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Long before Kevin Mullin became the second most powerful Democrat in the California Assembly, he was Cutmaster Kevvy Kev, a teacher's son working at McDonald's with a side hustle spinning tracks at dances and house parties.
Mullin, 51, knows how to read the room and set the tone, skills that helped him ascend to the position of Speaker Pro Tempore in 2014 and to remain in that role to that day. Though politics was always in his blood — his father, Gene Mullin was a civics teacher at a local high school before winning a seat in the state Assembly — he was more interested in music and journalism, he said in a recent interview.
As a youth in South San Francisco, Mullin wanted to be a radio DJ. He played music at local parties and, once in college, he began working at KDNS, the voice of the University of San Francisco Dons. He also worked briefly at an advertising agency and later founded a media company, KM2 Communication, which produced short documentaries and enabled him to host a show on public access TV.
But politics was never far from his mind, and his pivotal moment arrived when he met then-state Sen. Jackie Speier at a Democratic Party Convention, where she offered him a job as her field director. The job gave him a taste of constituent service and the political process. Speier, who is now hoping to succeed in the U.S. Congress, told this publication that she had "great confidence in his ability to work well with people, to manage the office and to help me deliver for the constituents."
Mullin made his first foray into electoral politics in 2007, when he ran for City Council in South San Francisco. He served as mayor in 2011 and became more engaged in regional issues, at one point representing his part of the county at the San Mateo County Transportation Commission. In 2012, he made a bid for the state Assembly in the heavily Democratic district and easily won, picking up 68.5% of the vote.
It didn't take long for him to forge alliances. In his first year in Sacramento, Mullin became assistant Speaker Pro Tempore. He ascended to Speaker Pro Tempore in December 2014, when then-Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins appointed him to the position. The position, he said, has been a "nice niche" for him, given his experience in radio and TV broadcasting.
"When you preside over the floor, you're in a way a bit like the anchorman of the Assembly," Mullin said in an interview. "You're narrating the proceedings, so to speak. It was a great utilization of my communication background, so I sought that position and was given it by the speaker at the time."
More importantly, he said, the position has given him access to regular conversations with party leadership, allowing him to advocate for San Mateo County concerns effectively.
"That's been good for my district," Mullin said.
He often touts his experience and success as a legislator on the campaign trail. He often mentions the 60 bills that he helped get signed into law, focusing on his efforts on climate change and the electoral process.
These issues are now at the heart of his campaign. When he addressed his supporters at an April 6 campaign event in downtown San Mateo, Mullin proclaimed to the crowd, "Our democracy is under attack and our planet is in peril."
In discussing democracy, he pointed to the growing number of red states moving over the past few years to erect voting barriers and limit people's options for electing their representatives.
"In many cases there's a partisan takeover being taken of local election processes," Mullin said in an interview. "That is calling out for federal protections. There need to be some federal protections and federal oversight over how the things are operating. I really think there's a coordinated effort to undermine democracy."
He believes he is uniquely positioned to address these issues. Mullin's best known bills pertain to campaign finance and election transparency. In 2017, he authored the DISCLOSE Act, which requires political ads to prominently disclose their funding sources. When then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed it into law in October 2017, Mullin called it the "strongest finance disclosure act in America."
That was the first in a wave of voting bills Mullin has either authored or co-authored over the next few years. One provides a ballot to every voter so that they can vote by mail; another automatically registers California residents to vote.
Climate change is also a top priority, particularly given the 15th District's orientation along the San Francisco Bay. A self-described "Al Gore devotee," Mullin touted his efforts to pass a $3.7 billion legislative package in climate resilience, which included funding for coastal protection and adaptation measures. It also had funding for California Climate Action Corps, members of AmeriCorps who work on sustainability projects such as food recovery and wildlife resilience. The package became part of Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget last year.
"We absolutely have a responsibility at every level to work on this issue and we absolutely need federal funding on that," Mullin said of climate change.
An essential component of that is improving public transportation. Mullin said he strongly supports Caltrain's ongoing effort to electrify its fleet. In February, he introduced a bill to provide $260 million to Caltrain to complete the project by 2024. The project has been in the works since 2017.
The Caltrain project entails replacing 75% of the existing diesel fleet with electric trains and is projected to increase train service along the Peninsula. Mullin's legislation, known as AB 2197, is now moving through the Assembly's committee process.
He is more cautious when talking about high-speed rail, California's much maligned and repeatedly delayed effort to link San Francisco and Los Angeles. Since winning the voters' approval in 2008, the project has been hampered by a ballooning budget, shifting designs, inconsistent political support and spotty oversight.
"It's a generational kind of a project. I may not see high-speed rail in my lifetime but I think it's a project that should happen," Mullin said.
His legislative record also contains dozens of lesser known bills, including his proposals to ban counterfeit airbags, create a licensing system for child care centers and require 9-1-1 systems to have a text option for callers who are deaf, each signed into law in 2016, 2018 and 2019, respectively.
In an interview, Mullin said there is no hard and fast process for creating a legislative package. He said that ideas for legislation could come from constituents, staff, or individuals and organizations who've been trying to get something done for years.
Mullin believes that his years of steering critical legislation through Sacramento give him a substantial advantage over the rest of the candidates in the field. Experience, he likes to say, still matters.
Because of his experience in Sacramento and his close ties to Speier, Mullin has been widely considered a frontrunner ever since she announced her retirement last November. She immediately endorsed him and was quickly joined by other fixtures of the Peninsula's Democrat establishment, including U.S. Rep Anna Eshoo, former state Sen. Jerry Hill, state Sen. Josh Becker and Assembly member Marc Berman.
Speier told this publication that she believes Mullin's career in the Assembly has prepared him well for effectively representing the Peninsula in the U.S. Congress. Being a representative, after all, is a legislative job and having years of experience in the legislative process puts you "miles ahead in terms of being able to negotiate on behalf of your constituents in Congress," she said.
"Congress — it eats freshmen alive," Speier said. "The story I heard when I first got there is that more senior members don't learn your name until you've been there for three or four terms. He's got the ability to hit the ground running and I think that's exceedingly important."
His campaign chest and list of endorsements also give him an edge. In the first quarter of this year, Mullin's campaign reported $371,883 in contributions, more than double what Beach and Canepa had raised over the same period. Days later, his campaign released a poll showing him well ahead of the competition, with 31% of respondents indicating "initial support" for his candidacy (Canepa was second, with 17%).
During an April 6 campaign event –his wife Jessica and their two 4-year-old twin sons Lan and Landon at his side–Mullin told his supporters that given the campaign donations and the polls, he believes he is now considered a frontrunner in the race.
"That's all good, but we still need to go out there and win it on the ground," Mullin said.
