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William Summerville
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
William Summerville (Democratic Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent California's 42nd Congressional District. He lost in the primary on June 7, 2022.
Summerville completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
William Summerville was born in Champaign, Illinois. Summerville served in the U.S. Air Force from 2001 to 2008. He earned a bachelor's degree from Henderson State University in 2000 and a graduate degree from Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in 2003. Summerville's career experience includes working as a pastor and a hospice and hospital chaplain. Summerville has been affiliated with the Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, American Baptist Churches of Rochester/Genesee Region, Feel the Bern Democratic Club Orange County, Association of Professional Chaplains, and Boy Scouts of America.[1]
Elections
2022
See also: California's 42nd Congressional District election, 2022
General election
General election for U.S. House California District 42
Robert Garcia defeated John Briscoe in the general election for U.S. House California District 42 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Robert Garcia (D) | 68.4 | 99,217 |
 | John Briscoe (R) | 31.6 | 45,903 | |
| Total votes: 145,120 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for U.S. House California District 42
The following candidates ran in the primary for U.S. House California District 42 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Robert Garcia (D) | 46.7 | 43,406 |
| ✔ | | John Briscoe (R) | 26.1 | 24,319 |
 | Cristina Garcia (D) | 12.6 | 11,685 | |
 | Peter Mathews (D) | 3.7 | 3,415 | |
 | Nicole López (D) | 3.4 | 3,164 | |
 | Julio Cesar Flores (G) | 2.7 | 2,491 | |
 | William Summerville (D) | 2.5 | 2,301 | |
 | Joaquín Beltrán (D) | 2.4 | 2,254 | |
| Total votes: 93,035 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Angel Rios (Independent)
- Saul Castillo (D)
Endorsements
To view Summerville's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released February 28, 2022 |
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William Summerville completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Summerville's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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Reverend William Moses Summerville has a background in public service as far back as being in the Boy Scouts, a commissioned officer in the US Air Force Reserves as a Chaplain Candidate (2nd Lieutenant), and currently serves as a Pastor and Hospice/Hospital Chaplain. Politically, he was a top elected delegate for the 48th CA congressional district at the 2016 and 2020 DNC Convention, supporting Senator Bernie Sanders. He also served as a top elected 73rd Assembly District delegate for the CA State Democratic Party from 2017 through 2019. For his current run for congress, he has recruited a campaign staff that reflects the diversity of our country and the 42nd district. Reverend Summerville's career as a chaplain and pastor, informed by his past struggles of financial and personal hardships, is what inspires him to fight for an America committed to justice. A justice that includes economic, racial, social, health care, and environmental justice for all of us. "I believe America should be a beacon of hope for humanity and the world. I am running on a simple platform: to 'Serve the People.'"
- We need Medicare for All. Our health care system is in shambles and hurts the poor and struggling. We need a system where people don't have to choose between putting food on the table or paying for the medication their children need. We need a system that emphasizes preventative health care to reduce overall costs and lighten the load on emergency rooms and urgent care clinics. We need to fully fund mental health services for wellness, social services, and spiritual care services. And we need a system that doesn't put profit over people's lives and stop electing officials that are indebted to health insurance companies. We need to pass healthcare legislation that will actually serve the people.
- We need Climate Justice. This is more than just fighting climate change. It's being aware of how policy choices disproportionally impact deprived and disenfranchised communities. We need clean water, environmentally conscientious food production, and clean air for all. We have to redirect our efforts into re-inventing our energy and transportation systems to focus on clean energy instead of fossil fuels, leading to a better environment and millions of good-paying jobs. We have to preserve and protect national parks and lands from predatory corporate mining and lumber companies that destroy the environment. We need to invest in alternative clean construction resources that are cost effective and do less harm to the environment.
- We need Comprehensive Reparations. We fix racism, we fix America. We must root out systemic racism that is built into our political, financial, educational, and law enforcement institutions through meaningful policy change. Descendants of US chattel slavery need to be identified as a protected class and financially compensated for their enslaved ancestors on whose backs the wealth of our nation was built. The purpose of Comprehensive Reparations benefits everyone by correcting the wrongs of American history and creating a system of equality and egality for all.
1. We need Campaign Finance reform that takes corporations and dirty money out of the process. They have too much influence on candidates and expect quid-pro-quo from elected officials that end up putting the needs of a few wealthy/corporate donors over the needs of the constituency. This includes reversal of Citizens United.
2. We need Voter Rights protections for all Americans. This means national standards that prevent gerrymandering and political bias that target specific groups to disenfranchise them. Outlawing states from creating laws or government positions that allow public officials to overturn the popular vote. This also means making election day a national holiday so that the working classes can vote. In addition we need to incorporate non-partisan civic organizations/programs for oversight of voting procedures and vote counting.
