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Diane Stewart
Diane Stewart (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Assembly to represent District 11. She lost in the primary on June 5, 2018.
Stewart completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Stewart was a 2012 Democratic candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from California. She was elected as a trustee of the Byron Union School District in 2014.[1]
Biography
Stewart studied political science and business administration at UCLA from 1986 to 1990. She is the owner of a bookkeeping, accounting, and tax business which provides record keeping for small businesses.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for California State Assembly District 11
Incumbent Jim Frazier defeated Lisa Romero in the general election for California State Assembly District 11 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Jim Frazier (D) | 61.5 | 96,254 |
 | Lisa Romero (R) | 38.5 | 60,335 | |
| Total votes: 156,589 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Assembly District 11
Incumbent Jim Frazier and Lisa Romero defeated Diane Stewart in the primary for California State Assembly District 11 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Jim Frazier (D) | 48.3 | 39,095 |
| ✔ | | Lisa Romero (R) | 37.8 | 30,623 |
 | Diane Stewart (D) | 13.9 | 11,224 | |
| Total votes: 80,942 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2012
Stewart ran in the 2012 election for the U.S. Senate, representing California. She was defeated in the June 5 open primary.[2][3]
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
I'm running for Member of the State Assembly District 11 because I believe the purpose of government is to improve the lives of its citizens. I was born in San Francisco, raised in San Jose and attended California public schools from K-UCLA. As a Byron Union School Board Member I had the honor and privilege to accomplish many things. One of my personal favorites was bringing one-to-one computers to every student in our district. I voted to make repairs and improvements to our campuses and equip the neighborhood of Byron with a play structure for their children. Working together with both members of the community and my school board colleagues was most rewarding. Together we approved a county land usage agreement which allows the county to widen the road in front of Excellcior Middle School, one of the more popular schools in the area, making the street safer and more accessible to the school from Byron Hwy onto Byer Rd. This decision also made it safer for pedestrians. One of the most important things as a public servant is to be visible and accessible to all stakeholders. Listening to the needs of students, teachers, administrators, parents and the community remained a consistent priority for me in my role as a school board member. Listening to the community enabled opportunity to ensure that their voices were heard in open board meetings. Elect me as Member of the State Assembly District 11 as I commit to making your voices heard in Sacramento as we all benefit from the progress in District 11. Public education is a growing concern for everyone in California and throughout the nation. My goal is to strategize accessing full and fair funding to our public schools and to work together with the development of incoming charter schools. I believe there is collaboration yet to be done on the Delta Tunnel Proposal. As a community I know we can do better. Supporting and developing bills that cut taxes for average tax payers, tax incentives for small businesses, farmers and rental property owners has to be accomplished providing economic growth and sustainability of renters and the community as a whole. Supporting additional funding to increase our law enforcement, fire departments and services that provide assistance to veterans, mental health, homelessness and health care is priority to me. Safe streets and access to necessary care is pivotal to growing communities. Your support in voting for me on June 5th is greatly appreciated. Thank you.[4] |
” |
| —Diane Stewart[5] | ||
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Diane Stewart participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on May 23, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Diane Stewart's responses follow below.[6]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | Full & Fair Funding for Public/Charter Schools
Tax Reform for Taxpayers and Small Businesses Affordable Housing[7][4] |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | I'm personally passionate about our California Public Schools because I have a child in the school system and I think our students deserve better. California is the 6th largest economy in the world. We should not be at the bottom in educational funding. I'm passionate about Tax Reform because the average Californian is working harder than our parents, spending more time away from the home commuting and have less to show for it. Nearly all of the write-offs that our parents had have been removed leaving us with no way to save for a new car, college, a home, vacation or retirement. We must get back our quality of life. I'm passionate about Affordable Housing because 50% of a person's income should not have to go to keeping a roof over their head. We need to bring this percentage back down to 30% where it's comfortable and property owners can see a profit as well.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[4]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Diane Stewart answered the following:
What characteristics or principles are most important for an elected official?
