Helene Schneider (born November 18, 1970) is an American politician from the Democratic Party. She was the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

from 2010 to 2018, and a 2016 candidate for

California's 24th congressional district California's 24th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Salud Carbajal. It contains all of Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara County, most of Sa ...

. She was first elected mayor in 2009, succeeding Marty Blum. She won reelection to a second term in 2013. Prior to serving in government, Schneider worked at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is an American nonprofit organization

as the director of human resources for the affiliate serving Santa Barbara, Ventura, and

San Luis Obispo ; ; ; Chumashan languages, Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfway betwee ...

counties.

Political career

Schneider credits former mayor Harriet Miller with giving her a start in city politics by appointing her as a Commissioner for the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara. In 2003, she was elected to the Santa Barbara City Council and reelected in 2007. Her first political involvement on the Central Coast was working for Jack O'Connell's successful reelection campaign to the California State Assembly in 1992. In 2009, Schneider was elected mayor in an open-seat race. She won with 45.8% of the vote followed by

Dale Francisco The 2014 United States House of Representatives elections in California were held on Tuesday, November 4, 2014, with a primary election on June 3, 2014. Voters elected the 53 U.S. representatives from the state of California, one from each of ...

with 33.9%, Steve Cushman with 16.3%, and two other candidates splitting the remaining votes. She was reelected mayor in 2013 in a two-way race with Wayne Scoles, winning 73% to 26%. In 2016, Schneider ran for the 24th congressional district, which was left open due to the retirement of longtime representative

Lois Capps Lois Ragnhild Capps (née Grimsrud; January 10, 1938) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1998 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 22nd District from 1998 to 200 ...

. In the primary field of 9 candidates, Schneider was considered to be one of the frontrunners, alongside fellow Democrat and

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

Supervisor

Salud Carbajal Salud Ortiz Carbajal ( ; born November 18, 1964) is a Mexican-American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 24th congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and his district covers Sa ...

, Republican Assemblyman

Katcho Achadjian Khatchik Hratchia Achadjian (June 2, 1951 – March 5, 2020) was an American businessman and politician who formerly served in the California State Assembly. He was a Republican who represented the 35th district, encompassing San Luis Obispo Co ...

, and Republican Justin Fareed. However, Schneider came in fourth in the primary, with 31,046 votes (14.9%). Carbajal went on to defeat Fareed in the general election.

References

External links

City of Santa Barbara Mayor & City Council
official Santa Barbara Mayor & City Council website
Helene Schneider for Congress
official Helene Schneider for Congress website * 21st-century mayors of places in California California Democrats Living people Mayors of Santa Barbara, California Politicians from New York City 1970 births {{California-mayor-stub

Political career

See also

References

External links