[img]1987|right|Sebastian Ridley-Thomas||no_popup[/img]One month after opening his campaign for the state’s 54th Assembly Dustrict, Sebastian Ridley-Thomas today announced that he has earned the support of an influential array of Los Angeles area political, community, business, labor and civic leaders.
The seat currently is held by Holly Mitchell (D-Culver City) who is expected to win a special election Sept. 17 for the state Senate seat vacated this month by Curren Price after he won the Los Angeles City Council’s 9th District.
Mr. Ridley-Thomas, a twin son of County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, is a Public Policy Director, community organizer and advocate for consumers, children and small businesses.
Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson, Councilmembers Curren Price and Paul Koretz, state Assembly members Steve Bradford and Isadore Hall, and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez are endorsing Mr. Ridley-Thomas.
He also has gained support from community and business leaders, including Los Angeles Police Commissioner John W. Mack, the former head of the Urban League, longtime community leader Barbara Yaroslavsky, Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Cynthia McClain-Hill, past president of the National Association of Women Business Owners, Areva Martin, president of the nonprofit Special Needs Network, and Armen Ross, president of the Crenshaw Chamber of Commerce.
Among the prominent religious leaders endorsing Mr. Ridley-Thomas for Assembly are the Rev. http://sebastianforassembly.com/ http://sebastianforassembly.com/ http://sebastianforassembly.com/ Xavier Thompson, president of the Baptist Ministers Conference of Los Angeles and Southern California; Rev. J. Benjamin Hardwick, senior pastor of Praises of Zion Missionary Baptist Church and president of the Western Baptist Convention; Rev. J. Edgar Boyd, pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal Church (FAME); Rev. Norman Johnson of First New Christian Fellowship Missionary Baptist Church; Rev. Robert Habersham, pastor emeritus of Hamilton United Methodist Church, and Rev. LeSean Tarkington, pastor of St. James African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Mr. Ridley-Thomas served as policy director for former Sen. Price, and as the Senator’s chief liaison to South Los Angeles’ faith-based organizations and served as Deputy Political Director for the California Legislative Black Caucus. He previously served with the Children’s Defense Fund and state Dept. of Consumer Affairs.
After graduating from Loyola High School in Los Angeles, earning his bachelor’s in sociology from Atlanta’s Morehouse College, completing an internship with Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, and serving as State Senate Fellow through the Center for California Studies at Cal State Sacramento, Mr. Ridley-Thomas studied Conflict Resolution and Cross-Cultural Civic Engagement at U.C. Davis.
For information, see sebastianforassembly.com
Mr. MacFarlane may be contacted at fredmacfarlane@mac.com
