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Jonathan Abboud
Jonathan Abboud (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Assembly to represent District 37. He lost in the primary on March 3, 2020.
Abboud completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Jonathan Abboud was born in Los Angeles, California. He earned both a B.A. in political science and a master's degree in technology management from the University of California Santa Barbara. Abboud's professional experience includes working as a general manager for the Isla Vista Community Services District and as a community organizer for the Isla Vista Self Governance Initiative. He has served as treasurer of the Santa Barbara County Action Network, as executive director of the Reclaim CA Higher Education Coalition, as regional director for California Young Democrats, and as a platform committee member for the California Democratic Party. He previously served as student body president for UC Santa Barbara from 2013 to 2014. He was elected to a four-year term on the Board of Trustees of Santa Barbara City College in 2018.[1]
Elections
2020
See also: California State Assembly elections, 2020
General election
General election for California State Assembly District 37
Steve Bennett defeated Charles Cole in the general election for California State Assembly District 37 on November 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Steve Bennett (D) | 67.6 | 166,015 |
Charles Cole (R)  | 32.4 | 79,661 | ||
| Total votes: 245,676 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Assembly District 37
The following candidates ran in the primary for California State Assembly District 37 on March 3, 2020.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Charles Cole (R) | 27.5 | 41,945 | |
| ✔ | | Steve Bennett (D) | 24.6 | 37,516 |
| Cathy Murillo (D) | 19.4 | 29,498 | ||
 | Jonathan Abboud (D) | 7.9 | 12,039 | |
| Jason Dominguez (D) | 7.3 | 11,177 | ||
 | Elsa Granados (D) | 7.1 | 10,840 | |
| Stephen Blum (D) | 6.1 | 9,278 | ||
| Total votes: 152,293 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Campaign themes
2020
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Jonathan Abboud completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2020. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Abboud's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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I grew up with immigrant parents, from Lebanon, in a working class neighborhood of Los Angeles near an oil field. We belonged to underfunded schools, so my mom transferred us to another public high school with more resources. This awakened me politically by asking the question why is there even a "good school" and a "bad school" in the first place?
In 2010 I moved to the Central Coast and became the first in my family to go to college by attending UC Santa Barbara, graduating with a BA in Political Science and a Master of Technology Management. In my last year, I served as Student Body President during a difficult and tragic time in Isla Vista.
In 2014 I decided to stay to organize within the community and with our legislators in Sacramento to empower our town with a form of self-governance; I'm proud to now serve as the General Manager of the Isla Vista Community Services District. I've served as a Trustee on the Santa Barbara City College Board for five years, the entire time advocating in Sacramento for our community's higher education interests.
- Combat climate change with a California Green New Deal
- Make education a lifelong right with universal pre-K and tuition free college
- Develop affordable housing and public transportation
Climate change
Housing & transportation
Campaign finance
Voting rights
Immigration
Criminal Justice
Equal rights for for all: women, LGBTQ, indigenous peoples, people of color
Strong conviction
Never giving up
Friendly and outgoing
Involving residents in the legislative process
I want to leave the state assembly having played a leading role in making education a real right in California, as well as enacting a Green New Deal that ends our reliance on fossil fuels, invests in our communities, and builds affordable housing and public transportation.
2. Housing crisis and homelessness. As we continue to not build enough affordable housing, many people are being pushed out further from work or onto the streets.
Transportation
Note: Ballotpedia reserves the right to edit Candidate Connection survey responses. Any edits made by Ballotpedia will be clearly marked with [brackets] for the public. If the candidate disagrees with an edit, he or she may request the full removal of the survey response from Ballotpedia.org. Ballotpedia does not edit or correct typographical errors unless the candidate's campaign requests it.
See also
2020 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on February 18, 2020
