More than half of the 11 candidates running for the open 15th Assembly District seat in the East Bay currently hold elected office -- an impressive level of combined experience for a local legislative race.
When Oakland Councilman Dan Kalb makes his pitch to voters in the district, he emphasizes another level of experience: a decade already spent working at the state Capitol.
Kalb lobbied for environmental policies as the California policy director with the Union of Concerned Scientists from 2003 to 2012.
"Throughout those 10 years I crafted legislation, negotiated amendments, pushed back on opponents, and I know many of the lobbyists up in Sacramento," Kalb said. "I'll be the person who can hit the ground running right away."
In Sacramento, Kalb was a leading force behind Senate Bill 2 (First Extraordinary Session), the 2011 legislation which required a third of the state's electricity come from renewable sources by 2020.