Pacific Palisades Democratic Club to Host Virtual ‘Hot Topics Speaker Series’

By SARAH SHMERLING | Editor-in-Chief

The Pacific Palisades Democratic Club will host Derek Cressman as part of its Hot Topics Speaker Series on Sunday, March 7, via Zoom at 2 p.m.

Cressman, who has testified in the U.S. Senate, served as an expert in federal litigation and authored three books, will speak on “Electing the President: The Electoral College Vote and the National Popular Vote.”

“Author/advocate Derek Cressman will discuss the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, an agreement among a group of U.S. states and the District of Columbia to award all their electoral votes to whichever presidential candidate wins the overall popular vote in the 50 states and the District of Columbia,” PPDC shared ahead of the event. “The compact is designed to ensure that the candidate who receives the most votes nationwide is elected president, and it would come into effect only when it would guarantee that outcome.

“As of February 2021, it has been adopted by 15 states and the District of Columbia. These states have 196 electoral votes, which is 36% of the Electoral College and 73% of the 270 votes needed to give the compact legal force.”

Cressman, an olive grower and award-winning author, has been based in Sacramento since 2000, according to PPDC.

“He worked professionally to reduce big money in politics from 1995-2016 with nonpartisan organizations such as Common Cause and the Public Interest Research Group,” PPDC continued. “In 2014, Derek Cressman ran for California secretary of state. Though he wasn’t elected, the legislature responded to his campaign, and the efforts of others, by referring a question to the ballot instructing Congress to overturn the Citizens United ruling—the central plank of Derek’s campaign platform.”

He has testified before committees of the United States Senate, California State Assembly and Senate, as well as the California Fair Political Practices Commission, according to PPDC. The three books he has authored are “The Recall’s Broken Promise–How Big Money Still Runs California Politics,” “When Money Talks–The High Price of ‘Free’ Speech and the Selling of Democracy” and “Reality(TM) 2048–Watching Big Mother.”

“Derek enjoys spending time with his wife and two daughters,” PPDC shared. “He credits his time running marathons and mountaineering with building his fortitude to tackle obstacles of social change. He is an avid woodworker and picks at the banjo when he needs a break.

“Derek grew up in Colorado Springs and graduated with honors from Williams College in 1990 with a degree in political science.”

The upcoming event will be free to attend. Questions can be directed to info@palisadesdemclub.org; RSVP at palidems.org.