Elections in 2021 Review
In 2021, your PIFC team has been hard at work vetting candidates for special elections in the California State Senate and Assembly. PIFC strives to endorse candidates who have your best interests at heart. Business community input also plays a factor in how we decide to choose which candidate to support. Both PIFC endorsed candidates, Sydney Kamlager (Senate District 30), and Dr. Akilah Weber (Assembly District 79), won their districts without either going to a runoff. PIFC got involved in both races early, creating digital content for Assemblymember Kamlager and after a rigorous interview process, endorsing Dr. Akilah Weber in a crowded field of five candidates.
Not all vetting interviews result in an endorsement. Sometimes, PIFC will choose not to endorse any candidate in an election. This can be due to political factors and similarity between leading candidates. After elections are complete, PIFC reaches out to the new legislators to begin dialogue and insurance policy education.
Elections in 2022 & 2024 Preview
2022 will be a busy election year, as new redistricting lines will create uncertainty around who is “in” and who is “out” in their State Senate and Assembly districts. It is possible that one or more legislators could be drawn out of an existing district. Once the new district maps are released, legislators will announce their plans. By court order, the California Citizens Redistricting Commission will post its first set of districts by November 15, 2021 and deliver final district maps to the Secretary of State by December 27, 2021.
No assemblymembers term out in 2022, but seven senators will term out. This includes Jim Nielsen (Senate District 4), Richard Pan (Senate District 6) Bob Wieckowski (Senate District 10), Robert Hertzberg (Senate District 18), Melissa Melendez (Senate District 28), Patricia Bates (Senate District 36) and Ben Hueso (Senate District 30). PIFC will be closely monitoring these upcoming elections and plans to continue the vetting process with as many candidates as possible.
The 2024 election cycle will be the most critical for the insurance industry and small business over the next decade. A total of twenty-four assemblymembers and eleven senators will term out in 2024. This is due to the passage of Proposition 28 in 2012, when the then new twelve-year term limits for State Senate and Assembly were adopted by voters. PIFC staff worked diligently to engage early with the new legislators in 2012, when 40% of the Assembly was elected in a single cycle. That early engagement provided over a decade of stability. PIFC has worked to maintain those relationships over the last decade and we hope to reproduce the same results after the 2024 election cycle.
It will also be important for our PIFPAC members to continue to get to know their newly elected members. There will be many opportunities in the coming months to attend fundraisers and meet and greets. If you hear of a political event you would like to attend in your area, please let us know. As we advocate for your best interests, it is your voices that have the most impact with your local elected officials. We will need your help to grow PIFPAC and bring more visibility to the insurance industry and small business.
