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Ruth Musser-Lopez
Ruth Musser-Lopez (Democratic Party) ran for election to the California State Senate to represent District 16. She lost in the general election on November 6, 2018.
Musser-Lopez was a 2014 Democratic write-in candidate for District 16 of the California State Senate.
Biography
Ruth Musser-Lopez's professional experience includes working as an archaeologist and businesswoman. Her organizational affiliations include the California Democratic Party Rural Caucus and Inland Empire/Desert Region 10.[1]
Elections
2018
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2018
General election
General election for California State Senate District 16
Shannon Grove defeated Ruth Musser-Lopez in the general election for California State Senate District 16 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Shannon Grove (R) | 64.2 | 169,714 |
 | Ruth Musser-Lopez (D) | 35.8 | 94,579 | |
| Total votes: 264,293 (100.00% precincts reporting) | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 16
Shannon Grove and Ruth Musser-Lopez defeated Gregory Tatum in the primary for California State Senate District 16 on June 5, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Shannon Grove (R) | 59.1 | 90,353 |
| ✔ | | Ruth Musser-Lopez (D) | 29.0 | 44,303 |
 | Gregory Tatum (R) | 11.9 | 18,152 | |
| Total votes: 152,808 | |||
| = 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. | ||||
2014
- See also: California State Senate elections, 2014
Elections for the California State Senate took place in 2014. A primary election took place on June 3, 2014. The general election was held on November 4, 2014. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was March 7, 2014. Incumbent Jean Fuller (R) was unopposed in the blanket primary and defeated write-in candidate Ruth Musser-Lopez (D)[2] in the general election.[3][4][5]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Jean Fuller Incumbent |
72.8% | 122,700 | |
| Democratic | Ruth Musser-Lopez | 27.2% | 45,812 | |
| Total Votes | 168,512 | |||
Campaign themes
2018
Ballotpedia survey responses
- See also: Ballotpedia's candidate surveys
Ruth Musser-Lopez participated in Ballotpedia's candidate survey on May 7, 2018. The survey questions appear in bold, and Ruth Musser-Lopez's responses follow below.[6]
What would be your top three priorities, if elected?
| “ | 1) ARREST THE PIRACY--PRIVATIZATION OF PUBLIC RESOURCES. Reverse the trend of privatization of our public water (via corporate heists of community aquifers and interception of canal water by so-called "joint powers water authorities" essentially privately controlled water banks; heist of our mineral resources (via foreign corporations and Trump's policy to put cleanup liability on taxpayers back; public land (via mass corporate solar projects over pristine desert aquifers), schools (via corporate chartering), Veteran’s hospitals and prisons (via corporate contracts); AND medical treatment. Usher in pubic universal healthcare and low or no cost higher education paid by profits from a publicly owned and controlled water bank and publicly owned and controlled California financial institution (Bank of California). 2) FUNDING REDIRECT. Restore our failing infrastructure and redirect federal tax dollars to SD16 highways and byways repairs, rest areas, improvement--Route 58, 62, 66, 99, Hwy 58, etc.; to require internet neutrality for rural areas; art, music theatre (no guns) in all schools; end the high school to prison pipeline—all California high school graduates guaranteed minimum living allowance during transition to job status; end disparate race base arrests and prison terms; require body cams for all arrests; end the disparate sub-funding of teacher salaries compared to other professional public service employees; direct Prop 1 funds to southland flood containment projects, reuse, recycling and desalination to the south coast to end reliance on north state water; end the piracy and privatization of public canal water by private controlled "joint water authorities"; return the rural justice courts. |
” |
What areas of public policy are you personally passionate about? Why?
| “ | RESTORING PARADISE: Parking Lots with a Twist-- SOLAR ROOFS. Big Oil > BIG BATTERIES. Water Policy, Food Production Policy, Environmental Quality are my public priorities and my passion. Qualification Standards for those preparing and reviewing environmental reports particularly in the Mojave desert where rare species and non renewable plus 10,000 year old world class archaeological sites are a precious resource. Haven't you had enough of Republican obfuscation, inaction and corporate cow-towing? If six years wasn't enough for Shannon Grove to get something done in Sacramento when she was in the Assembly...then why would any voter in their right mind give her four more? My opponent Grove is ignorant and living in the dark ages....she thinks drought is caused by abortion legislation and is blinded as far as the impacts of fossil fuel use and extraction saying that fracking has no negative impact on the environment thus she failed to develop regulation to monitor and stop dumping of fracking toxins in her very own drinking water supply. She, Trump and the rest of this Republican outfit have done so much damage: 2.7 million acres of wetlands removed from the definition under the federal Clean Water Act...my opponent says nothing about it but as a state legislator I would be in a position to undo his damage by writing legislation to protect our state's wetlands under federal control. AND, how do you like the way Trump put the monkey on the taxpayer's back to clean up after foreign mining corporations...sounds like a Putin scam to me...I would write legislation against such Canadian and Russian corporate monkey business.Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; invalid names, e.g. too many[8]
|
” |
Ballotpedia also asked the candidate a series of optional questions. Ruth Musser-Lopez answered the following:
Is there a book, essay, film, or something else you would recommend to someone who wants to understand your political philosophy?
