California Assemblywoman Laura Friedman is all but certain to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 5. The Glendale Democrat is running to replace Rep. Adam Schiff in the race for the deeply Democratic 30th Congressional District against a little-known Republican doctor.
However, there are still reasons for voters to be excited about supporting her to become the next representative of the district that stretches from West Hollywood to the western edge of Pasadena, including Glendale, Burbank and several neighborhoods in the city of Los Angeles.
Friedman has been an innovative, courageous and effective state legislator in Sacramento, particularly on the environment, housing and transportation issues. Her record in Sacramento shows that she is more interested in building support for smart legislation than in criticizing her rivals or engaging in the polarizing and stupid culture wars. Those are great qualities for a member of Congress in these politically tense times.
She is not afraid to take on controversial topics. Friedman has authored important legislation on a wide variety of important issues facing Californians. To name just a few of the more innovative (and often controversial) bills she pushed to passage: restrictions on the use of drinking water in purely ornamental gardens; a pilot program to legalize speed cameras; a ban on the use of “permanent chemicals” in baby products and another on toxic chemicals in cosmetics; and the lifting of parking mandates in new housing developments near public transportation.
Her final year as a legislator was no exception. Even while running for Congress, she pushed important bills, like one that's on the governor's desk right now to protect the state's wetlands.
Friedman is one of the few lawmakers motivated by principle rather than politics. She is undaunted by opposition to legislation she believes in and will spend years mustering the support needed to get bills passed, even from fellow Republicans — no easy task in today's hyperpartisan political landscape.
Her Hollywood experience will also be a boon to this district, which includes many content creators. Before moving into politics and being elected to the Glendale City Council, Friedman was a film and television executive. In Washington, she wants to work on issues that protect the long-term health of the industry, such as copyright law and artificial intelligence, and on issues that threaten democracy, such as the use of deepfake audio and video in election advertising and disinformation.
She is also a strong advocate for women’s rights (including for female presidential candidates. She endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2020 presidential primaries) and was a leader of the #MeToo movement in Sacramento. We hope she will become a strong voice in the fight in Congress to protect reproductive rights.
His experience and track record far eclipse what the other candidate, pulmonologist Alex Balekian, whose campaign slogan is “progressive doesn’t work,” has to offer. His misleading personal attacks (one flyer falsely accused Friedman of mandating bike lanes “in every city in California”) and focus on culture war issues like so-called parental rights seem straight out of the MAGA playbook.
Friedman is not only the likely successor to Schiff, who will most likely be elected to the U.S. Senate on Nov. 5, but he is a worthy candidate.