| “ | Perseverance to be able to withstand public criticism. Integrity to stand up and defend the rights of the voiceless. Open mind to be able to see things from both sides.[4] | ” |
| “ | I'm dedicated to fulfilling the responsibilities of the office. I make time to be accessible to the voters in order to hear and respond to their needs. I research the facts in order to have a foundation on which to debate my position.[4] | ” |
| “ | The core responsibilities of a State Assemblymember is to work alongside the governor of California to create laws and establish a state budget. Legislative authority and responsibilities of the California State Assembly include passing bills on public policy matters, setting levels for state spending, raising and lowering taxes, and voting to uphold or override gubernatorial vetoes.[4] | ” |
| “ | The first historical event to occur in my lifetime took place seven days before my birth. On April 4, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated. One week later on April 11, 1968 I was born. It's profound to me because God created the world in seven days so when this strong political leader for justice was taken from this world seven days later another political leader was created.[4] | ” |
| “ | I was fortunate to have been given a summer internship through Kaiser Hospital before I left for college. It only lasted a few weeks but it gave me insight into the workforce and assisted me towards the path I wanted to be on for a career.[4] | ” |
| “ | Christmas was my favorite holiday as a child and now as a parent I love trying to ignite that same joy within my son. There's so much excitement and joy at Christmas and it always feels like a time for renewal and a time when the impossible things that we may want can become possible.[4] | ” |
| “ | Originally I didn't have an answer for this but the book, ""The Color Purple"" keeps coming to mind. In life we are all going to have struggles. Some struggles are harder and more horrific than others but just when you can't take anymore and think you can't keep moving forward because everything has been so unfair an unexpected act of kindness fulfills one of the things you've been working towards the whole time. We as humans need each other. We need to be kind to one another.[4] | ” |
| “ | My favorite things in my home are my son's go-kart racing trophies. They represent the end success to a goal that was filled with petty obstacles and unlimited negative resistance and yet he and I persevered to become champions.[4] | ” |
| “ | It has been a struggle in my life to be able to prove my worth to my family.[4] | ” |
| “ | Yes one should have a background in politics. There's politics in everything that we do but it takes a certain skill to be able to not back down when confronted with opposition to your straight forward and logical presentation of what the voters want. It takes quick thinking to turn the opposition's argument around and show them how they are wrong. It takes knowing how to bounce back from defeat of your proposal and to find another route to getting done what needs to get done.[4] | ” |
| “ | Bringing our state back into balance where people have a good quality of life, businesses retain profits and the state balances its budget.[4] | ” |
| “ | Yes. We are not here to do this alone. There are legislators far more knowledgeable in the process of getting legislation passed. We should always be willing to work together, listen and compromise.[4] | ” |
| “ | Education, Tax Reform, Housing[4] | ” |
| “ | California US Senator[4] | ” |
2012
Stewart stated the following about her campaign in a biographical submission to Ballotpedia:[8]
"We're no longer functioning as a society. In a society, human beings work collectively together for the betterment of the community as a whole. And as a community, we bestow upon our elected government officials the care of our most cherished freedoms, “liberty, equality and the pursuit of happiness”. But today these freedoms are on the verge of being taken away from us with proposed legislation that will reverse Row v. Wade and Civil Rights, consistant and arbitrary increases in gas prices, a 40% increase in the deficit, and a 20% decrease in the pursuit of happiness and quality of our lives.
We need leaders in our government who know that the purpose of government is to make the lives of its people easier. That we are put into office to be held accountable for where we spend their hard earned tax dollars. And that our focus is to provide them with a sense of trust and security so that they can progress in their daily lives.
I am such a leader. I've always been a leader whether on the athletic field, as Drum Major for my high school marching band or when running my own financial company.
I want to revitalize the financial funding to our schools, provide our children with aesthetically pleasing environments in which to learn and develop, and restore our educational ranking in the world to within the top ten. Without a fully funded educational system we cannot produce a work force capable of moving our economy forward. We will not be as creative in the arts. We will not be leaders in medicine and technology. We will not be at the cutting edge of our world society or able to compete among a world market that is poised to leave us behind.
I will introduce legislation that will allow working parents to work within 20 miles of their home so that they can: pick their children up from school (cutting down on the crimes against kids); get home in time to have dinner as a family; and reduce their cost of gas by 60%.
I will return monies taken from states and cities due to the war so that they can hire the proper number of police officers and firefighters that it takes to protect us and keep us safe."
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- California State Assembly elections, 2018
- California State Assembly
External links
- Search Google News for this topic
- California State Assembly
- Campaign website
- Facebook page
- Twitter feed
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia via email on April 13, 2018
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified list of candidates," accessed June 1, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Unofficial election results," November 6, 2012 (dead link)
- ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Information submitted on Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form on May 23, 2018
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Diane Stewart's responses," May 23, 2018
- ↑ [Biographical submission to Ballotpedia, March 18, 2012]
