California Assemblymember Laura Friedman is almost sure to be elected to the U.S. Home of Representatives on Nov. 5. The Glendale Democrat is working to interchange Rep. Adam Schiff within the deeply blue thirtieth Congressional District race in opposition to a little-known Republican doctor.
However, there’s nonetheless motive for voters to be enthusiastic about supporting her to turn out to be the subsequent consultant of the district that stretches from West Hollywood to the western fringe of Pasadena, together with Glendale, Burbank and a number of other L.A. metropolis neighborhoods.
Friedman has been an revolutionary, brave and efficient state legislator in Sacramento, notably on the surroundings, housing and transportation. Her file in Sacramento reveals that she is extra considering constructing assist for sensible laws than trolling rivals or collaborating within the polarizing, asinine tradition wars. These are terrific qualities for a member of Congress to have in these politically fraught occasions.
She’s not afraid to deal with controversial matters. Friedman has authored essential laws on all kinds of essential points going through Californians. Simply to call a couple of of the extra groundbreaking — and sometimes controversial — payments she pushed till they handed: restrictions on using potable water on purely decorative landscaping; a pilot program to legalize pace cameras; a ban on using “ceaselessly chemical substances” in child merchandise and one other on poisonous chemical substances in cosmetics, and lifting parking mandates in new housing developments close to transit.
Her last yr as a legislator was no exception. At the same time as she was working for Congress, she pushed essential payments corresponding to one which’s on the governor’s desk for the time being to defend the state’s wetlands.
Friedman is likely one of the too-rare lawmakers motivated by ideas fairly than politics. She is undaunted by opposition to laws she believes in, and can spend years constructing assist wanted to get payments handed, together with from Republican colleagues — not a straightforward feat in immediately’s hyperpartisan political panorama.
Her background in Hollywood may even be a boon for this district, which incorporates many content material creators. Earlier than she pivoted to politics by getting elected to the Glendale Metropolis Council, Friedman was a movie and tv government. In Washington, she desires to work on points to guard the long-term well being of the trade corresponding to copyright regulation and synthetic intelligence, and on points that threaten democracy corresponding to using deepfake audio and video in election promoting and misinformation.
She’s additionally a powerful champion of ladies (together with for these working for president. She endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris within the 2020 presidential main) and was a pacesetter within the #MeToo motion in Sacramento. We anticipate she’s going to turn out to be a powerful voice within the struggle in Congress to guard reproductive rights.
Her expertise and observe file far eclipse what the opposite candidate, pulmonologist Alex Balekian, has to supply. He’s campaigning on the slogan “Progressive isn’t working.” His deceptive private assaults (one mailer falsely accused Friedman of constructing bike lanes necessary “in each California metropolis”) and concentrate on tradition struggle points corresponding to so-called parental rights appear straight out of the MAGA playbook.
Friedman isn’t just the possible successor to Schiff, who’s almost definitely going to be elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 5, however a worthy one.
