LGBTQ, women candidates ready to make history with record numbers + Tackling fentanyl
Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!
EQUALITY CALIFORNIA PREPARES FOR LGBTQ CANDIDATES TO MAKE HISTORY
With a record number of LGBTQ candidates on the ballot today, California is poised to make history with the midterm election.
According to Equality California, there were 178 LGBTQ candidates for office in California this year, more than in any other state.
If all four out LGBTQ assemblymembers win reelection and at least four new LGBTQ lawmakers gain office, California could become the first state in the nation to achieve 10% LGBTQ representation in the State Legislature.
Assembly candidates Corey Jackson and Rick Chavez Zbur (former Equality California executive director) and Senate candidate Steve Padilla are expected to win their races, and in Senate District 20, both candidates — Daniel Hertzberg and Caroline Menjivar — are LGBTQ.
If Assembly candidates Christy Holstege, Shawn Kumagai and Joseph Rocha win, the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus could grow to 15 members.
In addition, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, who is openly gay, is running in the 42nd Congressional District Former federal prosecutor Will Rollins, also openly gay, is running in the 41st.
WOMEN ALSO POISED TO MAKE HISTORY TUESDAY
The nonprofit group Close The Gap, which recruits and prepares progressive women to run for the California State Legislature reported that at least 42 California lawmakers will be women after Election Day, a record high of 35%. Its goal is to achieve gender parity by 2028.
Women currently hold 32.5% of legislative seats, with 39 seats out of 120.
“Term limits, redistricting, and legislators pursuing new opportunities have combined to create a ‘motherlode’ of 38 open seats this year. With no incumbent on the ballot, open seats level the playing field for more women to compete and win,” according to Close The Gap, founded in the mid-2010s to address the declining number of women in the Legislature.
CORTESE TO INTRODUCE FENTANYL OVERDOSE PREVENTION BILL
San Jose Democratic Sen. Dave Cortese announced Monday that he will introduce a bill to take Santa Clara County’s fentanyl overdose prevention program statewide.
Cortese’s office cited The Mercury News’ reporting that one in five deaths of youths aged 15 to 24 were caused by fentanyl.
The legislation would distribute information on the impact of fentanyl, ask counties to set up Behavioral Health Advisory Councils and establish a restorative justice framework for unintentional possession by victims of spiking. It would embed fentanyl prevention groups in school-site councils and provide schools with Narcan kits and training on how to blunt the effects of fentanyl.
. “We cannot wait for this crisis to exacerbate further,” Cortese said in a statement.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Consider this voting filter.... if you would not trust them to drive your children home, don’t vote for them.”
- California GOP consultant Matt Rexroad, via Twitter.
Best of The Bee:
Your vote counts — but when and how is it counted? Via Savanna Smith, Hanh Truong and Brianna Taylor.
These are election results to watch after polls close in California on Nov. 8 — and likely for weeks to come as the state continues to count votes in tight races for the U.S. House of Representatives, via Gillian Brassil.
Is a Republican wave about to sweep the country and help elect lots of California GOP candidates? Can Gavin Newsom top his vote totals in previous elections? Who will show up to vote...and what difference does that make? Via David Lightman.