Deborah Ortiz

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Deborah V. Ortiz was a Democratic California State Senator, representing the 6th State Senate District. She was originally elected in 1998 with 55% of the vote, and subsequently re-elected in 2002 with 70.8% of the vote. Prior to her election to the State Senate she served in the California State Assembly from 1996 to 1998 representing the 9th Assembly District of California.

Ortiz was born and raised in the Oak Park neighborhood of the City of Sacramento. Ortiz received her undergraduate degree from UC Davis and her law degree from McGeorge School of Law.

Ortiz was first elected to public office in a special election in 1993 when she was elected to the Sacramento City Council. She took the seat of Joe Serna who had been elected Mayor of Sacramento in November of 1992. Prior to that she had served as Chief of Staff to then State Assemblyman Richard Polanco and as a leader at the Latino Coalition for Fair Sacramento Redistricting.

Ortiz was termed out of office in 2006 having served two terms in the Senate. Thus, she decided to run for Secretary of State against incumbent Bruce McPherson. However, Ortiz lost the June 6, 2006 Democratic primary to fellow State Senator Debra Bowen (D-Marina del Rey) who ended up defeating McPherson in November.

Major issues that Ortiz fought for while in the legislature included stem cell research, and obesity prevention.

Political offices
Preceded by Leroy F. Greene	California State Senator, 6th District 1998 – 2006	Succeeded by Darrell Steinberg
Preceded by Phil Isenberg	California State Assemblywoman, 9th District 1996 – 1998	Succeeded by Darrell Steinberg