California State Legislative Candidate Responses
Find out where your state legislative candidates stand on medical marijuana. If you're not sure what district you live in, you can look up your district using your ZIP code.
MPP and our allies at Americans for Safe Access recently sent a questionnaire to all of California's legislative candidates to find out their position on various medical marijuana issues (you can skip ahead to the survey results for the Senate and for the Assembly). Our survey asked the following five questions:
1.) In 1996, California voters approved Proposition 215, which protects seriously ill and injured patients from prosecution for certain marijuana crimes, as long as their use of marijuana was recommended by a physician. A Mason-Dixon poll conducted 10 years later shows that support for the law has grown to 72%.
Do you generally agree that patients who use marijuana for medical purposes should not be jailed for their medicinal use?
2.) To help implement California's voter-approved medical marijuana law, the legislature and the governor passed S.B. 420 into law in 2004. This law set thresholds for possession and cultivation of medical marijuana, created a statewide ID card program for qualified patients, allowed for collective cultivation, and permitted reasonable compensation for medical marijuana provided to patients within the state of California.
Do you generally support this law?
3.) Last year, the California Supreme Court ruled in Ross v. Raging Wire that an employee could be terminated for using medical marijuana even when the use was away from work. In response to this ruling, Asm. Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) and several co-authors introduced A.B. 2279. This legislation prohibits employment discrimination against legal medical marijuana patients, so long as they are not impaired on the job or are in safety-sensitive positions. The legislation has been approved by the state Assembly and is currently pending in the Senate.
Do you support A.B. 2279?
4.) Because federal law generally does not recognize medical marijuana, the Drug Enforcement Administration has raided state-legal medical marijuana patients and providers in California. Additionally, the federal Department of Justice has begun threatening to seize the property of any landlord who rents to medical marijuana facilities. Such federal actions not only limit safe and legal access to patients' medicine, they also cause the state lose tax revenue (medical marijuana dispensaries pay an estimated $100 million in sales tax).
Would you support a non-binding resolution, such as Sen. Carole Migden's S.J.R. 20, which calls on the federal government to stand down its attacks on patients and to harmonize federal law with the state laws of California and the 11 other states with compassionate use laws?
5.) California's state and local law enforcement officers sometimes use their resources to assist in these federal raids, even when the targets are not violating any state law. Following California's Fourth District Court of Appeals ruling that "it is not the job of local police to enforce federal drug laws" (City of Garden Grove v. Superior Court of Orange County, 2007), Asm. Lori Saldaña (D-San Diego) introduced A.B. 2743. This legislation would have made it official policy that state and local resources shouldn't be used to assist the federal government in undermining state and local medical marijuana laws.
Do you support A.B. 2743, or a similar policy of non-assistance with federal medical marijuana raids?
In addition to the MPP/ASA survey, Project Vote Smart asked candidates whether they "support allowing doctors to prescribe marijuana to their patients for medicinal purposes."
MPP believes that the best answer to all six of these questions is "yes." Please refer to the table below to find out how your candidates responded on medical marijuana issues. The last column indicates whether or not a candidate has a positive voting record on medical marijuana.
* Note: "NFA" means the candidate responded to the survey but did not favorably answer the medical marijuana question; "—" means the candidate did not respond to the Project Smart Vote survey at all.
California State Senate Candidates:
Project Vote Smart has contact info for Senate candidates.
