When Congressman Xavier Becerra was appointed Attorney General, after AG Kamala Harris was elected US Senator, he left his congressional seat open. Assemblymember Jimmy Gomez, representing the 51st district, was elected to fill his seat in a special election, thus leaving his own Assembly seat open.
While Gomez still hasn’t resigned from the Assembly (or assumed his duties in Washington), when he does there will be an election for AD 51. There are already quite a few candidates for that Assembly seat. In a district won by Bernie Sanders, it’s not surprising that several of these are a couple of #Unbought (candidates that reject corporate and law enforcement PAC money and who support a progressive rights-based agenda).
Here are the Corporate-free candidates we know. We will add others as we determine their positions
Ron Birbaum
An Argentinian-American doctor, father of three, and a community activist, Ron Birbaum is a man on a mission: pass single payer healthcare NOW, before more people die for lack of insurance or money to pay skyrocketing co-pays. Time after time he’s seen the consequences of people who wait too long to go to the doctor because they can’t afford to go earlier, he is committed to changing that dynamic forever.
He’s also an all-around Progressive who supports raising the minimum wage, expanding affordable housing, protecting immigrants and unions and making the Democratic Party democratic. He’s not going to be a Rendon stooge if elected.
Follow Ron on Facebook.
(NOTE: This article previously mentioned Wendy Carrillo, but she has since taken money from corporate-funded PACs)
We’ve contacted other candidates to ascertain their positions on corporate money.
Corporate candidates include:
Mike Fong, a community college trustee and Alex de Ocampo, a Young Democrat (this group is usually made up of establishment political climbers) supported Eric Bauman, a sure sign of putting political careerism above progressive concerns. Don’t vote for them.