CONEJO VALLEY

Incumbent Irwin faces single challenger in 44th Assembly District primary

Mike Harris
Ventura

Assemblywoman Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, is facing a single challenger in the March 3 primary, Republican Denise Pedrow, as she seeks election to a fourth term representing the 44th Assembly District.

No matter how Irwin and Pedrow finish in the voting, they will face each other again in the Nov. 3 general election. The top vote-getter then will win the seat for a two-year term.

The 44th Assembly District includes Camarillo, Moorpark, much of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village and several unincorporated areas. Irwin, a former Thousand Oaks City Council member and mayor, has represented the district since 2014.

Jacqui Irwin

Incumbent Jacqui Irwin is seeking election to a fourth, two-year term representing the 44th Assembly District.

Irwin said as she seeks re-election, her priorities will continue to be education, community safety, help to small and local businesses and support to veterans.

"Since being elected, I’ve fought not only to increase K-12 per-pupil funding every year, but also secured funding for a much-needed engineering program at CSU Channel Islands and $5 million for a childcare and learning center at the campus as well," she said. 

Irwin said she has also secured funding for business and innovation programs at every University of California campus in the state. Irwin authored the bill that secured the funding, said her legislative director, Brandon Bjerke. 

Just last year, Irwin said, she was instrumental in passing legislation or securing funding for a range of programs and initiatives. They included:

  • Legislation to remove guns from felons. 
  • Reducing taxes for people trying to rebuild after the recent brush fires.
  • Securing $9.5 million for emergency repairs to the Oxnard water treatment plant.
  • Helping ensure veterans receive their benefits and helping veterans in crisis. 
  • Securing $110 million to improve safety and traffic congestion at Rice Avenue in Oxnard. The funding will go toward a long-planned bridge that will lift Rice Avenue over railroad tracks near East Fifth Street, site of a deadly collision between a Metrolink train and a truck abandoned on the tracks in 2015.

For each of those programs and initiatives, Irwin was the lead author of the bills or the sole author or lead author of so-called budget "ask" letters to the Assembly Budget Committee, Bjerke said. 

Irwin said looking ahead this year, combating homelessness will continue to be another top priority.

"I will be helping Ventura County address its homelessness crisis as we continue to bring resources to the county to deal with this epidemic," she said.

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As chairwoman of the Assembly Veterans Committee, she said she is working to secure more funding to keep the state's Veterans Homeless and Housing program going.

That program, she said, "has made great strides in decreasing the number of homeless vets." 

She said she will also focus on "plastic pollution" by requiring all bottles sold in California to contain 50% recycled plastic by 2030. 

Other priorities will include school safety and cybersecurity, she said.

"I hope to continue to represent our district and the state of California," she said.

Denise Pedrow

Republican Denise Pedrow is challenging incumbent Jacqui Irwin, D-Thousand Oaks, in the 44th Assembly District in the March 3 primary.

Pedrow, a construction coordinator from Newbury Park, said she is a lifelong conservative who is "pro-life, pro-legal immigration and pro-wall."

"I come from a large, Hispanic family with a strong tradition in law enforcement and military service," Pedrow, running for office for the first time, said. "We are fiercely patriotic."

Pedrow said she supports securing the nation's borders.

"Stronger borders and cooperation with the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement will help make our communities safer," she said.

Pedrow said many of the answers for the state's complex issues lie in a strong, diverse workforce and a business community "that is unencumbered by overregulation and oppressive taxes."

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To end homelessness, Pedrow said she will push for more support for mental health facilities and drug treatment centers.

If elected, she said she will support tough-on-crime legislation.

"I will work to repeal laws that make breaking the law easier for the criminal and limit the ability for law-abiding citizens to protect themselves and their families," Pedrow said. "I will fight to protect our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights."

She said she will also work to end "cumbersome green regulations on housing development that do nothing to change the climate, yet add millions to the project costs."

She said she will also fight to give better balance to oil and natural gas production in California.

Write-in candidates could still figure in the race.

The deadline for write-in candidates to submit their paperwork to the Ventura County Elections Division is Tuesday, Feb. 18.

A certified list of write-in candidates is scheduled to be published Feb. 21.

For more information on Irwin's campaign, go to jacquirwin.com.

For more information on Pedrow's campaign, go to voteforpedrow.com.

Mike Harris covers the East County cities of Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks, as well as transportation countywide. You can contact him at mike.harris@vcstar.com or 805-437-0323.

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Candidates

Jacqui Irwin

Party affiliation: Democrat

Age: 58

City of residence: Thousand Oaks

Occupation: State Assembly member

Denise Pedrow

Party affiliation: Republican

Age: 52

City of residence: Newbury Park

Occupation: Construction coordinator