August 21, 2015
EMILY’s List Endorses Nanette Barragan for Congress in California’s 44th District
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, endorsed Nanette Barragan for Congress in California’s 44th District.
“Nanette Barragan has dedicated her career to public service and has made history as the first Latina elected to Hermosa Beach City Council and as her city’s first Latina mayor,” said Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILY’s List. “From working for the NAACP to address inequalities in health care to helping families navigate the immigration system, she has fought to give women and families a fair shot. Her values come from personal experience: as the daughter of immigrants – a factory worker and a TV repairman – and the youngest of 11 kids, Nanette is committed to creating opportunities for all Californians. The EMILY’s List community of over three million members is excited to endorse Nanette’s campaign for Congress.”
The daughter of a factory worker and a TV repairman, Nanette grew up near Carson, CA, the youngest of 11 kids. Nanette’s parents immigrated to the United States from Mexico before she was born—her mother coming to the U.S. with just a third grade education. Growing up in a community where many of her peers didn’t graduate from high school, Nanette says there was “no real expectation” that she would go to college—and no sense that higher education would be possible for her. But with the urging of her mother, Nanette applied to the University of California-Davis and was accepted.
Nanette worked odd jobs to pay her way through school, transferring to UCLA during her freshman year to be closer to home so she could help support her sick father. After graduating from UCLA, Nanette put herself through law school at USC. Driven by a commitment to helping hardworking families in communities like hers, Nanette has dedicated her career to public service—from working for the NAACP to help address inequalities in care to her work bringing Spanish speaking families together. Now Nanette is running for Congress to “make sure other kids growing up in families like [hers] have that same opportunity to work hard and succeed.”
Nanette remembers watching her mother study for her U.S. citizenship exam and has said her parents taught her to “treasure and protect” her right to vote and never take it for granted. With the right to vote under attack by Republicans seeking to discourage and disenfranchise women and minority voters across the country, Nanette has said she will “never waver” in her commitment to defending voting rights. Nanette put herself through school with the help of student loans and is committed to expanding access to education. As a member of the Hermosa Beach City Council, she led the charge against a ballot measure to lift the ban on oil drilling in the Santa Monica Bay. The oil company tried to silence her—citing a California law that said she lived too close to the drilling site to vote—but Nanette successfully argued for her right to cast her vote, and the ballot measure was defeated. When she is elected, Nanette will bring her commitment to protecting the environment with her to Congress, where she’ll also fight for fair economic policies—like raising the minimum wage and ending gender discrimination in pay—that benefit hardworking families.
EMILY’s List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $400 million to support pro-choice Democratic women candidates – making it one of the most successful political organizations ever. We recruit and train candidates, support strong campaigns, research women's issues, and turn out women voters. We've trained over 9,000 women to run and helped elect over 100 women to the House, 19 to the Senate, 11 governors, and over 700 to state and local office. Since its founding in 1985, almost one-third of the candidates EMILY’s List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color - including every single Latina, African American, and Asian American Democratic congresswoman currently serving.