Gayle McLaughlin is a former two-term Mayor of Richmond, California, who is running for Lieutenant Governor of California as a progressive Independent. Ms. McLaughlin was a Richmond City Council member for two terms and served as Mayor from 2007-2014. While she was Mayor of Richmond, the city passed the first rent control law in California in 30 years, increased the minimum wage, reduced homicides 75% in 8 years, forced Chevron to pay on average an additional $7.5 million in taxes per year and sued Chevron for damage to the city’s population. Her book about this time is entitled “Winning Richmond: How a Progressive Alliance Won City Hall.”

“They (Chevron) spent millions trying to defeat us. And we were able to overcome their millions. In 2014, they spent 3.5 million in a mid-size city like Richmond, (which) was unprecedented. And all the progressives won. And all the Chevron candidates lost.” Former mayor Gayle McLaughlin, author of “Winning Richmond: How a Progressive Alliance Won City Hall.”