Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 20

Assemblymember Bill Quirk (D) was elected in November 2012 to represent the 20th Assembly District, which consists of Hayward, Union City, Castro Valley, San Lorenzo, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview, Sunol and North Fremont.

As the oldest of seven children growing up near Boston, Bill started taking responsibility at an early age. Bill excelled in school and became an Eagle Scout.

After earning his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia at the age of 24, Bill was a postdoctoral fellow at CalTech. He then joined NASA as a research scientist and supervised one of the first studies of climate change: the Goddard Institute Climate Model.

From there, Bill worked in the computer industry in Silicon Valley before settling into a career at the Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL), where he established himself in the fields of atmospheric science and nuclear weapons design. Bill was this country's expert in foreign nuclear weapons programs. He helped prepare reports for the Presidential Daily Brief and played a key role in the negotiations for the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Teaching physics at Columbia, Caltech, and UC Davis helped Bill formulate his lifelong interest in education.

Bill has served as a leader for more than 30 years in many local organizations including the local PTA, Hayward Rotary, the Friends of the Library, the Hayward Library Commission, the Board of Communication Workers of America Local 9119, and the Bay Area Water Supply and Conservation Agency.

In 2004, he won a seat on the Hayward City Council. While on the city council, Bill brought the same in-depth, analytical perspective to city decisions that he developed as a scientist.

As an Assemblymember Bill has translated his successful leadership in Southern Alameda County into a powerful voice in Sacramento. In his first term in the Legislature, Bill has successfully worked with his colleagues to increase funding for education, cut red tape for businesses, and preserve local funding for police and fire.

Bill sits on committees that deal with appropriations, public safety, energy and agriculture. He has authored legislation to set goals to reduce greenhouse gases, protect battered spouses, and reduce crime by rehabilitating offenders.

Bill and his wife Laurel moved to the Hayward area in 1978 and have been married since 1971. They raised two children who attended California public schools and the UC system.