Voters in parts of Contra Costa and Alameda counties will vote in a special primary election Tuesday for a successor to the vacated state Senate seat of U.S. Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D- Concord.
The top two candidates in the four-way race will face off in a special general election on May 19, unless one of the candidates gets more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, in which case they will win outright.
The four remaining candidates vying for the seat are all Democrats: state Assemblywoman Susan Bonilla, D-Concord, termed-out former Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, Orinda Mayor Steve Glazer and psychology professor Terry Kremin.
Republican candidate Michaela Hertle withdrew from the race last month, endorsing Glazer.
A former high school teacher, Bonilla's platform primarily focuses on education, including better funding for K-12 schools and making college more affordable.
Prior to her election to the state Assembly, she was a Contra Costa County supervisor and mayor of Concord. DeSaulnier has endorsed Bonilla for the seat.
Buchanan has also made education a priority in her career and served for 18 years on the San Ramon Valley Unified School District Board of Education. She also emphasizes passing balanced budgets in her campaign materials and opposes the construction of water delivery tunnels from the Sacramento River to the San Joaquin Valley, as proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown.
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Glazer made headlines in 2013 when he called for a statewide ban on transit strikes amid two BART strikes that year. He has served on the Orinda City Council since 2004 and was re-elected in 2008 and 2012.
In his campaign literature he also emphasizes road and infrastructure improvements and education reform.
Kremin, who has never held elected office, emphasizes his independence and non-partisanship in his campaign materials, calling himself a scientific thinker who would bring common sense to the office.
Among the issues he says he wants to tackle in office are education, welfare and unemployment, and environmental issues.
The 7th district includes the cities of Antioch, Brentwood, Clayton, Concord, Danville, Dublin, Lafayette, Livermore, Moraga, Oakley, Orinda, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, San Ramon and Walnut Creek.
