The Miracle Mile Democratic Club (Miracle Mile) is a club charted by the Los Angeles Democratic Party. Miracle Mile has made some controversial endorsements including a 2022 candidate that previously called Joe Biden a racist and sexual predator and previously posted a photo of Hillary Clinton in prison. In 2018, the president of Miracle Mile endorsed incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein’s (D-CA) Democratic opponent. Miracle Mile has also admonished Democratic candidates that voted against increasing the minimum wage.

History

The Miracle Mile Democratic Club was founded in 2013 as a chartered club of the Los Angeles Democratic Party. ¹ Miracle Mile focuses geographically on the north-central Los Angeles neighborhoods of the Miracle Mile, Fairfax District, mid-Wilshire, Hancock Park, Park La Brea, and greater-Wilshire. ²

Activities

In 2022, Miracle Mile Democratic Club endorsed Kenneth Mejia for City Controller despite Mejia’s previously deleted tweets calling Joe Biden a racist and sexual predator. ³ In 2020, while supporting Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein, Mejia wrote, “I can’t waste my vote this year for Joe Biden as much as me & my DEMOCRAT friends love him as a rapist & racist.” ⁴ On Twitter, Mejia used the hashtag #joebidenisaracist. ⁵ In 2016, Mejia posted a photo of him holding a photoshopped image of Hillary Clinton in jail. ⁶

The Los Angeles Democratic party has 84 clubs within the county including Miracle Mile. ⁷ In 2022, Democratic clubs were under scrutiny for receiving payments for endorsements or candidates buying club memberships allowing supporters to vote in the endorsement process. ⁸ To avoid “stacking votes” by one candidate writing a check for multiple supporters, Miracle Mile does not allow candidates to buy more than five memberships. ⁹ There are few restrictions on who may purchase a membership to the Miracle Mile Democratic Club but a new member may not vote within 56 days of becoming a member. ¹⁰

In 2018, former president of the Miracle Mile Democratic Club, Ilissa Gold backed then-State Senator Kevin de Leon (D-Los Angeles) in the U.S. Senate election instead of incumbent Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). ¹¹ In 2022, de Leon, by then a Los Angeles City Councilor, was caught making comments to reduce “black power” on the Los Angeles City Council, and the Miracle Mile Democratic Club called on him to resign from the council. ¹²

In 2016, after a West Hollywood mayor and a city council member voted against a $15 minimum wage, the Miracle Mile Democratic Club sent out a petition admonishing them saying it was “deeply disappointed in the actions . . . in opposing this essential component of building a more equal society.” ¹³

Leadership

Mark R. Edwards has been president of the Miracle Mile Democratic Club since 2021. ¹⁴ In 2020, Edwards was a candidate for Democratic Party County Central Committee. ¹⁵ Since 2017, Edwards has been vice president of government affairs at JVS, a career training and job services organization in Los Angeles. ¹⁶ From 2012 to 2017, Edwards was an impact strategist at MRE Communications providing government relations and political consulting. ¹⁷ He held previous positions with foundations, colleges, consulting groups and campaigns. ¹⁸ Edwards holds a B.A. in Urban Studies, Public Administration, and Community Service from California State University, Northridge. ¹⁹

1. “About Us.” Miracle Mile Democratic Club. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.miraclemiledemocrats.org.
2. “Chartered Headquarters and Clubs.” Los Angeles Democratic Party. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.lacdp.org/clubs. “About Us.” Miracle Mile Democratic Club. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.miraclemiledemocrats.org.
3. Zahniser, David, and Julia Wick. “He Called Biden a Rapist. Now His Deleted Tweets Are Shaking Up the City Controller’s Race.” Los Angeles Times. April 22, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-22/kenneth-mejia-biden-tweets-city-controller-race; “2022 Election Endorsements.” Miracle Mile Democratic Club. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.miraclemiledemocrats.org/endorsements.
4. Zahniser, David, and Julia Wick. “He Called Biden a Rapist. Now His Deleted Tweets Are Shaking Up the City Controller’s Race.” Los Angeles Times. April 22, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-22/kenneth-mejia-biden-tweets-city-controller-race.
5. Zahniser, David, and Julia Wick. “He Called Biden a Rapist. Now His Deleted Tweets Are Shaking Up the City Controller’s Race.” Los Angeles Times. April 22, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-22/kenneth-mejia-biden-tweets-city-controller-race
6. Zahniser, David, and Julia Wick. “He Called Biden a Rapist. Now His Deleted Tweets Are Shaking Up the City Controller’s Race.” Los Angeles Times. April 22, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-04-22/kenneth-mejia-biden-tweets-city-controller-race
7.  “Chartered Clubs.” Los Angeles Democratic Party. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.lacdp.org/clubs.
8. Smith, Dakota, and Summer Lin. “’Pay’ For an Endorsement? L.A.’s Democratic Clubs Under Scrutiny This Election.” Los Angeles Times. November 2, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-02/la-democratic-clubs-endorsements.
9.  Smith, Dakota, and Summer Lin. “’Pay’ For an Endorsement? L.A.’s Democratic Clubs Under Scrutiny This Election.” Los Angeles Times. November 2, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-11-02/la-democratic-clubs-endorsements.
10. “Bylaws.” Miracle Mile Democratic Club. Amended August 4, 2021. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/miraclemiledemocrats/pages/17/attachments/original/1628196590/MMDC_Bylaws_080421.pdf?1628196590.
11. Mehta, Seema, and Phil Willon. “California Democrats’ Snub of Party Icon Dianne Feinstein Could Be a Speed Bump – Or a Signal.” Los Angeles Times. February 26, 2018. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-pol-ca-dianne-feinstein-california-democratic-party-endorsement-20180226-story.html.
12. Walters, Dan. “The Rise and Fall of Careerist Kevin de Leon.” Cal Matters. October 26, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://calmatters.org/commentary/2022/10/the-rise-and-fall-of-careerist-kevin-de-leon/; Paris, Alex. “LA Councilmembers Nury Martinez, Kevin de Leon, and Gil Cedillo Must Resign.” Stonewall Democratic Club. October 9, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://medium.com/stonewalldems/nury-martinez-kevin-de-leon-and-gil-cedillo-must-resign-e56d5198fde7.
13. Wilson, Danielle, and Jorge Seperak. “Rebuttal OpEd – Meister Was Deciding Vote Against Minimum Wage.” WEHOville. September 21, 2022. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://wehoville.com/2022/09/21/op-ed-meister-was-deciding-vote-against-minimum-wage/.
14. “Officers.” Miracle Mile Democratic Club. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.miraclemiledemocrats.org/officers.
15. “Member, Assembly District 50.” Voters Edge. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://votersedge.org/en/ca/ballot/election/2020-03-03/member-democratic-party-county-central-committee-assembly-district-50.
16. “Mark R. Edwards.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mredwards18/; “About Us.” JVS. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.jvs-socal.org/about-us/; “Senior Management.” JVS. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.jvs-socal.org/management-team/; “Mark R. Edwards.” Facebook. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.facebook.com/mark.r.edwards.773.
17. “Mark R. Edwards.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mredwards18/.
18. “Mark R. Edwards.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mredwards18/.
19. “Mark R. Edwards.” LinkedIn. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mredwards18/.