Raul Justo Bocanegra (born July 13, 1971) is an American politician, and a former member of the California State Assembly. He is a Democrat who represented the 39th Assembly District, encompassing northeastern San Fernando Valley.
Raul Bocanegra | |
|---|---|
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| Member of the California State Assembly from the 39th district | |
| In office December 5, 2016 – November 27, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Patty López |
| Succeeded by | Luz Rivas |
| In office December 3, 2012 – November 30, 2014 | |
| Preceded by | Felipe Fuentes |
| Succeeded by | Patty López |
| Personal details | |
| Born | July 13, 1971 Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Residence(s) | Pacoima, Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | University of California, Los Angeles (Bachelors and Masters) |
| Occupation | Legislative staffer, college professor |
Bocanegra was first elected to the assembly in 2012, but was narrowly defeated in his 2014 bid for reelection by political outsider and fellow Democrat Patty Lopez. He reclaimed his previous assembly seat after defeating Lopez in 2016. Before being elected to the assembly, he was an urban planner and chief of staff to his predecessor Felipe Fuentes. A native of the San Fernando Valley, he graduated from San Fernando High School.
On November 27, 2017, Bocanegra announced he would resign, effective immediately, as a result of sexual harassment allegations.[1]
2009 groping incident
editIn 2009, Bocanegra worked as a staff member for then assembly member Felipe Fuentes.
In October 2017, Elise Flynn Gyore, who worked as a staffer for a state senator at the time, alleged that Bocanegra "put his hands into her blouse" outside of a bathroom at a night club in Sacramento. Flynn Gyore did not know Bocanegra at the time. The next day, she reported the incident to the Senate sergeant who conducted an investigation which concluded that it was "more likely than not that Mr. Bocanegra engaged in [that] behavior that night". In October 2017, Flynn Gyore made her allegation public.[2]
The revelation of the incident prompted the California Legislative Women's Caucus to call upon the legislature to review the incident and "immediately enforce, for once, the bodies’ zero-tolerance policies."[3] An editorial in the Los Angeles Daily News called for Bocanegra's resignation and condemned those who knew about the groping yet helped him rise in his career.[4] The group, We Said Enough, called on him to resign.[5] Local activists, including former assembly member Patty López, who defeated Bocanegra in 2014 and lost to him in 2016, demonstrated outside Bocanegra's district office.[6] Los Angeles Unified School District Board Member Kelly Gonez issued a statement saying "It’s not enough to admonish a staffer or legislator to stay away from his victim," and commending Gyore for speaking out.[7]
Elections
edit2014
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Raul Bocanegra (incumbent) | 13,069 | 62.5 | |
| Democratic | Patty Lopez | 4,940 | 23.6 | |
| Democratic | Kevin J. Suscavage | 2,876 | 13.7 | |
| Republican | Michael B. Boyd (write-in candidate) | 36 | 0.2 | |
| Total votes | 20,921 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Patty Lopez | 22,750 | 50.5 | |
| Democratic | Raul Bocanegra (incumbent) | 22,284 | 49.5 | |
| Total votes | 45,034 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
2016
edit| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Raul Bocanegra | 30,119 | 44.4 | |
| Democratic | Patty López (incumbent) | 18,472 | 27.2 | |
| Democratic | Joel Fajardo | 6,831 | 10.1 | |
| Democratic | Joanne Fernandez | 4,538 | 6.7 | |
| Democratic | Mina Creswell | 4,418 | 6.5 | |
| Democratic | Kevin James Suscavage | 3,489 | 5.1 | |
| Total votes | 67,867 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Raul Bocanegra | 74,834 | 60.12 | |
| Democratic | Patty López (incumbent) | 49,649 | 39.88 | |
| Total votes | 124,483 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
References
edit- ^ Mason, Melanie (2017-11-27). "Breaking: Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra has resigned effective immediately, following sexual harassment allegations. Statement below and story posting soonpic.twitter.com/qdPuh1AoSz". @melmason. Retrieved 2017-11-27.
- ^ "LA Assemblyman Apologizes for Groping Fellow Staffer in 2009". Associated Press. November 1, 2017.
- ^ "WOMEN'S CAUCUS LEADERSHIP CONDEMNS SEXUAL ASSAULT IN THE CAPITOL COMMUNITY | California Legislative Women's Caucus". womenscaucus.legislature.ca.gov. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
- ^ "Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra should resign over sexual misconduct". Daily News. 2017-10-31. Retrieved 2017-11-03.
- ^ "California lawmaker accused by 7 women of sexual harassment will not run for re-election". The Mercury News. 2017-11-20. Retrieved 2017-12-19.
- ^ Koseff, Alexei (November 1, 2017). "California lawmaker faces calls to resign over Capitol groping incident". Sacramento Bee.
- ^ LAUSD, Kelly Gonez (2017-11-02). "I'm deeply troubled by the news regarding @AsmBocanegra. My full statement below.pic.twitter.com/YTDImM5uEN". @Kelly4LASchools. Retrieved 2017-11-03.