NUHW allies win big at the ballot box
NUHW’s political and community organizing work had a profound impact this year — helping us elect officials to key positions throughout California, positioning us to further build our power in Sacramento and in cities and counties throughout the state.
The overwhelming majority of candidates endorsed by NUHW won their elections, and those candidates in close races for whom we focused our volunteer efforts nearly all prevailed, including:
- Karen Bass — Mayor of Los Angeles
- Sheng Thao — Mayor of Oakland
- Liz Ortega — State Assembly, East Bay
- Damon Connolly — State Assembly, North Bay
- Pilar Schiavo — State Assembly, Santa Clarita, Northern Los Angeles County
- Catherine Blakespear — State Senate, San Diego
- Caroline Menjivar — State Senate, San Fernando Valley
- Katie Porter — U.S Congress, Orange County
- Michael Levin — U.S Congress, San Diego/Orange County
- Julia Brownley — U.S Congress, Ventura County
- Katrina Foley — Orange County Board of Supervisors
- Victoria Fleming — Santa Rosa City Council
- Laura Nakamura (an NUHW member) — Concord City Council
- Latika Malkani (an attorney for NUHW) — Orinda City Council
All of these candidates share our values. They understand that our healthcare system is badly broken, and they have supported our contract fights over the past year, including major battles against Kaiser Permanente, Wellpath, Kindred, Fountain Valley and UCSF Children’s Hospital Oakland.
We will be working with them and all of our elected allies in the coming year to win more good contracts, strengthen government oversight of health plans and make sure that the landmark mental health laws we’ve passed in recent years are aggressively enforced.