Alex Padilla for California State Senate

UTLA ENDORSES ALEX PADILLA

LOS ANGELES – United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) today announced its endorsement of Los Angeles Councilmember Alex Padilla’s campaign for the 20th State Senate District. UTLA represents more than 48,000 educators who work in Los Angeles’s public schools.

“Giving every student access to a quality education is a top priority for me, and I am truly honored to have the endorsement of Los Angeles’s classroom teachers. I graduated from Los Angeles public schools, and I was well-prepared to succeed at one of our nation’s top colleges because of the support, wisdom, and patience of my teachers. I will fight to ensure our students and teachers have the resources they need for success at school,” said Padilla, who earned a Mechanical Engineering degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.).

Despite a recommendation by UTLA’s political action committee for an “open endorsement” in the 20th State Senate District race, Padilla won UTLA’s endorsement by earning more than 75 percent of the vote from educators who comprise the organization’s House of Representatives. Founded in 1970, UTLA works to support candidates who place top priority on students and the classroom.

Councilmember Padilla is running for the State Senate seat being vacated by State Senator Richard Alarcon. The primary election will be held in June 2006.

UTLA joins a growing list of leaders and organizations who have endorsed Alex Padilla for State Senate, including U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer, U.S. Congressmembers Howard Berman, Jane Harman, Juanita Millender-McDonald, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Grace Napolitano, Maxine Waters, and Diane Watson, Los Angeles County Supervisors Yvonne Burke, Gloria Molina, and Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles City Councilmember Tony Cardenas, LAPD Chief Bill Bratton, the Los Angeles Police Protective League, Laborers Local 300, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 770, Los Angeles Port Police Association, Teamsters Joint Council #42, NABET-CWA Local 53, and Communication Workers of America (CWA) Locals 9400, 9505, 9510, and 9586.

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