Curren Price

Curren De Mille Price, Jr. (born December 16, 1950 in Los Angeles, California) is a California politician from the Democratic Party, currently serving as senator for the California State Senate, representing the state's 26th Senate District which he won in the May 19, 2009 special election to fill the seat vacated by Mark Ridley-Thomas. He previously served as a member of the California State Assembly, representing the state's 51st Assembly District. He was first elected to that position in 2006, and was re-elected in 2008.

Background and education

Price attended Morningside High School in Inglewood, California, during the 1960s. In 1967, he became the first African-American student to be elected as the school's student body president.

After graduation from high school, Price received a scholarship to attend Stanford University, and in 1972, he received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the school in political science. Thereafter, he studied law at the Santa Clara University, where he was elected president of the school's Black Law Students Association. He graduated in 1976 with a Juris Doctor in law.

Following law school, Price moved to Washington, D.C., where he was active in the telecommunications industry (satellites, cellular, and paging). As an advocate for minority enterprise, he was a featured speaker at conferences sponsored by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Price returned to California in 1988, serving as a deputy to two members of the Los Angeles City Council. Later, he was the Southern California Coordinator for a statewide association that provided training to assist community based organizations develop commercial real estate projects.

Price is a credentialed instructor for adult education and community college courses.

Political career

From 1993 to 1997, Price was an elected member of the Inglewood City Council,^[1] representing the city's District 1. In 1997, he was defeated in a bid to become the mayor of Inglewood. In 2001, he reclaimed his former city council seat and held it until his election to the state assembly in 2006. As a council member, he was the chair of the City Council Community Economic Development Committee.

In addition to his council responsibilities, Price served on the Los Angeles County Commission on Insurance and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (Metro) South Bay Governance Council. For several years, he also served as a consultant with the Small Business Administration-sponsored Small Business Development Center.

Curren Price was first elected to the California State Assembly in 2006 to represent the 51st District, and was re-elected by an overwhelming margin to a second term in 2008. After serving one full term in the California State Assembly, Mr. Price was elected in May 2009 to represent the 26th District in the State Senate, which includes a portion of Los Angeles, Culver City, Beverlywood, Hollywood, Koreatown, Ladera Heights, Larchmont, Leimert Park, View Park, and Vermont Hills.

During his first year in the Senate, Senator Price was chosen by Senate Leadership to serve on a range of important legislative committees that reflect his priorities and interests. Senator Price chaired the Legislative Joint Committee on the Arts as well as the Senate Select Committee on Procurement. Furthermore, Senator Price served on the following committees: Appropriations, Banking Finance and Insurance, Education, Governmental Organization and Local Government. He also served on the Select Committees focusing on California’s Horse Racing Industry, California’s Wine Industry, Constitutional Reform, the Census, Improving State Government and Obesity and Diabetes.

In 2010, Senator Price was selected by his colleagues to serve as the Chair of the California Legislative Black Caucus. He was also chosen by Senate leadership to serve as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Business, Professions, and Economic Development. In addition, Senator Price continues to serve as Chairman of the Legislative Joint Committee on the Arts and Senate Select Committee on Procurement and is a member of the following Standing Committees: Appropiations, Education, Public Safety, and Insurance. He also serves on the following Senate select committees: Air Quality, California’s Horse Racing Industry, California’s Wine Industry, College and University Admissions and Outreach, High Speed Rail, Obesity and Diabetes, Restoring California’s Middle Class, Sports and Entertainment,Workforce Development, School Environment and Student Wellness</ref>

Assembly career

He served as the Chair of the Assembly Elections and Redistricting Committee.

Endorsements

Elected Officials Congresswoman Diane E. Watson Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg Senator Ron Calderon Senator Gil Cedillo Senator Lou Correa Senator Mark DeSaulnier Senator Dean Florez Senator Loni Hancock Senator Mark Leno Senator Christine Kehoe Senator Alex Padilla Senator Gloria Romero Senator Leland Yee Assembly Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass Assemblymember Patty Berg Assemblymember Steve Bradford Assemblymember Bill Emerson Assemblymember Noreen Evans Assemblymember Isadore Hall Assemblymember Ted Lieu Assemblymember Mary Salas Assemblymember Jose Solorio Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas Los Angeles City Councilmember Herb Wesson Jr. Culver City Council member Scott Malsin Culver City Mayor Andy Weissman

Organizational Endorsements California Association of Realtors-CRE PAC California Democratic Party California Nurses Association California National Organization for Women (CA-NOW) 47th AD Democratic Club California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV) California Professional Firefighters California Labor Federation Los Angeles County Firefighters – Local 1014 Los Angeles County Federation of Labor Los Angeles County Young Democrats Los Angeles County Democratic Party Los Angeles County Medical Association Planned Parenthood Public Advocacy Project Professional Engineers in California Government^[2]

External links

• State Senate web site
• Campaign web site

References