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The California Democratic Legislative Women’s Caucus announced Wednesday it had endorsed Redwood City Mayor Giselle Hale for Assembly in the 21st District. Assembly member Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova, endorsed San Mateo Deputy Mayor Diane Papan for the same seat, her office announced this week.
Also vying for the Assembly seat are James Coleman, current city council member for South San Francisco, and Maurice Goodman, a member of the San Mateo County Community College Board of Trustees.
Papan was the first to announce her candidacy in November.
Cooley joins Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, California State Board of Equalization Member Malia Cohen and former State Sen. Jerry Hill, among other state leaders and local supervisors in endorsing Papan.
After publicly announcing her campaign less than a month ago, Hale has received endorsements from 60 state leaders, including Congresswoman Anna Eshoo, State Treasurer Fiona Ma, State Senator Scott Wiener, Assembly member Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, as well as regional leaders, county council members and school board members. This week she also announced she had received an endorsement from the California Teachers Association.
The California Democratic Legislative Women’s Caucus is made up of every Democratic woman member of the State Assembly and State Senate, as well as California’s women Constitutional Officers.
Cooley chairs the Rules Committee and serves on the Governmental Organization, Insurance, and Public Employment and Retirement Committees. He is the Chair of the Select Committee on Foster Care.
“Diane has that perfect mix of vision, leadership, and determination that makes for an effective public servant. I’ve known Diane for a long time, and I could not be prouder endorsing her candidacy," said Cooley.
Papan has been on the San Mateo City Council for seven years and is a San Mateo native.
Deputy Mayor Papan was first elected to the San Mateo City Council in 2015 and subsequently re-elected in 2020. Hale joined the council in 2018 and before becoming mayor served as vice mayor after then-vice mayor Shelly Masur's two-year term expired.
The new District is replacing the 22nd Assembly District, an open seat being vacated by Assemblymember Kevin Mullin. The new District includes the communities of Burlingame, East Palo Alto, Foster City, Millbrae, Redwood City, San Bruno, San Carlos, San Mateo, and South San Francisco.
Leah Worthington contributed to this report.
