Based on our analysis, there is no progressive candidate to recommend for your vote in this race.
About the Position
State assembly members form part of the California State Legislature and work alongside the governor to establish laws and a state budget. They hold the power to pass bills that affect public policy, set state spending levels, raise and lower taxes, and uphold or override the governor’s vetoes. The California State Assembly has 80 districts. Each represents a population of at least 465,000 Californians. Representatives are elected to the Assembly for a two-year term. Every two years, all 80 seats are subject to election. Members elected before 2012 are restricted to three two-year terms (six years) in the Assembly. Those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years total across both the State Senate or Assembly. This term, Democrats currently hold a two-thirds supermajority of 61 seats in the California State Assembly, while Republicans hold 17 seats. One seat is held by an Independent, and one seat is currently vacant.
About the District
California’s 74th Assembly District includes parts of Orange County. Notable cities within the district include portions of Huntington Beach and Irvine, as well as Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. Republicans held this district until 2018, when Assemblymember Petrie-Norris flipped AD-74 blue. The most recent election results show AD-74 voted for Hillary Clinton for President in 2016, and Gavin Newsom for governor in 2018. AD-74 has one of the highest median family income and property values in the nation. The district is largely white, with a notable Latinx population of about 15 percent.
About the Race
In the primary, Democrat incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris led Republican challenger Diane Dixon by a margin of 27.1 percent. Petrie-Norris’s campaign has raised upwards of $720,000, and is largely funded through numerous law enforcement, corporate, and fossil fuel donors. Republican challenger Diane Dixon’s campaign has raised upwards of $328,000 and is largely funded through individual contributions, as well as some law-enforcement money.
About the Candidate
Representative Cottie Petrie-Norris is the incumbent, having served as assemblymember since 2018. She has failed to take a stance on a number of progressive issues, including criminal-justice reform, environmental protections, and affordable housing.
Norris holds a noticeably regressive voting record. She has voted against key progressive bills on increasing access to affordable housing and issues pertaining to criminal-justice reform. In 2019, she voted against AB 1279, AB 1482, and SB 329, which proposed rent caps and the production of affordable housing and prevented housing discrimination. Norris has also voted against numerous criminal-justice reform legislation, including ACA 6, which restored voting rights for people on parole; SB 310, which allowed formerly incarcerated people to serve on juries; AB 965, which allowed incarcerated youth to earn time off their earliest parole date, and AB 901, which limited youth criminalization. Norris has also abstained from casting a vote for SB 132, which would establish protections for trans individuals who are incarcerated.
In 2020 alone, Norris has voted No on AB 1950 to limit the length of probation terms, and has chosen not to vote on legislation aimed at expanding COVID-19 medical leave protections for workers and amending oil-drilling laws. She has received a Courage Score of 34 out of 100, our annual analysis of legislators’ progressive voting records.
Representative Cottie Petri-Norris has voted against key legislation aimed at increasing police accountability. These include AB 1215, which bans facial-recognition technology from use in police body cameras; AB 1600, which expedites the process to obtain police misconduct records in a criminal trial; and SB 1185, which establishes civilian oversight of county sheriff departments. She has received numerous law-enforcement endorsements, including the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the largest law-enforcement organization in the state.
Representative Petri-Norris has also made concerning statements against the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), citing “negative stereotypes of Israel.” She has stated that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement--a movement that pressures Israel to comply with international law--as “a single, divisive viewpoint.” In the same letter, Norris stated that she is against “the definition of capitalism as a system of oppression.”
Representative Petrie-Norris’s funding is an area of significant concern. She has received significant corporate, fossil fuel, and law-enforcement money. Corporate donations include AT&T, Walgreens, Facebook, Nike, and Walmart. She has received funding from numerous local police departments and associations, as well as the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, California Correctional Peace Officers Association, Peace Officers Research Association of California, and Los Angeles Police Protective League PAC. Representative Norris’s campaign is also significantly funded through fossil fuel money, and she has received funding from such fossil fuel giants as Sempra Energy, Southern California Edison, and Edison International.
Neither demonstrates a commitment to equitable or representative leadership. Because the Democratic candidate in this race is considered to be a safe win in this district, we feel comfortable providing no recommendation in this race. Keep reading for progressive recommendations in other key races and on ballot measures where your vote can make a critical difference.
Based on our analysis, there is no progressive candidate to recommend for your vote in this race.
