Democratic candidate Sheila Kuehl was elected to serve a second
term as the state senator for District 23, which includes Santa
Monica and UCLA.
For fear of bad luck, Kuehl did not want to speak about the
election before the polls closed. But with a constituency that is
50 percent registered Democrat, the incumbent did not have trouble,
winning 64 percent of the votes.
“It’s a real privilege to be in the Legislature, and
after 10 years of gaining experience, I thought it was important to
use that experience and continue to give back to the state,”
she said.
The other candidates for the district were Republican Leonard
Michael Lanzi and Libertarian Colin Goldman.
The District 23 election received attention as one between
openly gay candidates representing both major parties.
Kuehl spent most of her efforts in the campaign months helping
Democratic colleagues in districts where the race was tighter. She
did not feel the need to run a campaign of her own.
“I think it’s a waste of my supporters’ money
to just put out mailers when I didn’t really have a
challenge,” she said.
In this term, Kuehl said she will continue to concentrate on
issues of the environment and public safety, and plans to
re-introduce a bill for universal health care in January.
“My district is very vocal and they let me know what they
like and what they don’t like,” Kuehl said. “I
hear from a lot of my constituency and they seem to be pleased with
the things that I try to do.”
Kuehl served six years in the state Assembly before being
elected to the state Senate in 2000. During her time in the
Legislature, she authored 109 bills that have been signed into law
dealing with issues like child support, housing development and
water resources.
Kuehl graduated from UCLA with a degree in English in 1962. She
later returned to teach at the UCLA School of Law and served as
assistant dean of students.