Candidate Information Sheet

1. What is the candidate's background - personally, professionally, politically?

PERSONALLY

a. Growing up, Senator DeLeon was very poor

b. “his respect and commitment to working families and the betterment of all
Californians has never diminished”
c. son of an immigrant mother who supported her family in the San Diego with
housekeeping and other pick-up jobs.
d. He was the first in his family to graduate from high school.
e. Attended UC Santa Barbara & Pitzer College

PROFESSIONALLY

f. taught English as a Second Language and U.S. Citizenship, and advocated for
public schools.
g. Fought for schools in low-income neighborhoods, more school construction,
& health insurance for children

POLITICALLY

h. Senator de León was elected by his colleagues to lead the Senate in 2014,
making him the first Latino to hold that position in over a century.
i. first person in California history to serve as the Chair of the Appropriations
committees in both the Assembly and Senate.
j. Senator de León taught citizenship courses to immigrants and led opposition
to 1994’s Proposition 187, a voter-approved statewide initiative that denied
government services to undocumented immigrants.
k. Senator de León was instrumental in negotiating a $30 million to assist the
nearly 250,000 Dreamers in California with legal services as well as “safety
net” funding to help DACA students stay in school
2. What party is this candidate and what is their platform on major issues?
a. DeLeon is a democrat
b. Wants to increase economic opportunity for all californians
c. Build a clean energy economy
d. Rebuild our states infrastructure
e. Better public education
f. Provide women with better workplace and healthcare equality
g. Change immigration laws
3. What are some speaking engagements that your candidate has spoken at? Have
they participated in any debates? What were the results?
a. KQED News - “Senate Kevin de Leon”
b. Chronicle Live - “US Senate Candidate Kevin de Leon”
c. The San Diego Union Tribune - “U.S. Senate candidate Kevin de León: The
Union-Tribune interview”
- http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/opinion/commentary
/sd-utbg-kevin-de-leon-interview-20180504-story.html
d. “Feinstein-De Leon Spar In Only Senate Debate”
- Seemed like a debate but Feinstein called it a “conversation”
4. Review the campaign materials. Do campaign materials emphasize issues or just
images? Are they accurate?
a. I think they emphasize the issues he stands for because most of the articles
I’ve read say a lot of the same stuff, so I believe all of it is accurate. He uses
these informative articles to win votes since he doesn’t have funding for ads.
5. Learn about endorsements. This is a way for interest groups and organizations
to give a "stamp of approval" to a candidate. Endorsements provide clues to the
issues a candidate supports. Get a list of endorsements for your candidate. Find
out what these groups stand for and find out why they are endorsing this
candidate.
a. https://www.kevindeleon.com/endorsements/
b. https://votesmart.org/candidate/evaluations/59926/kevin-de-leon#.W9Mtf
BNKirc
- I think they are endorsing Kevin de Leon because he has
supported them in the past, or he has done things to help them
6. Look into campaign contributions. Where do the candidates get the funds to
finance their campaigns? Do they use their own money or raise funds from a few
wealthy donors, from many small contributors, or from Political Action
Committees? Many types of information about campaign contributions must be
reported to the government and are watched by the press. Check the newspaper
for stories on campaign finance. How might these campaign contributions affect
the candidates' conduct in office?
a. https://votesmart.org/candidate/campaign-finance/59926/kevin-de-leon#.
W9Mu-xNKirc
- Senator De Leon is mostly supported by industries, or sectors.
- On a Youtube video I saw about the candidate, I learned that he
is not able to appear in as many ads because he doesn’t have as
much funds as he would want for that
 7. Throughout the campaign, opinion polls will be taken by a variety of groups to
evaluate public support for the different candidates. Polls reveal who is leading
at a certain point in the race. As you read the polls, ask these questions: Who
sponsored the poll? Were all the figures released? What kinds of questions were
asked? Were they slanted or unbiased? Who were respondents selected -
randomly or such a way to include all segments of the population? How many
people were included in the poll sample?
a. https://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2018/senate/ca/california_senat
e_open_primary_feinstein_vs_de_leon-6260.html
b. I think maybe a major news site or corporation sponsored the poll
c. I don’t think all figures were released they are still missing a lot of
information and votes
d. I don’t really understand the poll sample there are a lot of abbreviations and
lots of different sections and numbers
8. Anything else interesting or important about your candidate?
a. Unable to run for re-election as senate in the state of California for 2018
because of term limits
b. Focuses Heavily on Clean Energy, Raising Minimum Wage, Immigration
Reform & Fighting Climate Change