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Melissa Fazli
From Ballotpedia
This page was current at the end of the individual's last campaign covered by Ballotpedia. Please contact us with any updates.
Melissa Fazli (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Assembly to represent District 55. She lost in the primary on June 5, 2018.
Fazli completed Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey in 2018. Click here to read the survey answers.
Elections
2018
General election
General election for California State Assembly District 55
Incumbent Phillip Chen defeated Gregg Fritchle in the general election for California State Assembly District 55 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Phillip Chen (R) | 54.9 | 87,928 |
 | Gregg Fritchle (D) | 45.1 | 72,256 | |
| Total votes: 160,184 | |||
 = 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 55
Incumbent Phillip Chen and Gregg Fritchle defeated Melissa Fazli, James Gerbus, and Scott Lebda in the primary for California State Assembly District 55 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Phillip Chen (R) | 47.2 | 42,664 |
| ✔ | | Gregg Fritchle (D) | 22.6 | 20,441 |
 | Melissa Fazli (D) | 15.5 | 14,016 | |
| James Gerbus (R) | 10.8 | 9,731 | ||
| Scott Lebda (R) | 3.9 | 3,571 | ||
| Total votes: 90,423 | |||
| = 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
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Melissa Fazli participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on May 18, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Melissa Fazli's responses follow below.[1]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | Housing, Health Care, and Human Rights.[2][3] | ” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | As a former Realtor for over 12 years, I am most passionate about affordable housing, homelessness, and protecting homeowners from another foreclosure crisis. I have seen first hand what the foreclosure crisis did to families, including murder-suicide and I don't ever want that to happen again. I want to pass laws that protect the homeowners from predatory lenders and scam artists. Much of the homelessness problem was dealt by the greedy corrupt banks and they still have not paid retribution to those who were illegally thrown out of their homes. California is now the 5th largest economy in the world, so there is no reason why we shouldn't have more affordable housing.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[3]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Melissa Fazli answered the following:
Who do you look up to? Whose example would you like to follow and why?
| “ | I look up to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barrack Obama. Clinton did her best to shatter the glass ceiling for women like me, who have a servant's heart. I supported her over Obama during the Primaries because I felt she was the right person for the job to mend our poor reputation around the world. Obviously, Obama felt the same way and that's why the best decision he ever made was making her Secretary of State. She flew millions of miles to facilitate that repair of America's reputation, but low and behold Putin was her only miss. She is not a perfect woman, none of us are, but she knows right from wrong and she stood her ground with 11 hours of grueling testimony and still after years of the Benghazi Investigation, no indictments prevailed. She is my hero and I hope to be a strong leader like her.[3] | ” |
| “ | I read lots of books and watch more than my fair share of movies, but to understand my political philosophy I would recommend reading "Religious Freedom and the Supreme Court" by Ronald B. Flowers, Melissa Rogers, and Steven K. Green. I had to read it during my studies at the Religious Freedom Center out of the Newseum Institue in Washington DC. I should forewarn that it's over 1,200 pages, but I think it's a crucial book to understand one another better. Jonathan Swift once wrote “We have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.”[3] | ” |
| “ | Characteristics of a good politician should be honesty, candor, integrity, responsibility, open to bipartisanship, and ability to represent everyone that he/she represents, no matter how they voted.[3] | ” |
| “ | My qualities include honesty, candor, integrity, responsibility, open to bipartisanship, and ability to represent everyone in my district no matter if they voted for me or not. I am also a multi tasker and love to get as much as I can accomplish in a day. I will be a very active Assembly woman and not some figure head.[3] | ” |
| “ | The core responsibilities include, but not limited to, traveling to Sacramento early Monday morning and returning Thursday afternoon. Meeting and listening to constituents and coming up with solutions to their problems. Writing legislation that will not only better my district, but all of California. Being a constant fixture in Committee meetings and speaking up to ask the tough questions. Make sure I am available to my constituents by phone, email, text, and respectful office hours.[3] | ” |
| “ | I want my legacy to be the woman who helped California overcome their housing issues and who did so with integrity.[3] | ” |
| “ | The first event that I have a clear memory of was on January 28, 1986 when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. I was in 8th grade and I overheard a teacher telling my teacher that it had exploded and they were debating to bring the television into the classroom for us to watch or even send us home early. They did neither. I went home and my mother had it on the television and she was still visible shaken. I remember her telling me that Tom Brokaw was broadcasting when he saw his friend, Christa McAuliffe die. I have total respect and awe for the brave men and women of NASA.[3] | ” |
| “ | My first job was as a waitress at The Greek Circus Restaurant and I was 15 1/2 years old. I kept that job all through high school. Funny story is that I was larking around trying to help my Aunt get a job and she had applied too, but didn't get the job. I would work 3 to 5 days a week. Later on I would become a cashier at McDonald's and worked at both of them.[3] | ” |
