109 Equality California-Endorsed Candidates Celebrate Primary Election Victories

Los Angeles - June 9, 2016 -- Equality California today announced that 109 of its 116 endorsed candidates won enough votes in their individual races in the California primary election to advance to the November 8 general election or to win their race outright.

"This election year is of enormous importance to the LGBT community," said Rick Zbur, executive director of Equality California. "With the future of the U.S. Supreme Court in play, an open U.S. Senate seat and the strength of the California LGBT Legislative Caucus at stake, this is not an election year for LGBT people to choose not to vote.  We congratulate all of our endorsed candidates on their primary races and will be working to secure the victories of our primary winners in November."

Equality California was the first major LGBT civil rights organization to endorse Hillary Clinton for U.S. president.  Clinton won the California presidential primary with 56 percent of the vote.  In addition, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Equality California's endorsed candidate for U.S. Senate, will now face Congresswoman Loretta Sánchez in the November election.

All four openly LGBT incumbents endorsed in legislative races by Equality California – LGBT Legislative Caucus Chair Assesmblymember Susan Eggman, Senator Ricardo Lara, Senator Cathleen Galgiani and Assemblymember Evan Low – will advance to the November election. Five additional strong LGBT candidates – former Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins (running for Senate District 39), San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener (running for SD 11), San Diego City Councilmember Todd Gloria (running for Assembly District 78), Sabrina Cervantes (running for AD 60) and Greg Rodriguez (running for AD 42) – will also advance to November.

In San Diego County, three Equality California-endorsed, openly LGBT candidates won local contests. Equality California-endorsed candidate Dave Roberts will face Encinitas Mayor Kristin Gaspar for his seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors and endorsed candidate Georgette Gómez will face Ricardo Flores to represent San Diego City Council District 9.  Endorsed candidate Chris Ward earned more than 50 percent of the vote and was elected to replace Todd Gloria as councilmember for District 3, avoiding a November runoff election. Equality California endorses exceptional LGBT candidates at the local level with a proven commitment to LGBT civil rights.

The Equality California Political Action Committee endorses viable candidates who have a proven track record of supporting equal rights and legal protections for LGBT Californians and who are committed to advancing these goals in their capacity as elected officials. Please go to http://www.eqca.org/our-endorsements/ for a full list of primary results for Equality California-endorsed candidates.


 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

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