The California Legislative Latino Caucus, comprised of California State Senators and Assemblymembers, voted on Wednesday, May 5, 2010 to give a sole endorsement to Democrat Susan Jordan in the 35th Assembly District contest.

The Latino Legislative Caucus is dedicated to providing affordable housing, investing in our children, ensuring that higher education is affordable and accessible, creating well-paying jobs for working California families, and improving the overall quality of life for all Californians.

The Latino Caucus endorsement comes on the heels of the news that the California Police Chiefs Association endorsed Jordan as well, joining a long list of law enforcement and public safety organizations, including the Ventura County Deputy Sheriffs Association, Ventura County Professional Firefighters, Oxnard City Firefighters #1684, Ventura City Firefighters #3431 and Oxnard Police Chief John Crombach, among others.

“I am deeply honored to have earned the endorsement of the Latino Caucus,” Jordan said. “I look forward to working with the Caucus to fight for better access to healthcare, quality education for our children and good jobs and economic opportunities for all Californians,” she said.

In the wake of the tragic events in the Gulf of Mexico, Governor Schwarzenegger has withdrawn his support for Texas-based Plains Exploration and Production Company’s (PXP) controversial plan to expand offshore oil drilling off the Santa Barbara coast. Had PXP’s proposal been approved, it would have reversed California’s longstanding ban against new offshore oil leasing in state waters and been the first new offshore oil lease since the 1969 blowout fouled the Santa Barbara coastline.

“I welcome the Governor’s change in course and am thrilled that he has decided to take a precautionary approach to any new oil drilling off California. The unfolding tragedy in the Gulf reminds us anew of all the dangers that offshore oil drilling poses for our people, our coastal economy, marine wildlife, and beaches,” said Jordan.

The PXP deal has been a contentious issue in Jordan’s assembly race. Jordan opposed the deal from the start. Das Williams, her opponent in the Democratic primary, who had earlier pledged to support Jordan, cited her opposition to the PXP Tranquillon Ridge proposal for new oil drilling as the key reason for making an about-face entry into the race.

Environmental leader, former Carpinteria Mayor and three-term City Councilmember Donna Jordan has endorsed Susan Jordan in her race for the 35th District Assembly seat.

Donna Jordan, a long-time resident of Carpinteria, is a former middle school teacher who continues to tutor. Since leaving the City Council, Donna has continued in her role as a community activist and is currently focused on stopping new oil development in Carpinteria.

“I endorsed Susan Jordan because of her energy, intelligence and obvious passion for protecting our beautiful coastline,” Donna Jordan said.

As founder of the California Coastal Protection Network, Susan Jordan has received numerous awards for her statewide environmental work and for successfully taking on Governor Schwarzenegger and the big oil and gas corporations’ efforts to expand offshore oil development and build unsafe gas terminals along our coast. For the last 15 years, Susan has organized local communities at the grassroots level to stop powerful special interests from building illegal, polluting projects that threaten our water, air and coast. Susan is a staunch opponent of new offshore oil drilling and opposes both the controversial PXP plan for new offshore oil drilling and Venoco’s efforts to expand oil drilling off Carpinteria and Goleta.

At the same time Texas-based oil company Plains Exploration & Production (PXP) was trying to woo Santa Barbara environmentalists into supporting its plans to drill the first new offshore oil lease in California state waters in more than 40 years, the company was trying to convince the federal government not to implement stronger protections for drilling rigs that might have prevented the devastating oil spill that occurred 40 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

British Petroleum (BP), the operator responsible for the ongoing oil spill in Louisana, also submitted comments opposing the increased safety measures. Exxon and Chevron did as well.

The Louisiana spill, which is releasing approximately 5,000 barrels a day into the Gulf of Mexico, hit the coastline early Thursday evening. Described as possibly one of the nation’s worst environmental disasters in decades, the spill is threatening one of the world’s richest seafood grounds — home to shrimp, oysters and other marine life. The impacts of this spill on wildlife and the people in this region who depend on the sea for their livelihoods may force many into bankruptcy.

Releasing a copy of the letter PXP sent to federal authorities, Jordan, Director of the California Coastal Protection Network, blasted the company for speaking out of both sides of its mouth. “On one hand, PXP pretends they care about the environment and on the other they are doing everything they can to make sure they don’t have to protect it by law.”

Assembly District 35 candidate Susan Jordan has once again received the backing of a major public safety group. The California Police Chiefs Association (CPCA) has picked Jordan as the only candidate it is supporting in the 35th District Assembly race because of her consistent and unwavering support of public safety issues.

“Susan Jordan is the one candidate in this race that we believe will work to help us keep neighborhoods safe and who has the experience to make smart, responsible budgeting decisions that will get California back on track. She has the integrity, independence and guts to stand up to the special interests and is exactly the kind of effective legislator we need in Sacramento,” said Susan Manheimer, President of the California Police Chiefs Association.

