John M. EricksonJohn M. Erickson

As West Hollywood councilmember, cut permitting delays, championed mixed-use and infill housing. Advocates removing red tape, scaling affordable/workforce housing.

Endorsed. West Hollywood councilmember with explicit criminal justice reform platform including expanded earned-time credits and eliminating cash bail.

John Erickson - Current West Hollywood City Councilmember, great Housing Advocate, has solid endorsements from other progressives up and down the South Bay Coast

Openly LGBTQ+; dual endorsement with Ellen Evans

John Erickson is the strongest choice for State Senate in District 24 for voters who want a pro‑tenant, pro‑worker, pro‑climate champion with a proven record of bold local leadership. He’s endorsed by California Working Families Party and we recommend voting for him.

Senate District 24 is a big, powerful district that runs from the South Bay up the coast through Santa Monica and Malibu, across the Westside, and into Hollywood and the northwest Valley. It includes communities on the front lines of the housing crisis, climate change, and growing inequality—and it sends someone to Sacramento who will shape state policy on housing, transportation, climate, and education for years.

With Ben Allen termed out, this is an open seat with a crowded field of mostly Democrats and no consensus frontrunner. That makes it one of the few genuine opportunities in 2026 to send a clearly progressive, movement-aligned leader to the State Senate instead of a cautious insider.

John Erickson is a West Hollywood City Councilmember and former mayor who has already helped turn his city into one of the most progressive municipalities in the country. As councilmember and mayor, he championed raising West Hollywood’s minimum wage to the highest in the nation, capping rent increases, creating unarmed mobile crisis response teams, and investing heavily in social services for the LGBTQ community.

Before running for office, Erickson worked as a senior staff member at West Hollywood City Hall and served as Vice President of Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and Chief of Staff at Alliance for a Better Community, where he fought for reproductive freedom, immigrant rights, and equity in education and economic opportunity. He was part of the statewide “End Statute of Limitations on Rape” campaign, which helped repeal California’s statute of limitations on rape and sexual assault in 2016.

Erickson also serves on regional and statewide bodies that matter deeply to SD 24, including the Clean Power Alliance, the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, and the California Contract Cities Association Executive Board. That experience means he already understands how Sacramento, local governments, and regional agencies interact—and where the levers are to move resources and power.

Erickson is running on a platform grounded in what he’s already done in West Hollywood: build a more just, sustainable, and livable California for working‑class people, tenants, and marginalized communities.

• Housing and tenants’ rights: Erickson has championed pro‑housing policies on the West Hollywood council, including moves to remove parking minimums citywide and make many smaller housing projects ministerial, while also supporting strong rent protections and social services. In Sacramento, he supports expanding tenant protections and accelerating affordable housing production, not letting corporate landlords and NIMBYs dictate policy.

• Economic justice and workers’ rights: As mayor, Erickson backed the highest minimum wage in the country and policies that prioritize workers and small businesses over corporate chains. In the Senate, he’ll push to strengthen labor standards, expand paid leave, and ensure the green transition creates good union jobs rather than precarious gig work.

• Climate and coastal protection: Representing a coastal district, Erickson has emphasized climate resilience, fire prevention, and coastal protection, and he serves on the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission and Clean Power Alliance. He wants to bring the climate programs he’s helped build locally—clean power, resilience planning, and sustainable transportation—to the state level.

• Reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ equality: With a background at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and a lifetime of LGBTQ advocacy, Erickson has been on the front lines of fights against attacks on abortion and queer and trans people. He’s made clear he will treat protecting reproductive freedom and LGBTQ+ rights as core parts of his job in the Senate.

• Public safety without mass incarceration: Erickson has supported alternative crisis response, gun‑violence prevention, and measures like drink‑spiking test strip distribution, showing a commitment to safety strategies that reduce harm without expanding mass incarceration. In Sacramento, he’s positioned to back reforms that focus on prevention, treatment, and accountability, not carceral theater.

Erickson’s opponent is Democrat Brian Goldsmith, a well-connected political consultant.

Erickson has built a coalition that reflects the district’s progressive base and its diversity. He is backed by L.A. County Supervisors Janice Hahn, Lindsey Horvath, and Hilda Solis, who cite his record of investing in housing, public safety alternatives, and social services while maintaining fiscal health in West Hollywood. He has support from local electeds and regional organizations that have watched him govern and are betting on him to deliver the same values and results at the state level.

Recommendation: Vote for John Erickson for State Senate, District 24.

Dual endorsement with Dr. Sion Roy