Helene Schneider (born November 18, 1970) is an American politician from the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. She was the

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coas ...

from 2010 to 2018, and a 2016 candidate for

California's 24th congressional district California's 24th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Salud Carbajal. It contains all of Santa Barbara County, most of San Luis Obispo County, and part of ...

. She was first elected mayor in 2009, succeeding

Marty Blum Marty Blum is the former mayor of Santa Barbara, California, a city of 92,000. She was born in Illinois and attended Purdue University, later receiving a JD at Loyola University. Blum moved to Santa Barbara in 1968 with her husband Joe, a physic ...

. She won reelection to a second term in 2013. Prior to serving in government, Schneider worked at

Planned Parenthood The Planned Parenthood Federation of America, Inc. (PPFA), or simply Planned Parenthood, is a nonprofit organization that provides reproductive health care in the United States and globally. It is a tax-exempt corporation under Internal Reve ...

as the director of human resources for the affiliate serving Santa Barbara, Ventura, and

San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

counties.

Political career

Schneider credits former mayor Harriet Miller with giving her a start in city politics by appointing her as a Commissioner for the Housing Authority of Santa Barbara. In 2003, she was elected to the Santa Barbara City Council and reelected in 2007. Her first political involvement on the Central Coast was working for

Jack O'Connell Jack O'Connell may refer to: * Jack O'Connell (actor) (born 1990), English actor * Jack O'Connell (Australian politician) (1903–1972), member of the Victorian Legislative Council * Jack O'Connell (diplomat) (1921–2010), American diplomat and C ...

's successful reelection campaign to the California State Assembly in 1992. In 2009, Schneider was elected mayor in an open-seat race. She won with 45.8% of the vote followed by Dale Francisco with 33.9%, Steve Cushman with 16.3%, and two other candidates splitting the remaining votes. She was reelected mayor in 2013 in a two-way race with Wayne Scoles, winning 73% to 26%. In 2016, Schneider ran for the 24th congressional district, which was left open due to the retirement of longtime representative

Lois Capps Lois Ragnhild Capps (née Grimsrud; January 10, 1938) is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 1998 to 2017. She is a member of the Democratic Party. The district, numbered as the 22nd District from 1998 to 2003 a ...

. In the primary field of 9 candidates, Schneider was considered to be one of the frontrunners, alongside fellow Democrat and

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, California, officially the County of Santa Barbara, is located in Southern California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa Maria. Santa Barba ...

Supervisor

Salud Carbajal Salud Ortiz Carbajal (; born November 18, 1964) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 24th congressional district since 2017. He is a member of the Democratic Party, and his district covers Santa Maria, ...

, Republican Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian, and Republican Justin Fareed. However, Schneider came in fourth in the primary, with 31,046 votes (14.9%). Carbajal went on to defeat Fareed in the general election.

References

External links

City of Santa Barbara Mayor & City Council
official Santa Barbara Mayor & City Council website
Helene Schneider for Congress
official Helene Schneider for Congress website * California Democrats Living people Mayors of Santa Barbara, California 1970 births {{California-mayor-stub

Political career

See also

References

External links