Political Notebook: Starbucks union organizer aims to be 1st CA nonbinary legislator
A Starbucks union organizer and UC Santa Cruz student aims to be California's first nonbinary state legislator. But first Joe Thompson has to survive the June 7 primary race for the 28th Assembly District seat that straddles Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties.Thompson, 19, is one of three Democrats running for the open seat in addition to one Republican candidate.
The leading contender who has racked up the broadest support among Democratic officials and liberal groups is former Santa Cruz County clerk Gail Pellerin, who retired in 2020.It is expected that Pellerin will be one of the top two vote-getters next month and advance to the general election in November.
She would be the first woman elected to represent Santa Cruz in the Legislature.It remains to be seen if Thompson or fellow Democrat Rob Rennie, the mayor of Los Gatos, can grab the second spot.
There is also the possibility of them splitting the rest of the Democratic vote enough to allow GOPer Liz Lawler, a Monte Sereno city councilmember, to survive the primary contest.Having raised little money for their campaign so far and lacking the name recognition of their opponents, Thompson is banking on their work to unionize the staff at the Starbucks where they work as a shift supervisor to provide a bump of media attention and public awareness about their candidacy just as ballots begin to drop next week in voters' mailboxes.
