State Sen. Steve Glazer may have a formidable primary challenge on his hands. The Tri-Valley Democratic Club voted Monday night to overwhelmingly support Democrat Marisol Rubio, one of Glazer’s challengers in the seventh state senate district.

The club, which often skewers a bit more progressive than the region it represents, backed Rubio by a wide-margin, 25-8, over the Democratic incumbent Glazer.

The rebuke, though, is not entirely surprising since Glazer’s moderate voting record and periodic opposition to BART labor unions in the past had made him anathema to East Bay Democrats.

Glazer Steve PHOTO sen office
State Sen. Steve Glazer

Glazer’s positions, though, have proven popular in the rest of the state senate district, which covers cities from Lafayette, Concord, to Discovery Bay, and most of the Tri-Valley.

Glazer won the 2015 special election over fellow Democrat Susan Bonilla, and easily defeated an unknown Republican candidate for re-election in 2016.

>>Who else is running in the 2020 East Bay elections? Check here.

But in Rubio, Glazer is facing a challenger who East Bay politicos are beginning to take notice. The early buzz around Rubio is that of a candidate who is driven, appears poised on the stump, and offers a compelling personal story.

“My life, my story, represents everything that is wrong about his voting record,” Rubio said of Glazer during a meeting of the Diablo Valley Democratic Club last July.

Rubio’s daughter, while still an infant, was diagnosed with brain cancer. Rubio later studied molecular and cell biology, and neurobiology at U.C. Berkeley to better understand how to care and understand her daughter’s challenges.

The March 2020 primary currently includes a third Democrat, public school teacher and community activist Evan Branning, who also filed an intent to run in the seventh state senate district.

 

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