Voter Priorities Highlight Calif. Assembly 20 Race
Incumbent Democratic Assemblymember Liz Ortega is running for re-election in the 20th Assembly District against Republican challenger Sangeetha Shanbhogue. The district includes Castro Valley, San Leandro, Cherryland, Ashland, San Lorenzo, and Hayward Acres.
Ortega runs with heavy support from organized labor, as well as from numerous elected officials.
Shanbhogue said being a Republican in a heavily Democratic area has hampered some people from publicly endorsing her. She does have endorsements from the state and county Republican Party and Americans4Hindus, the nation’s largest bipartisan SuperPAC (political action committee) for Hindu American candidates.
“I’m a moderate Republican, not a far-right one. I’d like to bring some balance to Sacramento, as well as some practicality and common sense,” she said.
“If I spend money on something, I want to see what the results are,” she continued.
Before being elected to the Assembly, Ortega was the executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council and the statewide political director for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, the University of California’s largest employee union.
Shanbhogue had a professional career in software development, analysis, and project management and holds related degrees in those fields. In 2016, though, she decided to transition to being a stay-at-home mom.
She and her husband live in Dublin, along with their two daughters who attend Dublin public schools.
Ortega and her husband, former San Leandro school board member Jason Toro, live in San Leandro, with their daughter who attends San Leandro public schools.
Both candidates are first-generation immigrants. Ortega was born in Mexico and came to the U.S. at age 3, while Shanbhogue was born in India and came here when she was college-age.
Ortega sees the major issues as “reproductive freedom, affordable housing, jobs, an end to homelessness, and safe schools and neighborhoods.” She said that she has championed those throughout the East Bay and in Sacramento on her campaign website.
Shanbhogue said on her campaign website that she hoped to change things for the better after being disheartened by issues such as mismanagement of tax dollars, impractical crime laws, unregulated borders, the soaring cost of living, and homelessness.
Ortega told the League of Women Voters’ 411vote.org website, “When re-elected, I will continue the fight to ensure each and every Californian has the opportunity for a good-paying job, quality education for our children, health care, and housing.”
She pointed to her record in Sacramento on that same website.
“Over the past year, as your Assemblymember, I have passed legislation aimed at providing labor protections, preventing child labor exploitation, addressing the fentanyl epidemic in our communities, and providing low-cost auto insurance. I also co-authored a bill to reduce costs for renters, historic legislation, and supported historic laws to fight climate change and raise wages for teachers and healthcare workers,” Ortega said.
Shanbhogue’s platform, laid out on her campaign website, included lowering taxes overall, preserving quality education and defending parental rights, pursuing a free-market economy that’s pro-business while preserving individual rights, amending Prop 47 to fight crime, honoring and caring for veterans, and repealing AB5, which redefined some independent contractors as employees. She also wants increased fiscal accountability for the legislature and homeless programs, which deal with a problem she sees as getting worse rather than better.
You can get more information about the candidates on their campaign websites: Ortega’s at www.ortegaforassembly.com and Shanbhogue’s at www.sangeetha4assembly.com.