Patricia Wiggins

Patricia Wiggins
California State Senate District 2
Former member
Term in office began 2006
Term in office ended 2010
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Legislator

Patricia Wiggins (b. 1940) was a Democratic member of the California State Senate, a position to which she was first elected in November 2006. She represented California's 2nd Senate District and her last term ended in 2010.

In late March 2010, Wiggins took a partial leave from the Legislature to deal with an undisclosed medical condition. It was announced that she would be present for important votes, but otherwise would be dealing with medical issues.

Wiggins was a member of the California State Assembly from 1998 to 2004 and also served on the Santa Rosa city council.

Wiggins has a B.A. from the University of California-Los Angeles, which was awarded in 1977. She worked as a bookkeeper for a variety of companies between 1960-1979 and later, as a computer systems analyst.

She is married to Guy Conner.

Elections

2010

See also: California State Senate elections, 2010

Wiggins was eligible but did not seek re-election in 2010.

2006

In 2006 Wiggins was elected to the California State Senate, District 2. She finished with 187,035 votes while her opponent Lawrence Wiesner finished with 97,611 votes. Wiggins raised $373,958 in campaign funds.

California State Senate, District 2
Candidates		Votes
Patricia Wiggins (D)		187,035
Lawrence Wiesner		97,611

Campaign donors

2006

In 2006 Wiggins raised $373,948 in campaign donations. Listed below are her top four donors.

Donor	Amount
California State Senate Council of Service Employees	$13,400
California Teachers Association	$13,400
California Medical Association	$10,700
Plumbers & Steamfitters Local 343	$8,000

District profile

The 2nd Senate District stretches along much of California's northern coast, including all of Humboldt, Lake, Mendocino, and Napa counties, and parts of Solano and Sonoma counties.

Positions and legislation

Wiggins has sponsored legislation in 2009 that:

• Mandates a written record of horse transactions.
• Provides favorable tax credits for those who install solar panels.
• Mandates that non-profit corporations who provide contract services for the state government be paid for their work within 45 days.

Wiggins supported the five May 19 statewide ballot propositions that voters soundly rejected.

Pastor controversy

Wiggins attracted unfavorable attention in August 2008 when she swore at a Sacramento-area pastor during a legislative hearing. Pastor Robert Jones of Oak Park United Methodist Church was testifying in front of a legislative committee about the possible impact on his community of legislation in front of the committee.

About two minutes into his testimony, Wiggins interrupted, saying, "Excuse me, but I think your arguments are bull----."

Calls for resignation

Wiggins announced in August 2009 that she will not seek re-election, citing an unspecified health issue. Since then, the state of her health has been called into question, and has led to two major newspapers calling for her resignation.

On February 17, 2010, Wiggins began yelling about an empty water pitcher at a committee meeting, and has reportedly appeared confused and disoriented at times.

Partial leave

In late March it was announced that Wiggins would be taking partial leave from the legislature to deal with her medical issues. On March 24 the Senate Rules Committee voted to remove her from the Senate Local Government, Senate Veterans Affairs and Joint Legislative Audit committees, and to remove her as chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Aquaculture.

Legislative scorecards

Capitol Weekly, California's major weekly periodical covering the state legislature, publishes an annual legislative scorecard to pin down the political or ideological leanings of every member of the legislature based on how they voted on an assortment of bills in the most recent legislative session. The 2009 scores were based on votes on 19 bills, but did not include how legislators voted on the Proposition 1A (2009). On the scorecard, "100" is a perfect liberal score and "0" is a perfect conservative score. ,

On the 2009 legislative scorecard, Patricia Wiggins ranked as a 100. She was one of eight state senators the publication identified as voting in what they defined as a "liberal" way in every vote they ranked.

Committee assignments

Wiggins served on these legislative committees:

On March 24, 2010, Wiggins was removed from all of the standing committee she had been serving on, and was removed as chair of the Joint Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture. She continues to sit on the select committees.

Joint committees

• Joint Committee on Fisheries & Aquaculture
• Joint Legislative Audit Committee

Select committees

• Committee on California's Wine Industry (Chair)
• Committee on High School Graduation
• Committee on Schools in Communities
• Committee on Earthquake and Disaster Preparedness

Standing committees

On March 24, 2010, Wiggins was removed from all of the standing committees she sat on

• Local Government (Chair)
• Energy, Utilities and Communications
• Governmental Organization
• Natural Resources and Water
• Public Employees and Retirement
• Revenue and Taxation
• Veterans Affairs

See also

• California state senators whose terms expire in 2010

External links

Suggest a link

• Patricia Wiggins' campaign website
• Official website of State Senator Pat Wiggins
• Legislative profile of Pat Wiggins on Project Vote Smart
• Biographical profile of Pat Wiggins on Project Vote Smart
• Campaign contributions in 2008, 2006, 2002, 2000 and 1998

References

Political offices
Preceded by -	California State Assembly District 7 1998-2004	Succeeded by Noreen Evans
Preceded by Wesley Chesbro	California State Senate District 2 2006–2010	Succeeded by Noreen Evans