

AI Regulation and Education Discussion

Connie Chan, running for Congress in San Francisco to replace Nancy Pelosi in California, discussed her background as an immigrant and her commitment to public education, affordable childcare, and regulating AI. Connie discussed the need for regulations on AI development, particularly regarding environmental impact and workforce protection, expressing support for Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal's National AI Charter Act.

Karen Schur, a 33-year middle school language arts teacher and school board member, shared her experience running for Ventura County superintendent of schools and highlighted the importance of teachers in politics, noting that one in seven voters in the US is either a teacher or related to one. Karen is running for Ventura County Superintendent of Schools, and Dr. Richard Pan, a candidate for Congress and announced she would be the first woman elected to the position in almost 100 years and the first practicing classroom teacher to become superintendent.

The conversation ended with an unexpected appearance by Princess, creating a surprise moment at the end.

Dr. Richard Pan

Dr. Pan discussed his background as a pediatrician specializing in school health and learning disabilities, highlighting his work on special education funding and Medicaid programs for school districts. When asked about data centers, Dr. Pan expressed concerns about environmental impacts and the need for transparency, while also discussing the challenges of AI in education and the importance of establishing safety guardrails.

Charter Schools and Public Education

Dr. Richard discussed the challenges of school closures and charter schools, emphasizing the need for local teachers unions to be involved in decision-making processes and questioning the rationale for opening charter schools in closed public school facilities. Vanessa and Patrick raised concerns about charter schools potentially privatizing public education and under-serving special education students, to which Dr. Richard responded that California has some requirements in place for charter school approvals and special education students, though these may not be sufficient. Dr. Richard suggested that addressing underfunding of special education and increasing community involvement in charter school approvals could help mitigate these issues.

NEA Democratic Caucus Final Speech

Owen delivered his final speech as chair of the NEA Democratic Caucus, expressing strong opposition to a political ad targeting Dr. Amy Acton and criticizing what he viewed as hypocrisy in Republican campaign tactics. He urged attendees to actively support union-endorsed Democratic candidates in the upcoming elections. The conversation ended with calls for increased voter engagement and phone banking efforts over the weekend to support Democratic candidates in closely contested races.