Santa Monica, CA -- With the support of thousands of voters and endorsements from hundreds of elected officials, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District Board Member Ben Allen was elected Tuesday, November 4th, to represent District 26 in the California State Senate.
According to the Los Angeles County Registrar, Allen edged out social justice attorney Sandra Fluke, a West Hollywood resident, by a final count of 92,391 votes to Fluke's 59,627. Allen and Fluke came in first and second place, respectively, out of a pool of eight candidates in the June primary election. Both are Democrats.
"I am truly honored and grateful to be elected to represent the community I grew up in, as our District's next State Senator," said Ben Allen. "I could not have done this without the collective action and support of well-respected leaders and officials, the media, and my friends and family. I will not let the District down."
Born and raised in Santa Monica, Allen, a local attorney, is serving his second term as a Board Member for the Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District. He also teaches a class on education policy and the law at UCLA law school and launched the Los Angeles chapter of Spark, a program that connects disadvantaged middle school students with local apprenticeships, in 2010. He currently sits on Spark’s Board of Directors.
As key issues of his campaign platform, Allen prioritized strengthening local schools, creating new jobs and boosting the economy, modernizing local infrastructure, providing an affordable higher education, and protecting and preserving the area’s open spaces.
Congressman Henry Waxman, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, State Senator Fran Pavley, and hundreds of other key local, state, and national leaders endorsed Allen in his bid for State Senate, providing the campaign critical strength it needed to win on Tuesday.
According to Campaign Manager Samuel Liu, Allen attended hundreds of community events, participated in dozens of debates, and walked door-to-door throughout Senate District 26 during the campaign.
“Voters really responded to Ben’s commitment to local public service, deep roots in the community, and prioritization of the critical issues for our District,” said Liu. “I am honored to have been a part of Ben’s team and know he will make a great leader in Sacramento.”
In addition to his six years of service on the school board, Allen sits as a member the executive board of the Los Angeles County School Trustees Association, is the Chair of L.A. County’s Committee on School District Organization, and was a delegate to the California Democratic State Convention. While in law school, he served as a voting member of the University of California Board of Regents and as a judicial clerk with the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Prior to his law career, Allen worked for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), and then as communications director for Congressman Jose Serrano (D-NY). He holds degrees from Harvard, Cambridge, and UC Berkeley, and he is fluent in Spanish.
The 26th State Senate District consists of the cities of Manhattan Beach, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Palos Verdes Estates, Rancho Palos Verdes, Rolling Hills, Rolling Hills Estates, El Segundo, Avalon, Lomita, Torrance, Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and Beverly Hills; the Los Angeles neighborhoods of Marina Del Rey, Playa Del Rey, Westchester, Pacific Palisades, Brentwood, Westwood, Westwood Village, Bel Air, Holmby Hills, Little Holmby, Sunset Hills, Beverly Grove, Mar Vista, Mid City West, Miracle Mile, Larchmont Village, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Fairfax, Carthay, Fremont Place, Hancock Park, and Windsor Square; and the unincorporated Los Angeles County communities of Marina Del Rey, San Clemente Island, Santa Catalina Island, Franklin, Centinela, and Ocean View. |
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