Steve Bennett has a proven record of solving problems and getting things done, as a Ventura County Supervisor, environmental leader and teacher.

Steve has dedicated his public service career to protecting our quality of life, including our local natural areas, open spaces and addressing climate change.

For decades Steve has protected our environment from profiteers.  He coauthored the Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources (SOAR) initiatives to protect open spaces from encroaching Los Angeles-style urban sprawl, and passed laws to stop oil companies and other corporate polluters from contaminating our air, land, drinking water and beaches.

As a County Supervisor, Steve brought fiscal discipline and balanced budgets to Ventura County by implementing smart policies without cuts to vital local services — securing funding to bolster firefighting efforts and open a homeless shelter.

Steve was an economics teacher at Nordhoff High School in Ojai and has 20-years of experience in local education.  He is committed to increasing funding for our public schools – specifically more money going into the classroom, and not the bureaucracy.

He is an independent local leader who stands up to powerful special interests, and wrote one of the strongest campaign reform laws taking big money out of local politics.

Steve has an Honors degree in economics from Brown University and received his Masters in Education from Butler University. He currently lives in Ventura with his wife.

My name is Jonathan Abboud and I’m ready to be your next State Assemblymember, representing Ventura & Santa Barbara Counties.

My parents came to the US from Lebanon in the 1980s. They raised my sister and me in a working class immigrant neighborhood in Los Angeles, in a rent-controlled apartment near an oil field and major freeway. We belonged to an underfunded school, until my mom was able to transfer us to another public high school nearby with more resources. This awakened me politically by asking the question why is there even a “good school” and a “bad school” in the first place? This is why I believe your zip code shouldn’t determine your future.

In 2010 I moved to the Central Coast and became the first in my family to go to college by attending UC Santa Barbara, graduating with a BA in Political Science and a Master of Technology Management. There I got involved in the community and in the fight to defend public higher education during the state budget cuts, working to register and turn out voters during the Prop 30 campaign in 2012. In my last year, I served as Student Body President during a difficult and tragic time in Isla Vista.

In 2014 I decided to stay in the area to organize within the community and with our legislators in Sacramento to empower our town with a form of self-governance; I’m proud to now serve as the General Manager of the Isla Vista Community Services District. I've served as a Trustee on the Santa Barbara City College Board for five years, the entire time advocating in Sacramento for our community's higher education interests.

Our campaign revolves two values: 1) We prosper only when all of us prosper. 2) If we can imagine ambitious and transformative change that ensures our prosperity then why wouldn’t we do everything in our power to make it happen? 

We can acknowledge the amazing progress made in California and still recognize that there is a lot of work to see through. As the 5th largest economy in the world and a Democratic super-majority state, we can and must do more to fight for the rights and opportunities that everyone deserves.

As your next State Assemblymember, I will champion public education and fight for a government that puts people first, not corporations.

After attending public schools in Southern California, Jason worked his way to an undergraduate degree at Stanford University, a law degree at University of California, Berkeley School of Law, and a master’s degree in environmental law from Heidelberg University.

Jason served as a prosecutor for 7 years, taking on tough cases and serious crimes. Jason has served as a Santa Barbara Deputy County Counsel, as a Los Angeles Deputy District Attorney and Deputy City Attorney, and as a United Nations Legal Officer at the Hague, assisting with the prosecution of individuals responsible for war crimes and genocide in Rwanda and Yugoslavia.

In addition to his City Council work, Jason teaches International Law at The Santa Barbara & Ventura Colleges of Law, and he is the CEO & Founder of a non-profit that provides legal assistance to low-income families and youth leadership training.

Jason lives in Santa Barbara with his wife Kaci Wilhelm Dominguez, and they were recently blessed to have a marvelous New Year's Eve baby girl.

Jason's experience as an educator, non-profit leader, government attorney, and a city council member has taught him the importance of standing up for what is right. He built his career around fighting for justice for working people and improving the lives of the people he serves.  In Santa Barbara, he spearheaded private-public partnerships to increase affordable housing, helped the city return a budget surplus, and fought for green energy solutions to create local jobs. In the State Assembly, he will fight every day for fair and common-sense solutions to our community's biggest challenges.

 Elsa Granados has dedicated her life to social justice and spent her career working to end violence against women and children.

She was born in Los Angeles to Mexican parents and it was her mother’s work in the Los Angeles garment industry that left a lifelong impression. Watching her mother work extremely long days for $1 per dozen pair of pants sewn taught Elsa the value of hard work and advocating for those who need it most. 

At age 23, Elsa began working with migrant farmworker students in the community of Watsonville, CA. Although she was hired as a tutor, she served as their main math and language arts teacher because the school did not have any bilingual teachers. While tutoring, Elsa also noticed students coming in with purple hands stained from picking fruit, others didn’t have adequate housing, and some experienced domestic violence in their homes. This experience led her to start volunteering to help survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence.

