Liz Ortega
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Liz Ortega (Democratic Party) is a member of the California State Assembly, representing District 20. She assumed office on December 5, 2022. Her current term ends on December 7, 2026.
Ortega (Democratic Party) ran for re-election to the California State Assembly to represent District 20. She won in the general election on November 5, 2024.
Biography
Liz Ortega lives in San Leandro, California. Her career experience includes working as a political and legislative director with AFSCME Local 3299, one of the University of California’s employee unions. Grayson served on the Alameda Labor Council, including as executive secretary-treasurer. She also volunteers on the Alameda County Vaccine Equity Task Force and the Alameda County Workforce Investment Board.[1]
Committee assignments
2023-2024
Ortega was assigned to the following committees:
- Higher Education Committee
- Insurance Committee
- Labor and Employment Committee
- Public Safety Committee
- Rules Committee
- Rules Committee
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Elections
2024
See also: California State Assembly elections, 2024
General election
General election for California State Assembly District 20
Incumbent Liz Ortega defeated Sangeetha Shanbhogue in the general election for California State Assembly District 20 on November 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Liz Ortega (D) | 70.1 | 61,476 |
 | Sangeetha Shanbhogue (R) | 29.9 | 26,282 | |
| Total votes: 87,758 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Assembly District 20
Incumbent Liz Ortega and Sangeetha Shanbhogue advanced from the primary for California State Assembly District 20 on March 5, 2024.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Liz Ortega (D) | 99.5 | 57,083 |
| ✔ | | Sangeetha Shanbhogue (R) (Write-in) | 0.5 | 284 |
| Total votes: 57,367 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
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Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Ortega in this election.
2022
See also: California State Assembly elections, 2022
General election
General election for California State Assembly District 20
Liz Ortega defeated Shawn Kumagai in the general election for California State Assembly District 20 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Liz Ortega (D) | 62.2 | 68,853 |
 | Shawn Kumagai (D) | 37.8 | 41,917 | |
| Total votes: 110,770 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Assembly District 20
Liz Ortega and Shawn Kumagai defeated Jennifer Esteen and Joseph Grcar in the primary for California State Assembly District 20 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Liz Ortega (D) | 32.2 | 23,503 |
| ✔ | | Shawn Kumagai (D) | 23.9 | 17,481 |
 | Jennifer Esteen (D) | 22.2 | 16,211 | |
 | Joseph Grcar (R) | 21.7 | 15,869 | |
| Total votes: 73,064 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Campaign finance
Endorsements
To view Ortega's endorsements in the 2022 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2024
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Liz Ortega did not complete Ballotpedia's 2024 Candidate Connection survey.
2022
Video for Ballotpedia
| Video submitted to Ballotpedia Released May 13, 2022 |
Liz Ortega completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2022. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Ortega's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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For over two decades, California Labor Leader Liz Ortega-Toro has led the fight for vibrant, healthy, and diverse communities by working to create job opportunities and provide healthcare for the most vulnerable.
The first Latina in history to be elected Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council, Liz has been an East Bay leader in the fight for an equitable minimum wage to support working families as housing and cost of living has skyrocketed in our region. During the pandemic, Liz fought to secure paid sick leave and hazard pay for essential workers and healthcare providers as a member of the Alameda County Vaccine Equity Task Force .
When Liz was three, her undocumented mother traveled hundreds of miles to California with Liz and her infant brother to seek the American dream. “My family has struggled to achieve our American dream through hard work, community support and a belief that we could have a better life,” says Liz “I’m running for Assembly to level the playing field so every family has a chance of achieving that dream.”
Liz, husband Jason (a former School Board Member) and daughter Yamara live in San Leandro, where Yamara attends local public schools.
- Liz is a strong advocate for women's reproductive freedoms and healthcare. That is why she is the only Assembly District 20 candidate endorsed by both Planned Parenthood and the California Democratic Party.
- Liz has taken the No Corporate Money pledge. She's spent more than two decades challenging the status quo to stand up for working families--and winning. She's a coalition builder who gets results.
- If elected, Liz will stand up for our reproductive freedoms and women's healthcare, and fight for affordable housing, environmental justice, and safer neighborhoods.
Reproductive Freedom
“I’m honored to have the sole endorsement of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Mar Monte for protecting access to the care that gives individuals power over their own bodies. Join me in voting YES on Proposition 1 to preserve these rights!”
Housing
“I’ve fought the system for housing affordable for teachers, nurses and first responders. My daughter and your future generations should be able to live in the community where they were raised.”
Job Creation
“I have a proven track record of placing hundreds of people into well-paying jobs --and I’ll champion our small East Bay businesses, who make us stronger by creating great jobs in the communities we love.”
Environmental Justice
“Climate change and environmental racism are the urgent issues of our generation. Join me in the fight to keep polluters and toxins out of our neighborhoods and ensuring clean air for all of us.”
Neighborhood Safety
“Every family deserves to live in a safe neighborhood. I support funding anti-gang and drug prevention, quality education and job placement to address the root causes of crime and neighborhood policing approaches where trained, accountable officers are working with the community to fight gun violence.”
Homelessness
“I’ll tackle our homeless crisis by connecting homeless people and families to compassionate, effective services focused on addiction, mental health, and transitional housing.”
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of California scorecards, email suggestions to [email protected].
2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the California State Legislature was in session from January 1 to September 14.
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See also
2024 Elections
External links
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Candidate California State Assembly District 20 |
Officeholder California State Assembly District 20 |
Personal |
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Bill Quirk (D) |
California State Assembly District 20 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
