Los Angeles—Equality California today announced the endorsement of four outstanding LGBTQ and allied candidates to replace Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-California) in representing District 51 in the California Assembly. Gomez vacated his Assembly seat when he was elected to replace now-California Attorney General Xavier Becerra in Congress.
“We are fortunate to have a large group of candidates in the District 51 race who support LGBTQ equality and social justice,” said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. “However, four candidates stood out from the rest of the field, demonstrating a superior and outstanding understanding of the issues and priorities of the LGBTQ community, as well as a more significant history and record of demonstrated commitment to LGBTQ equality and social justice in their public and community activities. As a result of their remarkably strong records and focus on the LGBTQ community, Equality California has taken the unusual step of endorsing four candidates because we believe that they will not only support our legislative priorities, but will provide energetic and cutting-edge leadership as a member of the California Assembly.”
Three of the endorsed candidates are out gay men, and one is a straight ally.
The Equality California endorsed candidates are as follows:
Luis López –An openly LGBTQ candidate, Luis López has a long history of advocating for and working on behalf of the LGBTQ community. In 2005, he co-founded and became the founding president of HONOR PAC, the nation’s first statewide Latino LGBTQ political action committee. He was a leader in the fight against Prop 8 in 2008, raising money to open the campaign’s East L.A. office and helping to shape English and Spanish messages for Latinos and other voters. López and Honor PAC were recognized as grand marshals at the largest L.A.-area Pride celebration of 2010. From 2008 to 2013, he served as president of the East Area Planning Commission and has continued to work for solutions to counteract the crisis of housing scarcity, rising rents, unrewarded productivity in workers’ wages and homelessness. From 2005 to 2008, he served as chair of City Regional Prop K Commission (RVNOC) to sustain parks through local oversight of funds approved by city taxpayers. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood – Los Angeles.
Alex de Ocampo – Alex de Ocampo was born in Los Angeles to Filipino immigrant parents. He helped establish and currently manages the Saban Family Foundation, overseeing hundreds of millions of dollars of charitable funds worldwide. He directly supervised the $50 million fund dedicated to the Saban Research Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. He also helped the family establish the Saban Theatre, the Saban Wellness Center at the Motion Picture Television Fund, the Saban Community Clinic, and the Cheryl Saban Self-Worth Foundation for Women & Girls. He also serves as a board member on the California Film Commission and the California State Summer School Arts Foundation. As manager of the Saban Family Foundation, he helped ensure that funding was directed towards organizations providing services for LGBTQ youth and HIV testing, as well as to other LGBTQ organizations. An openly LGBTQ candidate, he has devoted time and resources to the Victory Fund and other LGBTQ organizations. In addition, he was instrumental in organizing outreach to the Asian-Pacific Islander community for the “No on Proposition 8” campaign.
Mark Vargas – Mark Vargas is a member of the California Coastal Commission and president of Mission Infrastructure, a project management firm serving government and private sector agencies in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Vargas also is a member of the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Personnel Commission. He was previously the Southern California director for the Secretary of State and served as a special assistant to Governor Gray Davis for four years. Following the 2016 shootings at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Vargas, a straight ally, rushed to the side of his lesbian cousin who was wounded in the attack and became an outspoken supporter and advocate for stronger gun safety laws. He played an important role in shaping Equality California’s “Safe and Equal” initiative for gun safety reform, helping to lobby for the passage of a package of six gun-safety bills before the California Legislature. As part of his community service activities, Vargas has focused on the issues most important to him: liveable neighborhoods, the environment and LGBTQ equality and social justice. He has also devoted his considerable community service activities to ensuring that organizations serving the LGBTQ community have the resources they need. Vargas was a strong opponent of Proposition 8 and serves on the board of Equality California Institute.
David Vela – David Vela is senior vice president at the Lee Andrews Group, a public outreach firm in downtown Los Angeles, and is a professor of political science at East Los Angeles College. He served as senior legislative assistant to former State Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg, handling labor, transportation and economic development and was senior advisor to the Employment Development Department under Governor Gray Davis. He also spent 10 years as senior deputy to Los Angeles County Supervisor Gloria Molina, for whom he oversaw two billion dollars in capital infrastructure improvements in unincorporated East Los Angeles and Boyle Heights. An openly LGBTQ candidate, he served for eight years on the Montebello Unified School District Board, where he led advocacy efforts leading to the passage of policies supporting LGBTQ students and gender-neutral bathrooms. He is also a founding board member of HONOR PAC.
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Equality California is the nation’s largest statewide lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights organization dedicated to creating a fair and just society. Our mission is to achieve and maintain full and lasting equality, acceptance, and social justice for all people in our diverse LGBT communities, inside and outside of California. Our mission includes advancing the health and well-being of LGBT Californians through direct healthcare service advocacy and education. Through electoral, advocacy, education and mobilization programs, we strive to create a broad and diverse alliance of LGBT people, educators, government officials, communities of color and faith, labor, business, and social justice communities to achieve our goals. www.eqca.org