Senate |
| District |
Candidate |
Party |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q5 |
VoteSmart MMJ Answer* |
Favorable Voting History |
| 1 |
Anselmo Chavez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 1 |
Dave Cox |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
No |
| 3 |
Mark Leno |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 3 |
Sashi McEntee |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 5 |
Lois Wolk |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Mixed |
| 5 |
Gregory Aghazarian |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 7 |
Mark DeSaulnier |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 7 |
Christian Amsberry |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 9 |
Claudia Bermudez |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 9 |
Marsha Feinland |
Peace and Freedom |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 9 |
Loni Hancock |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 11 |
Blair Nathan |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 11 |
S. Joseph Simitian |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 13 |
Elaine Alquist |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 13 |
Shane Connolly |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 13 |
John Webster |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 15 |
Abel Maldonado |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 17 |
Bruce McFarland |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 17 |
George Runner Jr. |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 19 |
Hannah-Beth Jackson |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 19 |
Anthony Strickland |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 21 |
Teddy Choi |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 21 |
Carol Liu |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 21 |
Steve Myers |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 23 |
Colin Goldman |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 23 |
Rick Montaine |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 23 |
Fran Pavley |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
n/a |
| 25 |
Lydia Gutierrez |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 25 |
Roderick Wright |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 27 |
Alan Lowenthal |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 27 |
Allen Wood |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 29 |
Robert Huff |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 29 |
Joseph Lyons |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 29 |
Jill Stone |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 31 |
Robert Dutton |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 31 |
Ameenah Fuller |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 33 |
Gary Pritchard |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 33 |
Mimi Walters |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 35 |
Thomas Harman |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 35 |
Ginny Mayer |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 37 |
John Benoit |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 37 |
Arthur Guerrero |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
n/a |
| 39 |
Christine Kehoe |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 39 |
Jeffrey Perwin |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 39 |
Jesse Thomas |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
California State Assembly Candidates:
Project Vote Smart has contact info for Assembly candidates.
Assembly |
| District |
Candidate |
Party |
Q1 |
Q2 |
Q3 |
Q4 |
Q5 |
VoteSmart MMJ Answer |
Favorable Voting History |
| 1 |
Wesley Chesbro |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 1 |
Jim Pell |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 2 |
Jim Nielsen |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 2 |
Paul Singh |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 3 |
Michael Harrington |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 3 |
Dan Logue |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 4 |
Ted Gaines |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 5 |
Danial Leahy |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 5 |
Karen Martinez |
Peace and Freedom |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 5 |
Roger Niello |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 6 |
Timothy Hannan |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 6 |
Jared Huffman |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
Yes |
| 6 |
Paul Lavery |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 7 |
Noreen Evans |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
Yes |
| 7 |
Doris Gentry |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 8 |
Manuel Cosme |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 8 |
Mariko Yamada |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 9 |
Mali Currington |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 9 |
Gerald Frink |
Peace and Freedom |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 9 |
Dave Jones |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 10 |
Janice Bonser |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 10 |
Alyson Huber |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 10 |
Jack Sieglock |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 11 |
Elizabeth Hansen |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 11 |
Tom Torlakson |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 12 |
Conchita Applegate |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 12 |
Fiona Ma |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 13 |
Tom Ammiano |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 13 |
Harmeet Dhillon |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 14 |
Nancy Skinner |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 15 |
Abram Wilson |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 15 |
Joan Buchanan |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 16 |
James Faison |
Republican |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
— |
n/a |
| 16 |
Sandré Swanson |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
Yes |
| 17 |
Cathleen Galgiani |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 17 |
Jack Mobley |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 18 |
Lou Filipovich |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 18 |
Mary Hayashi |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 19 |
Catherine Brinkman |
Republican |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
n/a |
| 19 |
Gerald Hill |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 19 |
Brian Perry |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 20 |
Alberto Torrico |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 20 |
Jeffrey Wald |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 21 |
Ira Ruskin |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 21 |
Annalisa Temple |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 22 |
Paul Fong |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 22 |
Brent Oya |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 23 |
Joe Coto |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 23 |
Mark Patrosso |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 24 |
James Beall Jr. |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
Yes |
| 24 |
Douglas McNea |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 25 |
Thomas Berryhill |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 25 |
Taylor White |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 26 |
Bill Berryhill |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 26 |
John Eisenhut |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 27 |
Mark Hinkle |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
n/a |
| 27 |
Bill Monning |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Und. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 27 |
Robert Murray |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 28 |
Anna Caballero |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
Yes |
| 29 |
Humberto Avila |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 29 |
