Why Your Vote Matters with U.S. Senator Cory Booker

                                                                          U.S. Senator Cory Booker 

Cory Booker has spent his entire career running at the toughest challenges and bringing people together to accomplish things others said were impossible. And for the last 7 years as New Jersey’s Senator, he’s done the impossible in a broken Washington: he’s brought people together to deliver real results for New Jerseyans.

In 1996, Cory moved to Newark, New Jersey, to provide legal services for low-income families, and to help tenants take on slumlords, improve their living conditions, and stay in their homes. At age twenty-nine, Cory was elected to the Newark City Council, and beginning in 2006, he served as Newark’s mayor for more than seven years.

In 2013, Cory became the first African-American elected to the US Senate from New Jersey. In the Senate, Cory has  advanced economic opportunity and equal justice -- including leading efforts to reform our broken criminal justice system, increase wages and ensure hard work is fairly rewarded, spur economic development and create jobs, and protect the rights of all Americans to breathe clean air and drink clean water.

From taking on the NRA to stop the scourge of gun violence in our communities, to fighting for economic changes that lift up those who have been struggling and deliver opportunity for all, to protecting and expanding health coverage and fighting to drive down healthcare costs, Cory is fighting every day to make justice and opportunity real for everyone.

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                                                                           California Secretary of State Alex Padilla

Alex Padilla was sworn in as California Secretary of State on January 5, 2015. He is committed to modernizing the office, increasing voter registration and participation, and strengthening voting rights. Padilla previously served in the California State Senate (2006-2014) where he chaired the Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications. As chair, he shepherded legislation to combat climate change and create a greener and more sustainable economy. 

In 1999, Padilla was elected to the Los Angeles City Council to represent the same east San Fernando Valley community where he grew up.  In 2001, his colleagues elected him to the first of three terms as Council President, becoming the youngest member and the first Latino to serve in this capacity. In 2006, Padilla was elected to the California State Senate. He was reelected in 2010. 

Over the course of eight years, Padilla established a diverse and groundbreaking legislative record, including a series of measures to identify and implement best practices in English Learner curriculum and instruction statewide, to address the misuse of genetic information, and to increase enforcement and penalties for the illegal sale of tobacco to minors.

Padilla also previously served as President of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO), a non-partisan organization made up of more than 6,000 federal, state, and local officials dedicated to all aspects of civic engagement. Padilla lives with his wife Angela and their three sons in the San Fernando Valley.

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Melissa Romero 

Melissa Romero is a CSULB alumni and is currently CLCV's Legislative Affairs Manager. In this role, Melissa represents the organization in the state’s capitol, lobbying for strong environmental policies and working with partner organizations on advancing priority legislation. Her work includes tracking and prioritizing legislation, representing CLCV on a variety of coalitions and networks, working with state legislators and their staff, and being the organization’s voice in the capitol. Prior to CLCV, Melissa worked with Californians Against Waste on advancing waste reduction and recycling legislation and at Cal State Long Beach, Associated Students Inc. advocating for sustainability and zero waste policies and practices on campus. Melissa’s interest in policy began with an interest in environmental sciences and developed with strong sense of urgency to address the need to shift away from fossil fuels and extractive industry practices that exploit people and the environment.

 

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About the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV)

Since 1972, the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) has protected and enhanced the land, air, water, and health of all California communities by electing environmental champions, advancing critical state and federal legislation, and holding policymakers accountable to combating the effects of our catastrophic climate crisis. We are California's voice, statewide and nationally, for bold climate action. We elect and cultivate environmental champions, turn election victories into policy wins, hold our lawmakers accountable, and build political power to transform our political system and achieve climate justice.