Mariko Yamada represented Benicia until redistricting
MARIKO YAMADA.
File photo
Yamada is hoping to represent the Third District, which is made up of Solano and Napa counties and parts of Contra Costa, Sacramento, Sonoma and Yolo counties.
A Davis Democrat, she was a member of the Assembly from 2008 to 2014, but didn’t seek re-election last year. She had been Benicia’s representative in the Assembly until redistricting put the city into Susan Bonilla’s district.
Bonilla, of Concord, is running for a Senate seat in this year’s special elections, and will face Orinda mayor Steve Glazer in the May 19 special general election runoffs. Both are Democrats.
Yamada is a professional social worker who earlier was elected to the Yolo County Board of Supervisers, where she served four years as district director and five as the supervisor for District 4.
She also spent 10 years in the nation’s capital, initially working on U.S. Census Bureau 1980 Census undercount reduction efforts and later as the only woman investigator among four headquarters staff with the Office of the Secretary, Office for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Commerce.
On her off time in Washington, she co-produced and was a host of “Gold Mountain, D.C.,” a jazz and information radio program.
She summed up her campaign for state Senate by saying, “We’ve got work to do!” and cited her experience at federal, state and local levels.
“We need experienced and energetic leadership to continue to recover from some of the most difficult times our state and nation have experienced,” Yamada said. “I’m running for state Senate to build upon the work I did in the Assembly, to make sure we’re standing up for the middle class and small businesses throughout California, protecting the most vulnerable, improving our schools, colleges and universities and defending the Delta and the environment.”
She said she has been encouraged to re-enter the political arena and has launched a campaign website, http://yamadaforsenate.com.
“In the past 100 days since the conclusion of my Assembly service, I am grateful for the encouragement I have received from so many friends and supporters,” she said.
Yamada said she consulted with advisers and obtained her family’s support before announcing her candidacy for the Third District.
She said she has received endorsements from many people, including state Controller Betty Yee, state Treasurer John Chiang, state Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, former state Treasurer and state Sen. Bill Lockyer, former state Sen. Noreen Evans, former Asm. Wes Chesbro and dozens of other state and local officials and citizens.
Yamada was born in 1950 in Denver, Colo., after her parents were released from a Japanese-American internment camp, where they were confined during World War II.
She was the first member of her family to earn college degrees: a bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Colorado-Boulder and a master’s in social work from the University of Southern California.
She is married to Janlee Wong, and the couple has two adult daughters. Yamada has lived in Davis since 1994.
During her years in the Assembly Yamada represented both the 8th and 4th districts, which make up 80 percent of Wolk’s Senate district.
Yamada said that in the Assembly she became known for her work to protect agriculture and water, veterans, vulnerable elders, the mentally ill, and those with disabilities and their caregivers.
An opponent of the proposed Delta tunnels, Yamada said she would continue to support preservation of prime farmland. That stand dates to her years as a district supervisor, when she also sought to save open spaces and water resources while opposing developments she considered unsafe.
She said that on both local and state levels, she has used her experience as a social worker to help diverse community members work toward common solutions on shared problems.
“I am proud of what we’ve accomplished to turn things around in California,” Yamada said, “but I know we’re not done yet.”
Sharing is caring!
Leave a Reply