Laura Friedman
This article has an unclear citation style.(October 2016) |
Laura Friedman | |
---|---|
Member of the California State Assembly from the 43rd district | |
Assumed office December 5, 2016 | |
Preceded by | Mike Gatto |
Mayor of Glendale, California | |
In office April 2011 – April 2012 | |
Preceded by | Ara Najarian |
Succeeded by | Frank Quintero |
Glendale City Councilmember | |
In office 2009–2016 | |
Personal details | |
Born | December 3, 1966 |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse(s) | Guillaume Lemoine |
Children | 1 |
Residence | Glendale |
Alma mater | University of Rochester |
Occupation | Politician |
Laura Friedman (born December 3, 1966) is an American politician serving in the California State Assembly. A Democrat, she represents the 43rd Assembly District, encompassing the cities of Glendale, Burbank, La Cañada Flintridge, portions of Los Angeles, including Los Feliz and Little Armenia. and the unincorporated community of La Crescenta-Montrose.
Prior to her election to the Assembly in 2016, Friedman was a member of the Glendale City Council.[1] She also served as Mayor of Glendale from 2011 to 2012.[2]
Career[]
Between 1994 and 1997, Friedman was the Vice President of Development at Rysher Entertainment, where she oversaw the production of approximately ten feature films annually as well as extensive television programming.[3] In 1995, Friedman was the co-producer of the Warner Brothers release It Takes Two.[4] In 1996 she was associate producer of House Arrest; executive producer of Foxfire; executive producer of the family film Zeus and Roxanne; and associate producer of the independent film Aberration, which was released by LIVE Entertainment. Between 1998 and 1999, Friedman was the Vice President of Development at Cort/Madden Company. Since 2000, Friedman has owned and managed a small business (PlanetGlass.net), a web-based art glass dealership.
In April 2011, Friedman became the mayor of Glendale, California.[5]
California State Assembly[]
After serving seven years on the Glendale City Council, including a term as the Mayor of Glendale, Laura Friedman was elected to the California State Assembly in 2016. During her first term in office, Laura authored a package of bills to establish landmark water efficiency standards, strengthen environmental sustainability, improve access to higher education, health care, and transportation alternatives, and create new avenues for communities to tackle the affordable housing crisis. In addition, she secured $20 million in funding for the completion of the Glendale Riverwalk Project, which for the first time will provide a safe bicycle and pedestrian connection from Glendale to Griffith Park. She has been tapped for several leadership roles in the legislature and currently serves as the Assistant Speaker pro Tempore for the Assembly and the Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship. As the Chair of the Joint Rules Subcommittee on Sexual Harassment Prevention and Response, she's led a historic bicameral and bipartisan reform of the legislature's response to sexual harassment that's become a model for other states and local governments.
She also introduced the California legislative bill, AB-44, which made the sale and manufacture of new fur products illegal in California. It was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 12, 2019, in Sacramento.[6][7]
On September 7th, she delayed the release of $4 billion of voter approved bonds for the California High Speed Rail, stating that the California High Speed Rail Authority has "not provided us any real details about what the money would go towards this year". The CHSRA Chief Financial Officer, Brian Annis, countered by stating that the CHSRA already presented to the legislature the expenditure plan in February of 2021 and that this delayed release by Friedman could cause budget delays to snowball. [8]
Electoral history[]
2016[]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Laura Friedman | 33,276 | 31.9 | |
Democratic | Ardy Kassakhian | 25,357 | 24.3 | |
Republican | Mark MacCarley | 16,551 | 15.9 | |
Democratic | Andrew J. Blumenfield | 13,309 | 12.8 | |
Republican | Alexandra A. Bustamante | 6,524 | 6.3 | |
Democratic | Dennis R. Bullock | 4,294 | 4.1 | |
Democratic | Rajiv Dalal | 3,173 | 3.0 | |
American Independent | Aaron Cervantes | 1,873 | 1.8 | |
Total votes | 104,357 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Laura Friedman | 106,186 | 64.5 | |
Democratic | Ardy Kassakhian | 58,561 | 35.5 | |
Total votes | 164,747 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic hold |
2018[]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Laura Friedman (incumbent) | 58,310 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 58,310 | 100.0 | ||
General election | ||||
Democratic | Laura Friedman (incumbent) | 125,568 | 100.0 | |
Total votes | 125,568 | 100.0 | ||
Democratic hold |
2020[]
Primary election | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
Democratic | Laura Friedman (incumbent) | 88,541 | 75.6% | |
Republican | Mike Graves | 24,258 | 20.7% | |
No party preference | Robert J. Sexton | 4,264 | 3.6% | |
Total votes |
Personal life[]
Born to a Jewish family,[9] Friedman was raised in South Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester in New York.[10] She is married to Guillaume Lemoine, a professional landscape designer.[3] The couple has a daughter, Rachel, born in 2013.
References[]
- ^ "City of Glendale website".
- ^ Levine, Brittany (April 9, 2012). "Mayor Laura Friedman baffled by colleagues' indecision". Glendale News-Press.
- ^ a b "Qualifications". Votelaurafriedman.com. 2009-01-09. Archived from the original on 2011-08-29. Retrieved 2011-11-05.
- ^ Klady, Leonard (1995-11-20). "It Takes Two". Variety. Retrieved 2020-05-21.
- ^ "Laura Friedman's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
- ^ "Bill Text - AB-44 Fur products: prohibition". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
- ^ Kaur, Harmeet (13 October 2019). "California becomes the first state to ban fur products". CNN.
- ^ "Friedman Derails Bullet Train Budget". cal.streetsblog.org.
- ^ Arom, Eitan (January 6, 2017). "Jewish state legislators ready to make an impact". Jewish Journal.
- ^ "Biography at City of Glendale website".
External links[]
- Pages using Party stripe with other party
- Living people
- Mayors of Glendale, California
- Women mayors of places in California
- Businesspeople from California
- University of Rochester alumni
- 1966 births
- California Democrats
- Members of the California State Assembly
- Women state legislators in California
- Women in California politics
- 21st-century American politicians
- 21st-century American women politicians