Election 2014: Key State Senate & Assembly Races

Anthony Cannella for California State Senate, District 12

Anthony Cannella

Senator Anthony Cannella worked closely with Labor to reform the state’s broken enterprise zone system last year. By working across party lines to pass Senate Bill 90, Senator Cannella helped keep and create new jobs in communities that suffer from high unemployment, and ended a wasteful corporate tax giveaway that cost the state $700 million every year.
Cannella also co-sponsored a bill to protect California’s prevailing wage law for workers in the construction industry. SB 7 disqualifies cities that ban the prevailing wage from receiving state construction grants, and was signed into law by the Governor in 2013.
Cannella authored SB 841 to initiate efforts to build a new medical school on the UC Merced campus. The project will create new construction jobs, add professional health care positions and improve the quality of health care in the Central Valley.

Luis Chavez for California State Senate, District 14

Luis Chavez

As a Fresno school board trustee, Luis Chavez understands that the key to combatting persistently high unemployment in the Central Valley is to reinvest in our workforce and prepare our children for the jobs of tomorrow. He supports universal kindergarten to help close the achievement gap; high school career tech training to link education and training with jobs; and access to college for everyone.
Chavez understands the needs of working families and has the backing of nearly every major union in the Fresno area. His opponent, Andy Vidak, was one of five State Senators who was awarded a perfect score by the notoriously anti-union California Chamber of Commerce in 2014.
Luis Chavez supports construction of California’s voter-approve high-speed rail project and the thousands of jobs it would bring to the Central Valley. His opponent, Senator Andy Vidak, has repeatedly attempted to block high-speed rail construction, despite the high unemployment numbers in his district, especially among construction workers.

Ken Cooley for California State Assembly, District 8

Ken Cooley

Assemblyman Ken Cooley voted to improve prevailing wage enforcement by giving the Labor Agency the tools it needs to combat the underground economy and crack down on employers that fail to pay prevailing wage on construction projects.
Ken Cooley has been endorsed by a number of unions and pro-labor lawmakers. His opponent, Doug Haaland, boasts the endorsement of the notoriously anti-union Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association PAC.
Cooley helped pass SB 509 through the Assembly, which allowed 500 jobs in Rancho Cordova to come online, and further ensures that employees working with both businesses and individuals on new health insurance coverage are properly vetted to federal standards, providing essential consumer protections.

Tim Sbranti for California State Assembly, District 16

Tim Sbranti

Tim Sbranti is a life-long union member and advocate for working families. He recognizes that workers have the right to stand together and go on strike if their employer refuses to provide them with decent working conditions. His opponent, Catherine Baker, has actively tried to block workers at BART from exercising their legal right to strike. On her website, Baker boasts that she would actually seek to pass legislation that would make it illegal for some workers to go on strike.
During his tenure as Mayor of Dublin, the Bay Area town became second fastest growing city in California,attracting new businesses and thousands of jobs. As Mayor of Dublin, Sbranti has broken ground on the construction and development of several new parks projects, bringing quality construction jobs to the region. By comparison, his opponent, Catherine Baker, has vocally opposed job-creating construction projects such as California’s High-Speed Rail.
Sbranti understands that a rising tide lifts all boats, and he supports a further increase in minimum wage so workers can keep up with the rising cost of living. At a time when economic inequality is at Great Depression-era levels and wages have been stagnant for more than a decade, Sbranti believes the minimum wage should be indexed with inflation so working people have a chance to get ahead instead of falling further and further behind.