As Earth Day rolls around again, we are reminded of the event that occurred 40 years ago and launched the modern environmental movement. On January 28, 1969 a blowout on a Union Oil Company platform spilled 200,000 gallons of crude oil into the ocean off Santa Barbara which quickly spread into an oil slick 800 square miles wide, fouling beaches and killing wildlife.

On Tuesday night, another blowout on a state-of-the-art oil-drilling rig occurred off the coast of Louisiana critically injuring three people with 11 left missing and feared dead. Last fall, a blowout from another state-of-the-art platform off Australia in the Timor Sea sent a slick across 8,000 square miles. This month another spill went through the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana.

Since 1969, we in California have been especially vigilant about the protection of our $43 billion coastal economy. The march toward a greener future has been pronounced here and we have led the nation in efforts to curb global warming and foster green technologies.

While well-meaning people can have different opinions on the best way to protect our coast, it is clear to more than 100 environmental groups around the state that the precedent set by allowing a new slant drilling project by Texas-based Plains Exploration and Production Co. into state waters off the coast of Santa Barbara will set the tone for years to come.

The Tri-Counties Central Labor Council and California Labor Federation announced that they have each voted to support Susan Jordan for the 35th Assembly District in the June primary election.

The Tri-Counties Central Labor Council is comprised of more than 50,000 union members in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties who represent thousands of families on the Central Coast. Teachers, firefighters, nurses and many others are represented by the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council and its affiliate unions.

The California Labor Federation is made up of more than 1,200 AFL-CIO and Change to Win unions, representing 2.1 million union members in manufacturing, retail, construction, hospitality, public sector, health care, entertainment and other industries.

“Susan Jordan is a champion for the working families of Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. We can count on her to fight for better schools, affordable health care and economic policies that help create jobs. She’s taken on Arnold Schwarzenegger and his corporate buddies and stopped their special-interest schemes by organizing local communities and building coalitions at the grassroots level. As our Assemblymember, Susan Jordan will bring broad experience and the highest degree of integrity to the State Capitol, and represent the people, not the powerful,” said Marilyn Valenzuela, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Tri-Counties Central Labor Council.

The workers who care for the most vulnerable populations in California – the sick, the elderly and the disabled – have given their sole endorsement to Susan Jordan in the Assembly District 35 race. These workers provide a critical lifeline to those most in need and know that Jordan will fight not just for them, but for all of the most vulnerable in our society.

“Looking at the budget votes that were cast in 2009, it has become clear to us that only a few legislators had the courage to stand up for home care services for the elderly, blind and disabled in this state. We believe that Susan Jordan will be a champion on our issues and will fight to ensure that state budgets are not balanced by cutting or eliminating these vitally needed services,” said Doug Moore, Executive Director, United Domestic Workers/American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3930.

The California Federation of Teachers (CFT), representing the voices of more than 75,000 educators across the state, has announced its support for Susan Jordan’s Assembly District 35 race.

CFT’s diverse statewide membership includes early childhood, K-12, community college and university educators, as well as classified staff.

“Our future lies in the success of our public education system,” Jordan said. “I am a product of public education and I want the next generation to have the same opportunities I did. It is absolutely critical at this time that we provide the resources and support that our educators and students deserve.

“As I travel the District and talk to those in education, it is clear to me that they are in this profession because they have a passion for it. The CFT’s support of my candidacy demonstrates that they understand I share that same passion,” Jordan added.

The CFT joins many other education leaders, both statewide and locally, in supporting Jordan’s Assembly race.

eaving no doubt of Susan Jordan’s impeccable environmental credentials, the Sierra Club put its faith in Jordan’s leadership abilities and has endorsed her Assembly candidacy. The Sierra Club joins the California League of Conservation Voters, as well as some of the most well-known environmental leaders in the state in backing Jordan.

“Susan Jordan is a highly accomplished environmental leader who as Executive Director of the California Coastal Protection Network (CCPN) and co-founder of the group Vote the Coast, has played a central role in many major environmental victories. She has worked closely with the Sierra Club on many issues, and in the Assembly Susan would use her extensive experience working issues at the legislative level to further her environmental goals,” said David Gold, Los Padres Sierra Club Political Co-Chair.

“When elected, Susan Jordan will bring to Sacramento a proven record of having confronted, worked on, organized around and won victories involving some of the most important environmental challenges facing California,” said Mark Massara, Former Director of the Sierra Club Coastal Program.

“Susan has worked to protect our coast from dangerous gas terminals, offshore oil derricks, destructive development and fought to protect precious natural resources for our families and future generations,” Massara added. “No other Assembly candidate, from Santa Barbara or anywhere in California, brings a level of experience and environmental accomplishments close to Jordan’s. With unprecedented environmental challenges looming ahead, from sea rise to extreme climate change, we can depend on Jordan to get it right and get the job done.”

Paul Mason, Former Deputy Director, Sierra Club California, also had no reservations in his praise. “I don’t know anyone with more integrity than Susan Jordan. Susan is exactly the combination of smarts, real-world experience, and values that we need, and embodies the best case in a citizen-legislator.”