Meet Steve Glazer, Candidate For California Controller: Elections 2022

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

You might say Steve Glazer started shaping California politics as a college student: In 1978, while attending San Diego State University, he helped organize a campus campaign to elect Jerry Brown as governor – the first of many years of work with Brown.
A communications consultant and political strategist by trade, Glazer’s first foray into lawmaking was after he was shot in the neck by a pellet rifle in 2003. The perpetrator was caught, but wasn’t charged because pellet guns were considered toys, not weapons. That prompted Glazer to work with his local legislator to write a bill establishing penalties for pellet-gun attacks.
He went on to serve on the city council and as mayor of the Bay Area city of Orinda from 2004 to 2015. Within that time, he also served as a political advisor to Brown in his second go-round for governor. Glazer ran for state Senate in a special election in 2015, and won a full four-year term in 2016. As a senator, he has authored bills that aim to address air and water pollution, gun control and predatory lending.

EXPERIENCE

State senator: 2015-present

• Authored legislation on gun control, including the “bullet button” bill closing a loophole on assault-style weapons, as well as higher tax credits for renters.
• The only Democratic Senate member to oppose the single-payer health bill in 2017.
• Has been critical of the Newsom administration’s response to COVID-19, saying that trying to balance the economy and health is not working.
• A member of the Senate’s Bay Area Caucus, Delta Caucus, Environmental Caucus, Jewish Caucus and Technological Caucus.

City council member and three-time mayor of Orinda: 2004-2015

• Led ballot measure campaigns to increase local taxes, including Orinda’s Measure E, approved by voters in June 2008.
• As mayor, was a charter member of the national organization Mayors Against Illegal Guns.

Senior political advisor to Gov. Jerry Brown: 2009-2012

• Served as a campaign advisor to help Brown win re-election.Advised Brown in managing California’s finances during the recession – including leading the campaign to increase sales and income taxes.

California State University board of trustees: 2011-2015

• Appointed by Brown, Glazer worked to limit tuition increases and lower administrative costs throughout the Cal State system.

FUN FACT

• In 1985, Glazer persuaded then-aspiring politician Gray Davis to promote putting pictures of missing children on milk cartons. That earned Davis lots of publicity and helped him win his first statewide office on his way to being elected governor in 1998, before being recalled in 2003.

Want to know where Glazer stands on some of the biggest questions facing California? Visit CalMatters for more on his views on hot-button issues, fundraising efforts, and online links.

CHECK OUT THE FULL CALMATTERS 2022 VOTER GUIDE HERE.