But Elsa knew volunteering was not enough. She wanted to change people’s lives and have a say in the policies that affected the lives of the people for whom she was advocating. So, she decided to pursue her studies at UC Santa Cruz receiving a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and later earned her Master’s degree in Public Administration at San Francisco State University.

While in college, Elsa became interested in how America’s policies were affecting our neighbors in Mexico and Central America, and the impact it would have on our future. She joined a group called Somos Hermanas, a group of feminist activists who drew the connections between the injustices that were committed abroad and the social injustices in our own country. It was these stories, combined with her childhood experiences, that prompted Elsa to champion social justice causes.

For the past 22 years, Elsa has served as the Executive Director of Standing Together to End Sexual Assault (STESA), formerly called Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center. She has worked on public policy that affects survivors of sexual violence on a local, state and national level, such as creating a Tax check-off which provided funds to rape crisis centers in California and support services to survivors of sexual assault, providing language for the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) to provide services to farmworker women, indigenous women, and women who were incarcerated, and lobbying members of the California Senate and Assembly to support legislation pertinent to survivors of sexual assault.

While this work is of vital importance, Elsa knows she can make a difference on a larger scale for our community and that is why she has decided to run for State Assembly in District 37. She has experienced and seen first-hand the struggles people face in our community, and she will champion issues like social justice and equality, women’s rights, and protect our beautiful coastline and environment.

Today, Elsa lives in Santa Barbara with her partner, Mark, and 3 pitbull mixes, Cinnamon, Flora, and Jake. Over the past several years, Mark and Elsa have fostered almost 30 shelter dogs to prepare them to find their forever homes. 

Elsa is beholden only to constituents of the 37th District.  She is ready to take on special interests, large corporations, and anyone who gets in the way of caring for each other and our natural resources. Elsa Granados will work to build on the strengths of our community just as she has her entire life. 

I am a lifelong Democrat and believe in democratic values. But more than just believing in these, I strive to live the values of social and economic equality.  I have been a public servant for three and a half decades. As a social justice advocate, it has been my goal to make sure that everyone I interact with recognizes that they are valued.

One of my core beliefs is that by working together, we can raise everyone up. Too many members of our community are being left behind, whether from the burden of high housing costs, overwhelming debt from healthcare or student loans, or not making a living wage. I believe that it is the duty of the government to ensure basic human rights for all.

My decision-making process is to look at issues from an intersectional perspective to see how they interact with other oppressions in our society and reveal root causes. This leads to solutions that are both viable and long-lasting. This process takes a willingness to work with and truly listen to others. It also means that all parties need to have a seat at the table. I am committed to making sure that everyone’s voice is heard.  

As your assemblymember, I will work on the issues most important to you and your family. I will not forget that you sent me to Sacramento, and will be an advocate on your behalf.

Ventura, Ca.  93001

Phone: 805-660-8959

 email: blumper2@gmail.com

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

2006 to 2018                           Ventura County Community College District Trustee

2014 to 2018                           California Community College League Trustee

2015 to 2016                           State Chancellor’s Accreditation Task Force

2016 to 2018                           Ventura County School Boards’ Association Treasurer

1997-2001 & 2005 to 2013     Ventura Unified Education Association President

2005 to 2013                           Gold Coast Insurance Trust Director

EDUCATION

2005                            Juris Doctorate - Ventura School of Law

1990                            Master’s Degree in Education – California Lutheran University

1979                            California Single Subject Teaching Credential – California Lutheran University

1977                            Bachelor of Arts in History – California Lutheran University

1973                            High School Diploma - Pomona High School

1979 to Present           California Teaching Credential

2006 to Present           California State Bar License 

TEACHING/COACHING EXPERIENCE

2015 to Present           Education Law Professor – California Lutheran University

2013 to 2015               Education Law Professor – Vanguard University

2000 – 2005                Foothill Technology High School: Physical Education, Independent Study PE

1983 – 1999                Buena High School: Social Studies, Physical Education, Cross-Country, Track

1980 – 1983                Ventura Unified School District Adult Education: Multiple Subjects

LEGAL EXPERIENCE

2006 to Present           Parole Hearings for Mentally Disordered Offenders - Independent Contractor for California Parole Board  

2007 to 2009               Grey Law Legal Services Provider

PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS & HONORS

2019                            California Lutheran University Adjunct Faculty Teaching Excellence Award for Graduate School of Education

2019                            Inducted into California Lutheran University Sports Hall of Fame

2014                            Inducted into Ventura County Sports Hall of Fame

2006                                              Passed California Bar Exam – 1^st attempt

1995- 2003                  American Record Holder – Men’s Master’s Road 5K

1995                            Master’s Track & Field National Champion in 5,000 & 10,000 meters

COACHING EXPERIENCE ACHIEVEMENTS & HONORS

1984 – 2001                Head Girl’s Girls Cross Country & Track & Field Coach, Buena High School

1983, 1984, 1994        Ventura County Cross Country Coach of the Year

1983 – 1995 & 1997   24 Channel League Cross Country & Track & Field Championships