| “ | To understand where I am coming from, watch WATER AND POWER: A CALIFORNIA HEIST (National Geographic. Note that they got it wrong...the canal was actually there before the Resnicks bought the land around it. Note that Scott Slater and the Cadiz corporation are still trying to heist the water under the East Mojave desert. I am fighting to stop this water privatization. Also watch THE MAGIC PILL...learn about what is wrong with the American diet and how our health problems can be attributed to corporate greed and the production of the the wrong food products...so sad, and sad to is the inhumane treatment of animals especially barnyard animals. Third, watch AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: RACHEL CARSON. It goes without saying that Rachel Carson is a pioneer in ushering in a new era of environmental awareness...lets keep building upon her work. I suggest a one month free trial subscription to NetFlix to watch these documentaries if you aren't already subscribed.[8] | ” |
| “ | I have a proven track record of honesty, reliability, dependability...trust is a critical quality. Every day we wonder what Trump is doing now...in one count he has lied 3000 times since taking office. Putting up with lies and wondering day to day what insanity will happen next is not what our lives are supposed to be about. I don't want my constituents to worry..they can be confident that I will act in the best interest of people...PEOPLE FIRST, then money, then things. My friends, family and constituents, those who know me, know that corporate profits at the expense of the health and happiness of the people is NOT what I am about. If a product is not safe for people, it should not be on the market. If a certain technology is causing toxins in our water and our air and as a result--our health to suffer--then we need legislative action to stop that nonsense. Etc.[8] | ” |
| “ | My opponent has about $750,000 thousand, I have less than $750 dollars in my campaign account. Financially, I may be a pip squeak barking chihuahua....but those who know me, know that having no money is no object. I will bark, bark bark all around a big giant issue, way bigger than me...and then, when I sink my teeth into its leg...WATCH OUT!. I will bring it down and BOOM: that's the end of that. I was first to write about the proposed Ward Valley Nuclear Dump. I kept barking at it, then others did, then some more, pretty soon we had Charles Butler and the People Against Radioactive Dumping (PARD) along with Steve Lopez and the Native American Tribes, we Dan Hirsch had BANWaste and numerous other coalitions, then I wrote the voter initiative...we got over 20,000 signatures. All together along with our Democratic legislators, Gray Davis, Tom Hayden, Byron Sher and many many more...and moles in the government (thank you very much) along with all of the voters who signed the initiative...the people stopped the Republican's corporate national Nuclear Dump that would have put the liability burden on back of California taxpayers...We accomplished the defeat of the "done deal" nuclear dump before we had the internet. Internet has made communicating much easier..I am proud of the knowledge that I have acquired to keep up with that technology---we must keep it tax free and equally accessible for all to get the same high speed quality--"internet neutrality."[8] | ” |
| “ | I know how to listen and I can write...I like to think about how to improve the quality of life and California. Being a native of California and having lived here for 65 years I know how things have changed for better or for worse. To me, one of the biggest victories of legislative change in my time was with regard to air quality and emissions. I can remember how my lungs hurt when I was 16 because of the smog...I thought it would never end but it did. Regulation, air quality credits and enforcement brought about improved air quality throughout the southland. I am against Trump's careless lifting of protective air quality standards all for the sake of corporate profits at the expense of people's lives, happiness and health. Whenever Trump (who my Republican opponent supports) signs a bill that lets corporate off the hook, I will be there to write state law that protects the people against Trump's whims. I have written numerous resolutions that have been passed by the Democratic Party and I authored bylaws that were passed by the California Democratic Party's Rural Caucus. I am currently Chair of the Inland Empire/Desert Region of the California Democratic Party Rural Caucus.[8] | ” |
| “ | My legacy is the circa 1998 voter initiative I authored to prohibit the dumping of nuclear waste over desert aquifers. Since then I have authored many resolutions including: 1) EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE ( passed 2015); 2) Proposed Resolution #9030596:
