EMILYs List Endorses Wendy Carrillo for California’s Assembly District 51
September 25, 2017
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Wendy Carrillo for California’s Assembly District 51. Lucinda Guinn, Vice President of Campaigns at EMILYs List, released the following statement:
“As a community advocate and labor activist, Wendy has been on the front lines fighting for economic security for women and families, women’s rights and reproductive health care, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, and environmental justice.”
“There are fewer women in the California legislature than a decade ago. Now, more than ever, we need a leader like Wendy Carrillo who will always stand up and give women and families a much-needed voice – and EMILYs List is proud to endorse Wendy Carrillo for Assembly District 51.”
Wendy Carrillo is running for California’s Assembly District 51 in a special election to be held on October 3. Wendy is a community activist and formerly undocumented immigrant. As a child, her family emigrated to East Los Angeles from El Salvador, fleeing civil war and violence. After becoming a U.S. citizen in her early 20s, Wendy built a career as a respected journalist and radio host, most notably as the host and executive producer of “Knowledge is Power,” a show on Los Angeles Power 106FM which tackled social justice issues in the community. She also served on the communications team for SEIU ULTCW, where she fought for fair wages for caregivers, immigration reform, and health care for all. Most recently, Wendy co-founded Reported.ly, a social media start-up covering human rights, global conflict, and social movements. In 2016, she spent two months covering the Standing Rock protests against the North Dakota Access Pipeline, a movement started by Native American indigenous women.
EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $500 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making them one of the most successful political organizations ever. Our grassroots community of over five million members helps Democratic women wage competitive campaigns – and win. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research the issues that impact women and families, and turn out women voters. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 116 women to the House, 23 to the Senate, 12 governors, and over 800 to state and local office. Forty percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. Since the 2016 election, thousands of women and counting have reached out to us about running for office. To harness this energy, EMILYs List has launched Run to Win, an unprecedented effort to get more women to run at the local, state, and national levels.