About the Position
State assembly members form part of the California State Legislature and work alongside the governor to establish laws and a state budget. They hold the power to pass bills that affect public policy, set state spending levels, raise and lower taxes, and uphold or override the governor’s vetoes. The California State Assembly has 80 districts. Each represents a population of at least 465,000 Californians. Representatives are elected to the Assembly for a two-year term. Every two years, all 80 seats are subject to election. Members elected before 2012 are restricted to three two-year terms (six years) in the Assembly. Those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years total across both the State Senate or Assembly. This term, Democrats currently hold a two-thirds supermajority of 61 seats in the California State Assembly, while Republicans hold 17 seats. One seat is held by an Independent, and one seat is currently vacant.
About the District
California’s 74th Assembly District includes parts of Orange County. Notable cities within the district include portions of Huntington Beach and Irvine, as well as Laguna Beach and Newport Beach. Republicans held this district until 2018, when Assemblymember Petrie-Norris flipped AD-74 blue. The most recent election results show AD-74 voted for Hillary Clinton for President in 2016, and Gavin Newsom for governor in 2018. AD-74 has one of the highest median family income and property values in the nation. The district is largely white, with a notable Latinx population of about 15 percent.
About the Race
In the primary, Democrat incumbent Cottie Petrie-Norris led Republican challenger Diane Dixon by a margin of 27.1 percent. Petrie-Norris’s campaign has raised upwards of $720,000, and is largely funded through numerous law enforcement, corporate, and fossil fuel donors. Republican challenger Diane Dixon’s campaign has raised upwards of $328,000 and is largely funded through individual contributions, as well as some law-enforcement money.
About the Candidate
Representative Cottie Petrie-Norris is the incumbent, having served as assemblymember since 2018. She has failed to take a stance on a number of progressive issues, including criminal-justice reform, environmental protections, and affordable housing.
Norris holds a noticeably regressive voting record. She has voted against key progressive bills on increasing access to affordable housing and issues pertaining to criminal-justice reform. In 2019, she voted against AB 1279, AB 1482, and SB 329, which proposed rent caps and the production of affordable housing and prevented housing discrimination. Norris has also voted against numerous criminal-justice reform legislation, including ACA 6, which restored voting rights for people on parole; SB 310, which allowed formerly incarcerated people to serve on juries; AB 965, which allowed incarcerated youth to earn time off their earliest parole date, and AB 901, which limited youth criminalization. Norris has also abstained from casting a vote for SB 132, which would establish protections for trans individuals who are incarcerated.
In 2020 alone, Norris has voted No on AB 1950 to limit the length of probation terms, and has chosen not to vote on legislation aimed at expanding COVID-19 medical leave protections for workers and amending oil-drilling laws. She has received a Courage Score of 34 out of 100, our annual analysis of legislators’ progressive voting records.
Representative Cottie Petri-Norris has voted against key legislation aimed at increasing police accountability. These include AB 1215, which bans facial-recognition technology from use in police body cameras; AB 1600, which expedites the process to obtain police misconduct records in a criminal trial; and SB 1185, which establishes civilian oversight of county sheriff departments. She has received numerous law-enforcement endorsements, including the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association, the largest law-enforcement organization in the state.
Representative Petri-Norris has also made concerning statements against the Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum (ESMC), citing “negative stereotypes of Israel.” She has stated that the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement--a movement that pressures Israel to comply with international law--as “a single, divisive viewpoint.” In the same letter, Norris stated that she is against “the definition of capitalism as a system of oppression.”
Representative Petrie-Norris’s funding is an area of significant concern. She has received significant corporate, fossil fuel, and law-enforcement money. Corporate donations include AT&T, Walgreens, Facebook, Nike, and Walmart. She has received funding from numerous local police departments and associations, as well as the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, California Correctional Peace Officers Association, Peace Officers Research Association of California, and Los Angeles Police Protective League PAC. Representative Norris’s campaign is also significantly funded through fossil fuel money, and she has received funding from such fossil fuel giants as Sempra Energy, Southern California Edison, and Edison International.
Neither demonstrates a commitment to equitable or representative leadership. Because the Democratic candidate in this race is considered to be a safe win in this district, we feel comfortable providing no recommendation in this race. Keep reading for progressive recommendations in other key races and on ballot measures where your vote can make a critical difference.
Elect Alfonso Alvarez, Rigoberto Rodriguez, and Carolyn Torres to keep the Santa Ana Unified School District on the right track.
About the Position
Members of the Santa Ana Unified School District Board are elected in an at-large race and go on to serve three-year terms. No term-limit data is apparent on the school board website.
About the District
Santa Ana Unified School District is located in Orange County and includes nine high schools, nine middle schools, and 35 elementary schools, serving a population of roughly 58,000 students.