Michael Villines |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 30 |
Fran Florez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 30 |
Danny Gilmore |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 31 |
Juan Arambula |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 31 |
Clifford Archer |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 32 |
Virginia Martinez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 32 |
Jean Fuller |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
No |
| 33 |
Sam Blakeslee |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 33 |
Robert Cuthbert |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 34 |
Connie Conway |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 34 |
Desmond Farrelly |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 35 |
Gregory Gandrud |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 35 |
Pedro Nava |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Didn't vote |
| 36 |
Linda Jones |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 36 |
Stephen Knight |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 37 |
Ferial Masry |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 37 |
Audra Strickland |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 38 |
Carole Lutness |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 38 |
Cameron Smyth |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 39 |
Felipe Fuentes |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 39 |
John Lindblad |
Green |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 39 |
Grady Martine |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 40 |
Bob Blumenfield |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 40 |
Pamela Brown |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 40 |
Armineh Chelebian |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 41 |
Mark Bernsley |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 41 |
Julia Brownley |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 42 |
Mike Feuer |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 42 |
Steven Sion |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 43 |
Jane Barnett |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 43 |
Paul Krekorian |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 44 |
Brian Fuller |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 44 |
Thomas Logan |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 44 |
Anthony Portantino Jr. |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Didn't vote |
| 45 |
Phillip Alexander |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 45 |
Kevin de Leon |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 46 |
Manuel Aldana Jr. |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 46 |
John Perez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 47 |
Karen Bass |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 47 |
Lady Cage-Barile |
Republican |
No |
No |
No |
No |
No |
— |
n/a |
| 48 |
Mike Davis |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 48 |
Lucilla Esguerra |
Peace and Freedom |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 49 |
Mike Eng |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 49 |
Esthela Siegrist |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 50 |
Hector De La Torre |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 51 |
Maurice Pollack |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 51 |
Curren Price Jr. |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
— |
Yes |
| 51 |
Carl Swinney |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 52 |
Isadore Hall III |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 52 |
Gwen Patrick |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 53 |
Ted Lieu |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 53 |
Thomas Vidal |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 54 |
Gabriella Holt |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 54 |
John King |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 54 |
Bonnie Lowenthal |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 55 |
Warren Furutani |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 55 |
Edwin Williams |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 56 |
Roger Garrett |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 56 |
Tony Mendoza |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 57 |
Edward Hernandez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 57 |
Victor Saldana |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 58 |
Charles Calderon |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 58 |
Carlos Getino |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 59 |
Anthony Adams |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 59 |
Maureen Keedy |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 59 |
Donald Williamson |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 60 |
Curt Hagman |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 60 |
Diane Singer |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 61 |
Wendy Maier |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 61 |
Michael Mendez |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 61 |
Norma Torres |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 62 |
Wilmer Carter |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Didn't vote |
| 63 |
William Emmerson |
Repubican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 63 |
Mark Westwood |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 64 |
Brian Nestande |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 65 |
Paul Cook |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 65 |
Carl Wood |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 66 |
Grey Frandsen |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 66 |
Kevin Jeffries |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 67 |
Steve Blount |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 67 |
Jim Silva |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 68 |
Kenneth Arnold |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 68 |
Van Tran |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 69 |
Cam Mangels |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 69 |
Jose Solorio |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 70 |
Charles DeVore |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
No |
| 70 |
Michael Glover |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 71 |
Jeff Miller |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 72 |
Michael Duvall |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 72 |
John MacMurray |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 73 |
Andrew Favor |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 73 |
Diane Harkey |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 73 |
Judy Jones |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
Yes |
n/a |
| 74 |
Martin Garrick |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 74 |
Paul King |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 74 |
Brett Maxfield |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 75 |
Nathan Fletcher |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 75 |
Darren Kasai |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 75 |
John Murphy |
Libertarian |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 76 |
Daniel Baehr |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 76 |
Ralph Denney |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 76 |
Lori Saldaña |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 77 |
Joel Anderson |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
No |
| 77 |
Richard Belitz |
Libertarian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 77 |
Raymond Lutz |
Democratic |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
n/a |
| 78 |
Martin Block |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 78 |
John McCann |
Republian |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 79 |
Derrick Roach |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
NFA |
n/a |
| 79 |
Mary Salas |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
Yes |
| 80 |
Gary Jeandron |
Republican |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a |
| 80 |
Manuel Perez |
Democratic |
Did not respond. |
— |
n/a | | 
