Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 27

Elected on November 5, 2002, Assemblymember John Laird represents the 27th State Assembly District, which includes portions of Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Santa Clara Counties. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, John served two terms on the Santa Cruz City Council, two terms as Mayor, and eight years as a Cabrillo College Trustee.

Speaker Herb Wesson appointed John to chair the Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee. He is one of only five first-term members to chair a major policy committee. John has also been appointed chair of the Special Committee on State Mandates and chair of the Select Committee on California Water Needs and Climate Change.

John also serves as a member of the following committees: Judiciary Labor and Employment Natural Resources Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Revenue and Taxation.

John's legislative package includes a broad range of bills relating to environmental protection, education, transportation, water policy, insurance, civil rights, labor and employment, and children's health.

Raised in Vallejo and educated in Vallejo public schools, John's parents were both educators. He graduated from Adlai Stevenson College.

In 1981, John was elected to a seat on the Santa Cruz City Council and served until term limits ended his Council service in 1990. He was elected by the City Council to one-year Mayor's terms in 1983 and 1987 + being one of the first openly gay Mayors in the United States upon his first election in 1983.

John lives in Santa Cruz with his partner John Flores. He is fluent in Spanish, has traveled widely, has conducted extensive family history research, and is a life-long Chicago Cubs fan.