John Laird
- Assembly: 2002-2008
- Senate: 2020-present
News coverage of John Laird
Bio
John Laird, 75, was a member of former Gov. Jerry Brown’s cabinet, a city council member and a member of the Assembly. Laird was Brown’s secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency. Prior to his appointment, he served three terms in the Assembly and several years on the Santa Cruz City Council, where was one of the country’s first openly-gay mayors. Laird was executive director of the Santa Cruz AIDS Project, taught environmental policy at the University of California Santa Cruz, hosted a talk radio show and was an analyst for Santa Cruz County. Laird and his spouse live in Santa Cruz.
Leader Badges
Ideology
Left
Moderate
Right
Bill Activity
0
Of 38 bills:For this session year, this legislator initiated 38 bills: 15 passed, 1 failed, and 22 are currently pending.
Alignment Meter
See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.
Financials
This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).
Election
This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).
Agriculture
Candidate Contributions
Communications & Electronics
Construction
Defense
Energy & Natural Resources
Finance, Insurance & Real Estate
General Business
Government Agencies/Education/Other
Health
Ideology/Single Issue
Labor
Lawyers & Lobbyists
Party
Transportation
Uncoded
Unitemized Contributions
Candidate Donations
Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.
287.0% higher than the average legislators
Party Committees
This is independent expenditure money spent by political parties for advertising, grassroots mobilization or other activities targeting this candidate. Separately, political parties can give money directly to a candidate's campaign committee. Digital Democracy tallies that money under "candidate donations".
8.0% lower than the average legislators
Independent Expenditures
Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity targeting a candidates run for office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.
100.0% lower than the average legislators
Grand Total for Elections
224.0% higher than the average legislators
This is a total of the money targeting this legislator's campaign(s) including direct donations to the candidate, money spent by Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.
Influence
There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.
Giver | Value | Date | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Don Ernst | $350 | Nov 22, 2021 | 3 bottles of wine |
| Re-Elect Senator Atkins 2020 - Haley & Company | $158.2 | May 24, 2021 | member dinner |
| Rivas for Assembly 2022 | $151.74 | Oct 4, 2021 | dinner |
| Re-Elect Senator Atkins 2020 - Haley & Company | $92.79 | May 11, 2021 | member dinner |
| Adam Gray for Assembly 2020 | $91.5 | Feb 24, 2021 | gift basket |
| Re-Elect Senator Atkins 2020 - Haley & Company | $80.71 | Feb 23, 2021 | senate jacket |
| Re-Elect Senator Atkins 2020 - Haley & Company | $45 | Mar 3, 2021 | champagne |
| Re-Elect Senator Atkins 2020 - Haley & Company | $45 | Apr 13, 2021 | campagne |
Gifts
Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.
Gift Received Rating
This legislator is ranked 31st highest for the amount of personal gifts received.
Policy
Bills Authored by John Laird
Committees
Most of the policy work in the state Capitol is done in “Standing” committees. Legislators also work on budget subcommittees. There are also “Special” and “Select” committees with a more narrow topic focus. And there are “Joint” committees with members from the Senate and Assembly.
Senate Standing Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review
Senate Standing Committee on Human Services
Senate Standing Committee on Judiciary
Senate Standing Committee on Labor, Public Employment and Retirement
Senate Standing Committee on Local Government
Senate Standing Committee on Natural Resources and Water
Interest Group Rankings
Generally Aligned
Hearings
Featured Comments
Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.
District
The maps and information about this district reflect the boundaries when this Senator was last elected in 2020. Since then legislative districts have been redrawn according to the latest US Census. This district will change after the 2024 election.
Previous Election (2024):
Party Registration
Key
District
State
Census Data
Median age