OPPOSE TRUMP PLAN TO EXPORT AND PRIVATIZE EAST MOJAVE DESERT GROUND WATER (passed). 3) Proposed Resolution #9033421: NO TO SAN BERNARDINO REPUBLICAN’S “TAXATION BY ANNEXATION” 4) Proposed Resolution #9032358: EQUAL ACCESS TO JUSTICE VIA TWO-WAY CLOSED CIRCUIT TV; 5) Proposed Resolution #9036338: AUTO ARREST CAMS; 6) Proposed Resolution #9044030: EXCESSIVE FORCE REPORTING STANDARDS; 7) Proposed Resolution #9044132: GET YOUR KICKS ON RT66 (State Parks and Recreation intervention); 8) Proposed Resolution #9038610: MT. BALDY SAFETY SIGNAGE (passed); 9) HUMANITARIAN INTERVENTION IN BURMA (passed 2017); 10) RESOLUTION OPPOSING TRUMP’S FEDERAL OVERREACH TO DICTATE AND CONTROL CALIFORNIA’S STATEWIDE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM; 11) REFORM RED REGIONS (currently proposed resolution to consolidate AD33 and AD42 into one CDP region; provides that every AD receives 1/4 vote on the Executive Board of the California Democratic Party. The legacy I would like to leave for the California Senate is my proposal to create a State Bank and a State Water Bank, profits from which would fund art, music and theatre, performing arts in our schools, fund preschool and at least two years of college including apprenticeship programs. I want to champion the graduate allowance program to tide our seniors over giving them the time and freedom to find employment. I want to champion a state pooled health insurance fund that would direct payments into a public universal health insurance fund that benefits ALL rather than just the greedy corporate insurance CEOs who profit off of our illnesses, cancer and disease.[8] |
” |
| “ | Human habitat and a healthy water and food supply are fundamentally critical to California's future and that is why a) an arrest and turn back of global warming, b) an end to the dependency on fossil fuels and 3) family planning are critical to California's future. I believe that all other things fall in place under those priorities and that is why I would want to be on the following committees: Agriculture, Appropriations, Banking and Financial Institutions, Budget and Fiscal Review Business, Professions and Economic Development Education, Elections and Constitutional Amendments, Energy, Utilities and Communications, Environmental Quality, Governance and Finance, Governmental Organization, Health, Human Services, Insurance, Judiciary, Labor and Industrial Relations, Natural Resources and Water, Public Employment and Retirement, Public Safety Rules, Transportation and Housing, Veterans Affairs, Climate Change Subcommittee, 2020 Census subcommittee, California-Mexico cooperation subcommittee.[8] | ” |
Ballotpedia biographical submission form
The candidate completed Ballotpedia's biographical information submission form:
| “ | What is your political philosophy?
Bring funding to the south Central Valley/Senate District 16 for fair, equitable and clean water practices; stop the corporate water privatization heist; transition to single-payer health insurance; support pathways to careers not just jobs; support our public services and careers (education, disability, base income, road, infrastructure); hold responsible for environmenal cleanup the corporate polluters, not the taxpayers (reverse Trump Republican policies that cause land, air and water pollution); equal rights and woman's right to make personal and private health decisions with regard to their own bodies, common sense action on safe gun/weapon policies. Is there anything you would like to add? I am on the right side of the aisle to get the job done. Please visit www.RuthWave.us and contribute.[8] |
” |
| —Ruth Musser-Lopez[1] | ||
2014
Musser-Lopez's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[9]
| “ | I want our State to keep 'Raising Community, California and Country UP' for people and the environment, for quality of life, air, water and the food we eat, for healthy peacetime jobs, for personal constitutional rights and liberties, personal choice concerning one’s own body including reproduction, and freedom of speech.[8] | ” |
See also
- State legislative elections, 2018
- California State Senate elections, 2018
- California State Senate elections, 2014
- California State Senate
- California State Senate District 16
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Information submitted on Ballotpedia’s biographical information submission form on September 9, 2018
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Certified List of Write-in Candidates for the June 3, 2014, Statewide Direct Primary Election," accessed May 24, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official 2014 Primary election candidate list," accessed March 27, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official primary election results," accessed July 15, 2014
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Official general election results," accessed December 14, 2014
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's candidate survey, "Ruth Musser-Lopez's responses," May 7, 2018
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 8.9 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ ruth2014senate.com, "Why I'm Running," accessed September 19, 2014
