California 89.58%
Virginia 2.70%
Massachusetts 1.79%
Oregon 1.37%
Other 4.57%
A tireless and relentless advocate for the Peninsula, Emily Beach has dedicated her life to public service. As a Democratic leader, Emily is known for taking on tough conversations, tough problems and tough votes. You'll always know where Emily stands — and that her door is always open to you.
Emily developed strong leadership and team-building skills during her military service in the U.S. Army. After graduating from the University of Notre Dame as an ROTC scholarship student, Emily was stationed in Saudi Arabia,Korea, and Texas, rising to the rank of Captain and earning the U.S. Army Airborne parachutist badge.
Before holding elected office, Emily fought for immigrants’ rights and organized volunteers to fundraise for local K-8 public schools and access to preschool. She also had a successful career in the tech industry as a Silicon Valley business executive, bringing practical private sector experience to her work as an elected official.
Emily was elected to the Burlingame City Council in 2015 and re-elected in 2019. As Mayor of Burlingame during the pandemic, Emily led the successful effort to increase the minimum wage and expanded investment in bike lanes and public transit to better serve the Peninsula’s working families. She champions shoreline protection, open space, affordable housing, the LGBTQ+ community, and people of color.
To address the significant challenges our community faced during the most difficult period of the pandemic, Emily founded The Burlingame Collaborative, bringing diverse stakeholders together to find local solutions to our toughest issues, combating isolation for seniors and expanding access to the local food bank for our most vulnerable neighbors.
Emily is an inspiring, grass-roots leader who knows that we solve problems best when we solve them together, bringing a practical and inclusive approach to government service. From her first day in office, Emily hosted constituent listening events in local coffee shops and wrote regular newsletters to keep constituents updated on news that impacted them. During the pandemic, she hosted 25 virtual listening and information-sharing events— including weekly events as Mayor during shelter-in-place.
Emily serves as Chairperson of the San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA) Board of Directors, and as a Member of the League of California Cities State Board of Directors. A strong public transit advocate, Emily rides her bike and takes public transit to work.
As a mother of two teenagers, Emily understands what it takes to go to work every day, fight for pay equity
in her own work, manage a household, and meet a family budget in one of the most expensive regions of the country. She knows what it feels like to worry about her children’s future, their online safety and privacy, their mental health, and the planet we are leaving them.
