Indivisible East Bay Endorses Janani Ramachandran for California Assembly (AD18 Special Election)

A real East Bay progressive to serve as her party’s conscience in the tradition of the great Barbara Lee.

Janani Ramachandran shares the values of IEB: She believes housing, safety, healthcare, a living wage, and clean air are human rights. We trust her to work to secure each of those rights for all Californians.

When we look to Sacramento, we see a big blue majority on the cusp: promising single payer healthcare for years and flirting with robust renter protections and a wealth tax. We believe Janani Ramachandran can work with our allies in the Assembly, move the coalition to the left, and get these important measures written into California law.

Janani Ramachandran demonstrates deep knowledge and expert insight into the issues and proclaims a commitment to IEB’s values and priority bills. Check out this Q&A and this questionnaire. Her advocacy work at IEB proves that she won’t settle for politically expedient half measures. A huge majority of our participating members voted YES to endorse her. 

We are ready to work to elect her—and more than ready to stand behind her as California Assembly Member Janani Ramachandran.

Janani at an IEB meeting with Rob Bonta

Janani at an IEB meeting with Buffy Wicks

A sampling of comments from members who voted to endorse:

  • She will represent the people.
  • Amazing grasp of the issues esp. social justice issues.
  • I’m impressed with Janani’s understanding of concerns of tenant issues and laws as well as needs of people who struggle to pay rent or support their families. She’s worked extensively to pass legislation for many progressive issues and won’t be taking money from big powerful lobbying groups like big oil or real estate developers. With her familiarity of California law, she’ll be able to offer her own fresh, clear voice to represent the needs of people in AD18 in the California Legislature.
  • I appreciate her progressive beliefs and interests.
  • Janani Ramachandran is an excellent choice to continue the work of Rob Bonta.  She is knowledgeable, has impressive credentials. and valuable experience working with local community groups.
  • Janani is an impressive and highly capable candidate. I have been impressed by her work as an IEB member and I hope IEB endorses her!
  • She shares our values.

Some notes on the endorsement process:

Some of you reached out for clarification on how our endorsement process works and why it works that way. We really appreciate this feedback! As you may know, our endorsement policy is new, and this process was its first test drive. We want to make sure that it works for all of you. You can read details of our endorsement policy here. 

Some members asked about our policy of considering candidates one at a time vs. race-by-race. We arrived at this policy after some consideration. We see an endorsement of a candidate as a simple declaration that that candidate shares and plans to advance our values. As an organization focused in part on uniting progressives, we want to allow for the possibility that multiple candidates in a race may meet our standards. 

Several of you also remarked on our limiting voter eligibility to in-district IEB members only. It’s certainly true that nearby districts interact with each other, and that what happens in AD-18 is not far removed from what happens across the border in AD-15. That’s why all IEB members, regardless of district, are eligible and encouraged to comment during the comment period, and why Governance Committee members from all districts also vote on whether to proceed with the endorsement. But Indivisible East Bay is organized around the principle that constituents are best situated to make final choices about their elected officials, including which candidates to field. That’s why we chose to let in-district members make the final decision on behalf of IEB as a whole. On that note, we are always looking to expand the geographic diversity of our Governance Committee. Please email us if you’d like to learn more about joining!