Bilal A. "Bill" Essayli is an American lawyer and politician currently serving in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

. He is the first Muslim elected to the California State Assembly. A Republican, he represents California's 63rd State Assembly district, which includes

Canyon Lake Canyon Lake, Lake Canyon, or lakes named "Cañon", may refer to: Bodies of water * Canyon Lake (Arizona) * Canyon Lake (California) * Canyon Lake (South Dakota) * Canyon Lake (Texas) * Canyon Lake (Michigan) * Lake Canyon (Lakeland, Florida) Place ...

, Corona, Eastvale, Lake Elsinore,

Menifee Menifee (May 4, 1996 – June 13, 2019) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that competed in the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in 1999. His rivalry with Triple Crown contender Charismatic was compared at times with the rivalry betw ...

, Norco,

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

, Temescal Valley, and Woodcrest.

Early life

Essayli's parents are immigrants from

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

who fled to the country to escape its

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

Education

Essayli is the first member of his family to graduate from college. He received his undergraduate degree from the Kellogg Honors College of

California State Polytechnic University, Pomona California State Polytechnic University, Pomona (Cal Poly Pomona, CPP, or Cal Poly"Cal Poly" may also refer to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in San Luis Obispo. See the '' name'' section of this article for more info ...

. He received his

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

degree from

Chapman University School of Law Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler School of Law, commonly referred to as Chapman University School of Law or Chapman Law School, is a private, non-profit law school located in Orange, California. The school offers the Juris Doctor degree (JD), ...

Career

Essayli served as an

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and gover ...

in the

White House Counsel The White House counsel is a senior staff appointee of the president of the United States whose role is to advise the president on all legal issues concerning the president and their administration. The White House counsel also oversees the Of ...

's Office in 2008. He then worked in private practice, where he focused on employment law. Then he joined the Riverside County

District Attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or state attorney is the chief prosecutor and/or chief law enforcement officer representing a U.S. state in a l ...

's office as a prosecutor. He then became an

Assistant United States Attorney An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the Central District of California. Among the cases he worked on was the 2015 terrorist attack in San Bernardino.

Political campaigns

In 2018, Essayli ran for the

against incumbent Democrat

Sabrina Cervantes Sabrina Cervantes (born October 24, 1987) is an American politician serving as a member of the California State Assembly. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represents the California's 58th State Assembly district, 58th Assembly D ...

. He lost the election, but made a strong showing, which raised his local profile. In 2022, Essayli ran for the state Assembly in the newly created 63rd Assembly District. He defeated Eastvale Mayor Clint Lorimore in the primary and businesswoman Fauzia Rizvi in the general election.

Personal life

Essayli is the first

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

in history to be elected to the California State Assembly.

References

External links

Official website

Campaign website

Bill Essayli
on

Ballotpedia Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Bur ...

Living people 21st-century American politicians Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Chapman University alumni 1985 births American people of Lebanese descent American Muslims {{California-CAAssembly-stub