Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 15

Lynne Leach was first elected to the State Assembly in November of 1996 and became the first woman ever to represent the combined Contra Costa/Alameda County district. In November of 1998, Lynne was re-elected by a commanding margin when nearly 60% of East Bay voters sent her back to Sacramento, and in this year's most recent open primary, she garnered over 65% of the vote.

Lynne has made her mark as a leader in the legislature serving as the Chair of the Assembly Republican Caucus in her first term and Vice Chair of the important Assembly Education Committee in her second term. In 1998, Lynne was named national "Freshman of the Year" by the National Republican Legislators Association; and an "Outstanding Freshman Legislator of the Year" by the California School Boards Association.

Lynne has been honored by a number of public policy and grassroots organizations for her hard work on behalf of small business, the taxpayer, the environment, health care and public education. Her honors include such organizations such as the California Chamber of Commerce, the National Tax Limitation Committee, the Association of California School Administrators, the Walnut Creek Education Foundation, Save Mt.Diablo, the Association of California Water Agencies, and the Contra Costa Breast Cancer Partnership.

Lynne's top priorities in Sacramento are to make California more business friendly, return our schools to their premier status, and address the transportation challenges of the Bay Area. In order to keep her constituents informed and involved, she hosts a monthly cable television program, "Focus 15", in which she interviews guests in a discussion of the issues of the day and provides her constituents with an update of all that is happening in the Capitol.

In addition to serving as Vice Chair of the Education Committee, Lynne akso serves as Vice Chair of the Committee on Aging and Long Term Care, and Vice Chair of the Consumer Protection Committee, making her the only member of the Assembly to serve as Vice Chair of three seperate committees. Lynne also serves on the important Assembly Transportation Committee where she has been a leader in the effort to reinvest in California's neglected infrastructre and highway system. She has also been a leader in the effort to get a fourth bore in the Caldecott Tunnel.

Before running for the State Assembly, Lynne was a businesswoman and had spent the past thirty-plus years in sales. In 1978, she started her own business, Applied Business Communications, Inc., which specializes in sales, customer service and communication training. Her activism in the business community includes serving as President of the Walnut Creek Chamber of Commerce where she has been a member since 1967.

Lynne's other civic acitvities have included the Contra Costa Sheriff's Posse, the Alameda 100 Clubs, and serving on advisory boards for the Boy Scouts, YMCA, Diablo Valley College, and the Lamorinda National Bank. Lynne has also been an active volunteer in local elementary schools and has been a member of the Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church since 1972.

In 1988, Lynne was elected to the Contra Costa County Republican Central Committee and served as its Chairman from 1991-1995. During her tenure she introduced the successful BOOT CAMP (an annual candidate training program) and R.E.V.O.L.T. Committee (Republicans Educating Voters on Lower Taxes).

A Chicago native, Lynne was raised in a blue-collar family. Her father was a sheetmetal worker and acitve union member and her mother was a full time homemaker. Lynne worked her way through college and in 1963 graduated from Roosevelt University with a degree in Psychology. In 1964, she and her husband Bob moved to Berkeley and then to Walnut Creek in 1967 where they raised their two grown children, Carol and Brian. One of few legislators to commute, Lynne drives to Sacramento each day from her home in Walnut Creek so that she may better serve the district she is honored to represent.