November Election: 63rd and 65th State Assembly Seats

Yucaipa is represented by the 63rd (map) and 65th (map) State Assembly Districts.

63rd Assembly District

Candidate: Bill Emmerson (incumbent, Republican)
Official Web Site: 63rd California Assembly District
Occupation: Served in the Assembly since 2004, practicing orthodontist in Hemet 1982-2004.

Candidate: Mark Westwood (Democrat)
Official Candidate Statement (pdf)
Official Web Site: Westwood4aBetterWay.com
Occupation: Mark currently lives in Yucaipa, and is full time Market Night Manager for the cities of Yucaipa and Highland.

Additional Information
List of campaign donors and articles
Redlands Daily Facts: "Democrat Takes on Freshman Incumbent"

Emmerson:
Emmerson said he hopes to help implement bonds that he hopes will pass in the Nov. 7 election . The bonds will "hopefully cover highway improvement projects to relieve congestion," he said. He added that he hopes to "improve the movement of goods that come to our ports" and then move through the Inland Empire. Doing so will help reduce congestion on the highways as well, he said.

Emmerson said there are 7 million Californians who are uninsured, and the solution is to work on a plan that doesn't penalize employers and try to get everybody some type of universal coverage. "We need to increase the number of individuals covered by insurance," Emmerson said.

Westwood:
"The answer is to have mass transportation and we need to, as a state, become a leader in doing that," he said. "The longer a parent has to commute is less time they can spend with their children."

"No child should ever have to worry about whether they have good health care and no senior citizen should have to choose between their sustenance and their medication," Westwood said. "I want to continue to work to get a comprehensive health care insurance reform act passed."

Endorsements
San Bernardino Sun: Bill Emmerson
Press-Enterprise: Bill Emmerson
Daily Bulletin: Bill Emmerson

65th Assembly District
Incumbent Assemblyman Russ Bogh is not running for re-election.

Candidate : Paul Cook (Republican)
Official Candidate Statement (pdf)
Official Web Site: JoinPaulCook.com
Occupation: Retired Marine Colonel, Mayor of Yucca Valley

Candidate: Rita Ramirez-Dean (Democrat)
Official Campaign Statement
Official Web Site: RitaRamirezDean.com
Occupation: "For the last thirty-two years, she has taught as a community college professor at Copper Mountain College, Joshua Tree. and at College of the Desert, Palm Desert."

Candidate: John Taleb (Peace and Freedom)
Campaign Statement: none
Official Web Site: none
Occupation: Teacher

Additional Information
List of campaign donors and related articles

Endorsements
Press-Enterprise: Paul Cook
Hi-Desert Star: Paul Cook

Tags: Yucaipa, election, assembly