Big Bear Valley, CA, March 27, 2014 – The 23rd State Senate District covers portions of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino–including the Big Bear Valley. And now, it has a new representative. Former State Assemblyman Mike Morrell was swept into his new office on Tuesday by a wide margin. He’ll have offices in Redlands and Palm Desert in addition to Sacramento.
Governor Jerry Brown officially called for a Special Election last December to fill the vacant seat of former Senator Bill Emmerson.
Out of nearly 300,000 eligible voters in the District, 13% turned out to vote, and 64% of those cast their ballots for Morrell. Democrat Ronald O’Donnell came in a distant second with about 14%. Other candidates included Democrat Ameenah Fuller (9.93%), Libertarian Jeff Hewitt (6.16%) and Republican Crystal Ruiz (4.94%).
Morrell has been a small business owner for over twenty-five years and was elected to the State Assembly in 2010, As an Assemblyman, he was a member of the Jobs, Economic Development, and Economy Committee; the Budget Committee; and the Banking & Finance Committee. He also served as Vice Chair of the Labor and Employment Committee.
