SENATOR SUSAN TALAMANTES EGGMAN

A leader with decades of experience in public service and community-building, Dr. Susan Talamantes Eggman was elected to the State Senate in November of 2020, serving the 5th Senate District which is comprised of San Joaquin County, a significant portion of Stanislaus County and the Sacramento County community of Galt.  Susan served in the State Assembly from December of 2012 through November of 2020.

Susan grew up on her family’s small almond orchard and apiary in Turlock. It was a farm-to-market family business, with Eggman’s father and brother tending the orchard and hives, her mother keeping the books, and later her partner, Renee Hall, bottling and selling the honey at farmers markets in San Francisco.  Continuing through three generations of growing and beekeeping in California’s Central Valley, the operation ultimately grew to over 40 acres of almonds and 2000 beehives.

Susan joined the U.S. Army out of high school and served four years as a medic. After her service, she attended California State University, Stanislaus, where she completed a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in social work. She worked as a mental health provider and medical social worker before completing a Ph.D. at Portland State University. Prior to joining the State Assembly, Susan was a Professor of Social Work at CSU, Sacramento. A lifelong learner, Susan passed the Licensed Clinical Social Worker examination shortly after assuming office.

A former member of Stockton’s City Council – and the first Latina elected to that office – Susan is committed to policies that advance the good of her whole community, including improving access to health care, expanding educational opportunities and addressing her district’s critical need for resources to address crime. She has a proven record of working across partisan divides to find working solutions to real problems.

While in the Assembly, Susan successfully authored legislation to support the rights of undocumented residents who are victims of crimes; authored legislation to increase diversion programs as an alternative to incarceration for minor drug crimes; and authored the law that established the Solar on Multifamily Affordable Housing Program – which will invest up to $1 billion over ten years to install solar roofs and provide electricity bill savings to residents of multifamily housing in disadvantaged communities.  Susan is also the author of the landmark End of Life Option Act and authored the legislation establishing the National Guard’s Discovery Challenge Academy in French Camp that is turning around the lives of hundreds of high school students each year.

Susan currently serves as the Chair of the Senate Health Committee and is a member of the Senate Committees on Business, Professions and Economic Development; Energy, Utilities and Communications; and Natural Resources and Water, as well as Budget Subcommittee #3 on Health and Human Services, the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, and the Joint Legislative Committee on Emergency Management.

Susan and Renee, her spouse and partner for more than 30 years, live in Stockton where they are raising their daughter, Eme.

Mike Madrid Co-Founder, The Lincoln Project Partner, GrassrootsLab Co-Chair, League of Minority Voters

For over thirty years, Mike Madrid has been changing the outcomes of political campaigns throughout the country. His active involvement in local, state, and federal races has helped him to develop a keen insight into the successful characteristics of winning campaigns. Madrid is a nationally recognized expert on Latino voting trends. He graduated from the Edmund G. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University in 1997. The completion of his thesis at Georgetown University on Latino voters became the basis for his pioneering work on Latino communications and outreach strategies throughout the country. He has served as the press secretary for the California Assembly Republican leader and as the political director for the California Republican Party. He’s currently a partner in the political consulting firm, GrassrootsLab. In 2001 Madrid was named as one of America’s “Most Influential Hispanics” by Hispanic Business Magazine. Madrid has served on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Political Consultants (AAPC), as a fellow at The Unruh Institute for politics and as an adjunct lecturer on Race, Class and Partisanship at the University of Southern California. He co-founded The Lincoln Project and is currently serves as the co-Chair of the League of Minority Voters.