California Recap and CU Grassroots Advocacy Reminders

California voting illustration

With less than 100 days until the November mid-term election, California’s primary election results have been certified and are available here. The autumn ballot will include seven propositions, although many others failed to qualify, including one to raise the minimum wage to $18 an hour. You can view the complete list here.

Despite redistricting, the California Credit Union League’s advocacy team does not expect any significant changes in the overall partisan makeup of the California State Legislature come November. Democrats will still maintain supermajorities in the assembly and senate. Most Republican districts will remain as they are.

However, the League’s advocacy team is keeping watch on whether the state legislature turns slightly more liberal or moderate as there are a handful of competitive races between Democratic candidates in which outside spending by business and labor interests may influence the results.

Likewise, in the California Congressional Delegation, the League’s advocacy team does not foresee a major change in the partisan split. However, the direction of the overall U.S. House and Senate will be competitive this year — and at this point it appears to favor a GOP majority.

Below are the key races that Sacramento insiders are looking at. If you have any questions about who the League is supporting, the full candidate slate will be “live” and posted in the coming weeks.

Key California Senate Races
Senate districts (SD):

  • SD4 (NEW) — Tim Robertson (D) vs Marie Alvarado-Gil (D)
  • SD8 (Pan) — Dave Jones (D) vs. Angelique Ashby (D)
  • SD10 (Weickowski) — Lily Mei (D) vs. Aisha Wahab (D)
  • SD16 (OPEN) — David Shepard (R) vs. Melissa Hurtado (D)
  • SD20 (Bob Hertzberg) — Daniel Hertzberg (D) vs. Caroline Menjivar (D)
  • SD36 (Nguyen) — Janet Nguyen (R) vs. Kim Carr (D)

Key California Assembly Races
Assembly districts (AD):

  • AD10 (Cooper) — Stephanie Nguyen (D) vs. Eric Guerra (D)
  • AD20 (Quirk) — Liz Ortega (D) vs. Shawn Kumagai (D)
  • AD22 (NEW) — Juan Alanis (R) vs. Jessica Self (D)
  • AD24 (Lee) — Alex Lee (D) vs. Bob Burton (R)
  • AD27 (Gray) — Esmeralda Soria (D) vs. Mark Nicholas Pazin (R)
  • AD 35 (Salas) — Leticia Perez (D) vs. Jasmeet Bains (D)
  • AD39 (NEW) — Paul Andrew Marsh (R) vs. Juan Carrillo (D)
  • AD40 (Valladares) — Suzette Martinez Valladares (R) vs. Pilar Schiavo (D)
  • AD60 (OPEN) — Hector Diaz-Nava (R) vs. Corey A. Jackson (D)
  • AD62 (Burke) Special General Election Results — Tina McKinnor (D) won the special election against Robert Pullen Miles (D) with 51.6% of the vote.
  • AD61 (Burke) Regular Primary Election Results — Robert Pullen Miles (D) vs. Tina McKinnor (D)
  • AD64 (C. Garcia) — Raul Ortiz, Jr. (R) vs. Blanca Pacheco (D)
  • AD68 (Daly) — Avelino Valencia (D) vs. Mike Tardif (R)
  • AD76 (Maienschein) — Brian Maienschein (D) vs. Kristi Bruce-Lane (R)
  • AD80 (Gonzalez) Special General Election Results — David Alvarez (D) won the special election against Georgette Gomez (D) with 54.5% of the vote.
  • AD80 (Gonzalez) Regular Primary Election Results — Georgette Gomez (D) vs. David Alvarez (D)

Other Notable California Races
Additional important districts include:

  • Attorney General: Rob Bonta (D) vs. Nathan Hochman (R) — Bonta secured more than half of the vote; Schubert was a distant fourth.
  • CA22 (Conway) — Rudy Salas (D) vs. David Valadao (R)
  • CA27 (Chu) — Mike Garcia (R) vs. Christy Smith (D)
  • CA40(Roybal-Allard) — Asif Mahmood (D) vs. Young Kim (R)

Grassroots Advocacy Reminders
With a big election year, many new legislators will be elected to Congress and to the California State Legislature. It is more important now than ever to continue fostering and building relationships with your local elected officials and community leaders. Here are some simple steps you can take today to get your credit union more involved in advocacy:

  • 1) Subscribe to your legislator’s newsletter on their websites and follow them on social media to stay up to date with upcoming events and district news.
  • 2) Attend legislative town halls and community coffee events. If financial topics are on the agenda, that is a great opportunity to offer the credit union perspective as a guest speaker or presenter.
  • 3) Invite legislators to attend all your credit union’s financial literacy events like Bite of Reality or Senior Scam Stoppers. Even if the legislator is unable to attend, invite staff to attend on their behalf.
  • 4) Invite legislators to attend additional credit union community events like back-to-school backpack drives or Thanksgiving turkey drives.
  • 5) Invite legislators to attend all credit union branch or headquarters grand openings and ribbon cutting events.
  • 6) Attend job and resource fairs hosted by legislators. This is a great opportunity for your credit union to participate as a vendor to share the credit union difference and maintain important relationships through your credit union’s community presence.

To determine which state and federal legislators to invite, use the links below to find the legislative district represented for your event. Don’t forget to invite your local city/county elected officials as well!

In addition to taking those few easy steps to incorporate advocacy into your credit union’s culture, you can partner with the League by engaging in the following advocacy programs and events:

  • 1) Attend state and federal lobby days: the California Government Relations Rally (GRR); the Governmental Affairs Conference (GAC); and Hike the Hill.
  • 2) Host and attend in-district fundraisers at credit unions for League supported candidates.
  • 3) Host and attend in-district meet and greets at credit unions with newly elected legislators.
  • Sign up to receive alerts from Connect for the Cause.
  • Donate to PAC and keep an updated permission agreement on record.
  • Participate in Project Zip Code by updating your membership data file annually.
  • Compose and deliver personalized comment letters to regulators.

Questions? Reach Out to Leagues’ Advocacy Team
Please feel free to contact us:

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