The Fresno County Democratic Central Committee has not endorsed any candidate in this race.
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
April 3, 2017
Contact: Dave Jacobson, (818) 943-2348
Maclen Zilber, (510) 508-9142
Jacobson & Zilber Strategies
AVALANCHE OF ENDORSEMENTS CONTINUE FALLING RICARDO LARA’S WAY
Slew of Northern California All-Star Democrats Endorse Senator Ricardo Lara for California Insurance Commissioner
LONG BEACH, CA — Broadening his already wide-ranging list of supporters in his campaign for California State Insurance Commissioner, today State Senator Ricardo Lara picked up endorsements from some of Northern California’s most influential leaders, including:
- State Assembly Member and LGBT Caucus Chair Evan Low
- State Assembly Member Kevin McCarty
- State Assembly Member Tony Thurmond
The leaders released the following statements:
“Ricardo Lara is the personification of progress. The son of immigrants who grew up in east LA and who today proudly serves as an openly gay leader and voice of California’s 33rd District in the State Senate, he’s lived through the struggles that so many in our state have grappled with. These experiences reflect much of what made Ricardo the person he is today. It’s why he’s fought so hard to bring progress, inclusivity, compassion and a level playing field on behalf of the people of our state. I’m thrilled to stand with my friend, Ricardo Lara, in his campaign for Insurance Commissioner.”
— State Assembly Member and LGBT Caucus Chair Evan Low
“Ricardo Lara doesn’t just talk-the-talk, he walks-the-walks and delivers for the people he represents. He spearheaded healthcare for ALL of California’s children, made bilingual education a reality, took on climate change, invested more in schools, protected workers’ rights, raised California’s minimum wage and more. These are a few of the reasons why I’m endorsing Ricardo Lara. I know he’ll make a terrific State Insurance Commissioner.”
— State Assembly Member Tony Thurmond
“I’m endorsing Ricardo Lara for State Insurance Commissioner because I know he’ll be a bold watchdog for California’s consumers. We need Ricardo leading the charge against the Trump Administration’s plans to water down consumer protections by doing everything in his power to strengthen these safeguards for our state’s consumers. I know he’ll make us proud.”
— State Assembly Member Kevin McCarty
Only days since entering the race for California State Insurance Commissioner, State Senator Ricardo Lara has had the wind at his back, receiving a series of high-powered endorsements including from:
- State Senate President pro Tempore Kevin de León
- State Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon
- California Board of Equalization Chair Fiona Ma
- State Assembly Speaker Emeritus and State Senator Toni Atkins
- State Assembly Speaker Emeritus and State Senator Robert Hertzberg
- State Senator Holly Mitchell
- State Senator Ben Hueso
- State Senator Tony Mendoza
- State Senator Scott Wiener
- State Senator Mark Leno (Ret.)
- State Assembly Member Jimmy Gomez
- State Assembly Member Miguel Santiago
- State Assembly Member Blanca Rubio
- State Assembly Member Eduardo Garcia
- State Assembly Member Jacqui Irwin
- State Assembly Member and LGBT Caucus Chair Evan Low
- State Assembly Member Kevin McCarty
- State Assembly Member Tony Thurmond
- State Assembly Member Susan Bonilla (Ret.)
- Sacramento Mayor and former State Senate President pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg
- Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia
- California Democratic Party First Vice Chair Alex Rooker
- California Young Democrats’ President Eddie Kirby
Just weeks ago, Senator Lara, who recently co-introduced Californians for a Healthy California Act (SB 562), which amounts to single-payer healthcare for the state, announced that he is running to serve as California’s State Insurance Commissioner – a statewide elected office dedicated to protecting consumers, enforcing all insurance regulations, and safeguarding Californians’ economic and health security.
Dubbed by the Los Angeles Times as the “Point man in the push for immigrant rights,” Senator Lara, who also previously served as Chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus and currently serves as Vice Chair of the California Legislative Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Caucus, announced his candidacy by previously releasing the following statement:
“Our nation is in full blown crisis mode right now. We have a man in the White House with no popular mandate, who is methodically working to strip Americans of their healthcare, their economic security and their civil liberties.
“I’m running to be California’s next State Insurance Commissioner because I believe at my core that California needs a strong defender, and a counterpuncher, who will stand up to fight our bullying President, Donald Trump, and his increasingly reckless federal government on issues from healthcare access to economic security and more. If millions of Californians begin losing their health insurance because of actions taken by Donald Trump, I will be there to fight him tooth and nail at every pass.
“As California’s Insurance Commissioner, I’ll work tirelessly to represent the great people of California, not the corporations, the billionaire class, the pharmaceutical or the insurance companies. I plan to work with anybody who is willing to come to the table, but my allegiance will always be first and foremost to the consumers, the patients, our working families, and our most vulnerable communities in our Golden State.”
As a State Senator, Ricardo Lara has already been a leader on numerous issues that the office of the Insurance Commissioner interacts with. As stated above, he recently co-introduced a single-payer healthcare system for the state, and also spearheaded the groundbreaking law that provided health care for 170,000 immigrant children, and has played a strong, dynamic role in shaping, implementing and expanding Covered California.
In 2016, Senator Lara engineered the successful statewide campaign to allow for multi-lingual education in California’s schools. He was also one of the key leaders behind a landmark effort to grant driver’s licenses to undocumented immigrants in California. This legislation is more important than ever, now that Donald Trump has instructed border patrol agents that they may deport undocumented immigrants for the “crime” of driving without a license.
Senator Lara was born and raised in East Los Angeles and attended schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District. He graduated from San Diego State University with a double major in Journalism and Spanish. He worked as a legislative staffer for years, including working for State Assembly Speaker Fabian Nuñez and for then-Assemblymember and now State Senate President pro Tem Kevin de Léon. In 2010, Senator Lara was elected to the California State Assembly, and in 2012, he was elected to the California State Senate, where he made history as the first openly gay person of color in the State Senate.
His 33rd Senate District is expansive, encompassing nearly one million people, roughly 70% of which is Latino. The district is located in the heart of the South Bay and stretches from Long Beach to Lynwood, and from Huntington Park to Lakewood and Los Angeles.
Significantly, if elected, Senator Lara would be the first openly gay statewide elected official in California. Today, Senator Lara serves as Chairman of the Appropriations Committee of the California State Senate, considered to be perhaps the most influential committee in the California State Senate.