| “ | My most awkward date was over 20 years ago with my now husband. He took me to a Pakistani restaurant and I have never eaten Pakistani food before. I cried through the entire meal with all the jalapenos and Serrano peppers. He also taught me how to eat with my hands. Luckily he made up for it the next date by taking me to a Persian restaurant, which is now my favorite food. He told me later that I passed his test.[3] | ” |
| “ | My favorite holiday is Easter because I love Spring. The colors, chocolates, jelly beans, and beautiful weather are among the reasons, but it's a holiday that gives me hope and pause as I reflect on the incredible life of Jesus Christ.[3] | ” |
| “ | My favorite book is "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert because her observations about others in 3 different countries amazes me and in the end we are all looking for love.[3] | ” |
| “ | I would love to be Sydney Bristow from the old show "Alias." I am a huge fan of Jennifer Garner and her character Sydney was this kick ass woman who did good for her country.[3] | ” |
| “ | My favorite thing is my desk in my master bedroom. It's where I am at answering these questions and it brings me to focus. When I ever sit down, I know I am about to gets lots done. It makes me feel very productive.[3] | ” |
| “ | The last song stuck in my head is "Secrets" by Mary Lambert.[3] | ” |
| “ | My biggest struggle has always been my weight, however in the past 2 years I have lost 75 pounds with Weight Watchers. I am just a few pounds away from when I got married. Not bad after giving birth to three sons.[3] | ” |
| “ | Here in California we have a Democratic super majority, so there really isn't a huge difference.[3] | ” |
| “ | I do believe it's beneficial, but not a requirement.[3] | ” |
| “ | Biggest challenge facing California is housing and will continue to be for decades to come without meaningful legislation.[3] | ” |
| “ | The ideal relationship would be access. When I visited Sacramento last month, I kept asking where is Governor Jerry Brown? I was told he is an introvert and only makes rare appearances. I hope the next Governor will be more accessible.[3] | ” |
| “ | It is imperative to have relationships with other legislatures, if not then nothing could be accomplished.[3] | ” |
| “ | I favor 50/50 redistricting because voters should chose their candidates, not the other way around.[3] | ” |
| “ | My top 3 choices are #1 Transportation and Housing #2 Appropriations and #3 Education[3] | ” |
| “ | I hope to be a great legislator like Kamala Harris and Dianne Feinstein.[3] | ” |
| “ | I would be interested in running for the House of Representatives or Senator one day, say maybe in 6 years after I term out.[3] | ” |
| “ | I had this great conversation with Mayor of Yorba Linda, Gene Hernandez for 90 minutes a few weeks ago. We talked politics around SB54 making California a Sanctuary state. He's a very conservative Republican and he cares so much about the people of Yorba Linda, but I took inspiration from the fact that even though we disagree on so many things, we had a very productive and positive meeting. I proved to myself that I do in fact have the ability as a Democrat to talk to Conservatives without screaming or being overly emotional. We bantered back and forth, but in the end we both agreed that Assembly District 55 has been under represented in Sacramento for a very long time. Will he vote for me? Probably not, but I did make a difference with him and is taking into consideration some of my suggestions.[3] | ” |
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- California State Assembly elections, 2018
- California State Assembly
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Melissa Fazli's responses," May 18, 2018
- ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 3.25 3.26 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
Current members of the California State Assembly
Leadership
Majority Leader:Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
Minority Leader:James Gallagher
Representatives
District 1
Heather Hadwick (R)
District 2
Chris Rogers (D)
District 3
James Gallagher (R)
District 4
District 5
Joe Patterson (R)
District 6
Maggy Krell (D)
District 7
Josh Hoover (R)
District 8
David Tangipa (R)
District 9
Heath Flora (R)
District 10
Stephanie Nguyen (D)
District 11
Lori Wilson (D)
District 12
Damon Connolly (D)
District 13
Rhodesia Ransom (D)
District 14
Buffy Wicks (D)
District 15
District 16
District 17
Matt Haney (D)
District 18
Mia Bonta (D)
District 19
District 20
Liz Ortega (D)
District 21
Diane Papan (D)
District 22
Juan Alanis (R)
District 23
Marc Berman (D)
District 24
Alex Lee (D)
District 25
Ash Kalra (D)
District 26
Patrick Ahrens (D)
District 27
Esmeralda Soria (D)
District 28
Gail Pellerin (D)
District 29
Robert Rivas (D)
District 30
Dawn Addis (D)
District 31
Joaquin Arambula (D)
District 32
Stan Ellis (R)
District 33
Alexandra Macedo (R)
District 34
Tom Lackey (R)
District 35
Jasmeet Bains (D)
District 36
Jeff Gonzalez (R)
District 37
Gregg Hart (D)
District 38
Steve Bennett (D)
District 39
Juan Carrillo (D)
District 40
Pilar Schiavo (D)
District 41
John Harabedian (D)
District 42
Jacqui Irwin (D)
District 43
District 44
Nick Schultz (D)
District 45
James Ramos (D)
District 46
Jesse Gabriel (D)
District 47
Greg Wallis (R)
District 48
Blanca Rubio (D)
District 49
Mike Fong (D)
District 50
Robert Garcia (D)
District 51
Rick Zbur (D)
District 52
Jessica Caloza (D)
District 53
District 54
Mark Gonzalez (D)
District 55
Isaac Bryan (D)
District 56
Lisa Calderon (D)
District 57
Sade Elhawary (D)
District 58
Leticia Castillo (R)
District 59
Phillip Chen (R)
District 60
Corey Jackson (D)
District 61
Tina McKinnor (D)
District 62
Jose Solache (D)
District 63
Natasha Johnson (R)
District 64
Blanca Pacheco (D)
District 65
Mike Gipson (D)
District 66
Al Muratsuchi (D)
District 67
District 68
Avelino Valencia (D)
District 69
Josh Lowenthal (D)
District 70
Tri Ta (R)
District 71
Kate Sanchez (R)
District 72
Diane Dixon (R)
District 73
District 74
Laurie Davies (R)
District 75
Carl DeMaio (R)
District 76
Darshana Patel (D)
District 77
Tasha Horvath (D)
District 78
Christopher Ward (D)
District 79
District 80
David Alvarez (D)
Democratic Party (60)
Republican Party (20)
