Former Assemblymember Yamada announce state Senate bid

DAVIS, Calif. — Former California state Assemblymember Mariko Yamada on March 14 formally began her 2016 campaign for state Senate to represent the 3rd District, comprised of Solano and Napa counties, and portions of Contra Costa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Yolo counties.

Yamada, a professional social worker and former Yolo County Supervisor, enters the race with four decades of experience at the federal, state and local levels and a wide coalition of support, a statement from her campaign said.

“In the past 100 days since the conclusion of my Assembly service, I am grateful for the encouragement I have received from so many friends and supporters,” Yamada said in the statement. “After hearing from the community, consulting with advisors and having the full support of my family, I am announcing today that I am a candidate for the 2016 open seat in California’s 3rd Senate District.”

In announcing her candidacy, she also released the name of dozens of elected officials and community leaders who are endorsing her, including state Controller Betty Yee, state Treasurer John Chiang, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, former state Treasurer and state Senator Bill Lockyer, former state Senator Noreen Evans, former Assemblymember Wes Chesbro, and dozens of other state and local officials and citizens.

Yamada represented both the former 8th Assembly District and the 4th Assembly District from 2008 to 2014, which includes 80 percent of Senate District 3, her campaign noted. During that time, Yamada was known as “an outspoken advocate for the protection of agriculture and water resources, veterans, vulnerable elders, the mentally ill and persons with disabilities and their caregivers throughout the state,” the campaign statement said. “She has been a consistent and insistent voice on the preservation of prime farmland and is opposed to the Delta tunnels.”

As a Yolo County Supervisor, Yamada “worked to protect agriculture, open space and local water resources; expand services to seniors and persons with disabilities; and push back on unsafe development,” her campaign said.

“I am proud of what we’ve accomplished to turn things around in California, but I know we’re not done yet,” said Yamada in the statement from her campaign.