Sebastian Ridley-Thomas wins race for 54th Assembly District
By Daily Bruin
Dec. 3, 2013 11:29 p.m.
This post was updated at 5:40 p.m.
Democrat Sebastian Ridley-Thomas was elected Tuesday as the new representative for California’s 54th Assembly District, which represents UCLA and Westwood.
Sixty percent of voters, just over 11,000 people, chose Ridley-Thomas. Democrat Christopher Armenta received the second-largest number of votes at 36 percent.
Ridley-Thomas will replace Holly Mitchell, who recently became a state senator for California’s 26th Senate District.
His win ensures that the Democrats will maintain their two-thirds supermajority in the state assembly.
The 26-year-old is the son of Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. Sebastian Ridley-Thomas previously worked on issues including small business improvement, taxation and infrastructure in the offices of former state senator Curren Price. Currently, he works in the 9th Council District of Los Angeles, where Price is a councilmember, as the senior deputy for education, economic development and healthcare.
In an interview with the Daily Bruin’s editorial board, Ridley-Thomas said he would work to promote job growth, increase financial aid for students and set up a satellite office at UCLA to better implement the Affordable Care Act, among other things.
Compiled by Kristen Taketa, Bruin senior staff.
