An East Bay Assembly seat has now opened up due to Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D-Hayward) opting not to seek reelection in 2022 and instead retire when his term ends next December.
His decision is likely to lead more Alameda County leaders to seek to succeed him. Quirk, 75, lives with his wife in a retirement community in Union City.
The couple has a daughter who is bisexual, and Quirk signed the marriage certificate when she wed her wife. He also has a gay brother and has consistently earned perfect scores for his voting record on LGBTQ bills from Equality California, the statewide LGBTQ advocacy organization.
Nonetheless, he has drawn younger, out candidates seeking to unseat him from the Assembly in the past two years. First elected in