I look up to my parents, Willie T. and Valerian Alexander Summerville who were both born in the segregated South of Arkansas. They benefited from the policies of desegregation which makes me a child of great policy. They both attended the historically black university AM&N currently known as University of Arkansas Pine Bluff. They moved to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign where my mother closed out her undergraduate degree as one of the first five-hundred black students on campus and my father completed graduate school in choral direction. They were public educators mainly for the Urbana Public School District collectively for 68+ years. They were married for 48 years, but are now deceased. Today the Willie T Summerville Archives can be found at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign Music Library. My parents are an inspiration to me because they served beyond the confines of teaching and parenting. They were both active in community service and advocacy. Through music my father coordinated well over a thousand students getting full scholarships for college. My mother was known for her community service work as the founder of a debutante ball that provided mentoring for over 250 young women and helped raise money for them in pursuit of their higher education. These are just a few examples as to why I look up to my parents and how their influence on me has led me to a life of public service.
My political philosophy is highly informed by movies such as "The Great Debaters", "Remember the Titans", and "X-Men: The Last Stand".
Too soon to call.
"Hotel California." That riff just keeps echoing in my brain. Make it stop! No, wait. Play it again.
The House collectively carries the power as to how we will move forward as a nation and a society. The House of Representatives reflects the population of America and is the most democratic seat in our political system, representing the will of its constituents. This office is unique because it can be either an adversary to the democratic process or the greatest source of advocacy for the American people. The US House of Representatives serves as the last line of defense in protecting American citizens from corporate oligarchies, authoritarianism, and destructive policies implemented by local and state legislatures.
I really don't. Because of our electoral campaign system, I would get maybe one year in office before I have to start campaigning, which leads to a divided focus between trying to raise funds and do my job. Congressional seats should be at least four years with staggered elections on alternate even years so that only half the congress is up for re-election every two years.
I reflect on an oil company that was approved for fracking near a disenfranchised community of black and brown people in my district. This fracking approval, which was a government policy decision, negatively impacted the constituents - some of which have died while others have poisoning in their lungs as a result of these heinous decisions. As a Hospice Chaplain I am highly disturbed that there is no recompense nor accountability from our elected officials to bring voice to these kinds of concerns.
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign website
Summerville's campaign website stated the following:
| “ |
COVID Recovery for All
Economic Justice for All
Fair Housing for All
Climate Justice for All
Medicare for All
Public Education Reform for All
Public Safety Reform for All
Comprehensive Reparations
Universal Basic Income
Political Campaign Reform
|
” |
| —William Summerville's campaign website (2022)[3] | ||
See also
2022 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 28, 2022
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Send Rev. William Summerville to Congress, “Issues,” accessed May 23, 2022
Senators
Alex Padilla (D)
Adam Schiff (D)
Representatives
District 1
Doug LaMalfa (R)
District 2
Jared Huffman (D)
District 3
Kevin Kiley (R)
District 4
Mike Thompson (D)
District 5
Tom McClintock (R)
District 6
Ami Bera (D)
District 7
Doris Matsui (D)
District 8
John Garamendi (D)
District 9
Josh Harder (D)
District 10
Mark DeSaulnier (D)
District 11
Nancy Pelosi (D)
District 12
Lateefah Simon (D)
District 13
Adam Gray (D)
District 14
Eric Swalwell (D)
District 15
Kevin Mullin (D)
District 16
Sam Liccardo (D)
District 17
Ro Khanna (D)
District 18
Zoe Lofgren (D)
District 19
Jimmy Panetta (D)
District 20
Vince Fong (R)
District 21
Jim Costa (D)
District 22
David Valadao (R)
District 23
Jay Obernolte (R)
District 24
Salud Carbajal (D)
District 25
Raul Ruiz (D)
District 26
Julia Brownley (D)
District 27
District 28
Judy Chu (D)
District 29
Luz Rivas (D)
District 30
Laura Friedman (D)
District 31
Gil Cisneros (D)
District 32
Brad Sherman (D)
District 33
Pete Aguilar (D)
District 34
Jimmy Gomez (D)
District 35
Norma Torres (D)
District 36
Ted Lieu (D)
District 37
District 38
Linda Sánchez (D)
District 39
Mark Takano (D)
District 40
Young Kim (R)
District 41
Ken Calvert (R)
District 42
Robert Garcia (D)
District 43
Maxine Waters (D)
District 44
Nanette Barragán (D)
District 45
Derek Tran (D)
District 46
Lou Correa (D)
District 47
Dave Min (D)
District 48
Darrell Issa (R)
District 49
Mike Levin (D)
District 50
Scott Peters (D)
District 51
Sara Jacobs (D)
District 52
Juan Vargas (D)
Democratic Party (45)
Republican Party (9)
