Laura Friedman
Member of the California State Assembly
from the 43rd district
Assumed office
December 5, 2016
Preceded byMike Gatto
Mayor of Glendale
In office
April 2011 – April 2012
Preceded byAra Najarian
Succeeded byFrank Quintero
Personal details
Born (1966-12-03) December 3, 1966 (age 57)
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseGuillaume Lemoine
Children1
EducationUniversity of Rochester (BA)

Laura Friedman (born December 3, 1966) is an American former film producer and politician serving in the California State Assembly and a candidate for California's 30th congressional district. A Democrat, she represents the 44th Assembly district, encompassing the cities of Glendale, Burbank, the unincorporated community of La Crescenta-Montrose, and northern portions of Los Angeles, including Sunland-Tujunga, Shadow Hills, Lake View Terrace, La Tuna Canyon, Toluca Lake, Valley Village, Studio City and Sherman Oaks.

Prior to her election to the Assembly in 2016, Friedman was a member of the Glendale City Council from 2009 to 2016.,[1] where she served as Mayor of Glendale in 2011–2012.[2] She is the author of a landmark pro-housing bill to eliminate minimum parking requirements for housing near mass transit stations throughout the state of California; the bill was signed into law in 2022.[3]

In January 2023, Friedman launched her candidacy in the 2024 election in California's 30th congressional district.[4] The incumbent representative, Adam Schiff, is vacating the seat to run in the 2024 United States Senate election in California.

Early life and career

Born to a Jewish family,[5] Friedman was raised in South Florida. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Rochester in New York.[6] In 1992, Friedman moved to Hollywood, eventually relocating to Glendale in 2000 where she currently resides.

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.[7] In 1995, Friedman was the co-producer of the Warner Brothers release It Takes Two.[8] 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 PlanetGlass.net, a web-based art glass dealership.

Political career

In April 2011, Friedman became the mayor of Glendale, California.[9]

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.[10][11]

On September 7, 2021, 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 2021 and that this delayed release by Friedman could cause budget delays to snowball.[12]

Electoral history

2016

See also: California State Assembly election, 2016
California's 43rd State Assembly district election, 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

See also: California State Assembly election, 2018
California's 43rd State Assembly district election, 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

See also: California State Assembly election, 2020
2020 California's 43rd State Assembly district election
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

Friedman is married to Guillaume Lemoine, a professional landscape designer.[7] The couple has a daughter, Rachel, born in 2013.

References

  1. ^ "Management Services: City Council". City of Glendale. Archived from the original on April 27, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  2. ^ Levine, Brittany (April 9, 2012). "Mayor Laura Friedman baffled by colleagues' indecision". Glendale News-Press.
  3. ^ Parker, Jordan (September 23, 2022). "YIMBYs cheer 'landmark' law to eliminate parking mandates in housing near transit". San Francisco Chronicle.
  4. ^ Mason, Melanie; Mehta, Seema (February 3, 2023). "As Reps. Adam Schiff, Katie Porter launch Senate campaigns, the race to replace them begins". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  5. ^ Arom, Eitan (January 6, 2017). "Jewish state legislators ready to make an impact". Jewish Journal.
  6. ^ "Management Services: Laura Friedman". City of Glendale. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2023.
  7. ^ a b "Qualifications". VoteLauraFriedman.com. January 9, 2009. Archived from the original on August 29, 2011. Retrieved November 5, 2011.
  8. ^ Klady, Leonard (November 20, 1995). "It Takes Two". Variety. Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  9. ^ "Laura Friedman's Biography". Vote Smart. Retrieved May 29, 2020.
  10. ^ "Bill Text - AB-44 Fur products: prohibition". leginfo.legislature.ca.gov.
  11. ^ Kaur, Harmeet (October 13, 2019). "California becomes the first state to ban fur products". CNN.
  12. ^ Rudick, Roger (September 7, 2021). "Friedman Derails Bullet Train Budget". Streetsblog California. Retrieved March 11, 2023.

External links

Members of the California State Assembly
Categories