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Malia Vella
Malia Vella (Democratic Party) ran in a special election to the California State Assembly to represent District 18. She lost in the special primary on June 29, 2021.
Vella completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. Click here to read the survey answers.
Biography
Malia Vella was born in Alameda, California. She earned a bachelor's degree from Wellesley College in 2006 and a J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law in 2011. Her professional experience includes working as a worker’s rights/labor attorney and as an adjunct professor at Mills College. Vella was elected to the Alameda City Council in 2016 and went on to serve as vice mayor. She has served as an elected delegate and AD18 E-Board member for the California Democratic Party, as the lead abatement JPA for the Alameda County Healthy Homes Department Governing Board, as a board member of Spectrum Community Services, as vice chair of the Filipino American Democratic Caucus of the California Democratic Party, and as a member of the Housing and Economic Development Committee of the League of California Cities. Vella has also been affiliated with the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and the Filipino Bar Association of Northern California.[1][2]
Elections
2021
See also: California state legislative special elections, 2021
General election
Special general election for California State Assembly District 18
Mia Bonta defeated Janani Ramachandran in the special general election for California State Assembly District 18 on August 31, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Mia Bonta (D)  | 56.9 | 43,762 |
 | Janani Ramachandran (D) | 43.1 | 33,181 | |
| Total votes: 76,943 | |||
| = 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
Special nonpartisan primary for California State Assembly District 18
The following candidates ran in the special primary for California State Assembly District 18 on June 29, 2021.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Mia Bonta (D) | 38.0 | 22,558 |
| ✔ | | Janani Ramachandran (D) | 23.7 | 14,036 |
 | Malia Vella (D) | 16.9 | 10,053 | |
| Stephen Slauson (R) | 9.6 | 5,725 | ||
| Victor Aguilar (D) | 6.6 | 3,938 | ||
 | James Aguilar (D) | 1.8 | 1,039 | |
| Eugene Canson (D) | 1.7 | 1,029 | ||
| Joel Britton (Independent) | 1.3 | 750 | ||
| Nelsy Batista (D) (Write-in) | 0.0 | 13 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 187 | ||
| Total votes: 59,328 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
Endorsements
To view Vella's endorsements in the 2021 election, please click here.
Campaign themes
2021
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Malia Vella completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2021. The survey questions appear in bold and are followed by Vella's responses. Candidates are asked three required questions for this survey, but they may answer additional optional questions as well.
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- Housing – I support efforts to build housing at all income levels, removing exclusionary zoning and increasing funding for affordable and transitional housing to assist our unhoused neighbors.
- Equity – The COVID 19 Pandemic has exacerbated the economic inequities that already existed and disproportionately impacted women and BIPOC communities. We need to expand access to quality health care for all, ensure that our neighborhood schools stay open, address food insecurity, provide affordable childcare, reinvest in the social services we know help people succeed, and help our workers return to work safely.
- Justice Reform – As a Councilmember, I led the way in demilitarizing our police, reimagining policing, and unbundling services and reinvesting in our community through a community led process that centered BIPOC voices. I intend to continue this work in the state legislature.
2. Climate Change
Expertise - Knowledge, experience and expertise matter. Under normal circumstances, redistricting requires special knowledge. This year, new laws governing redistricting, the compressed schedule and the ongoing effects of COVID make the process especially challenging. Hiring an expert consultant allows staff to focus on equitable input through education and outreach.
Education - Community education needs to start early. It takes time to engage hard-to-reach communities of interest and explain what redistricting is.
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
2021 Elections
External links
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Candidate California State Assembly District 18 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ Information submitted to Ballotpedia through the Candidate Connection survey on June 21, 2021
- ↑ Malia Vella State Assembly, "Meet Malia Vella," accessed June 22, 2021
