District 9 state assembly candidates compete
Incumbent Jim Cooper of Elk Grove will be challenged by Harry He of Elk Grove for the California State Assembly 9th District seat when voters hit the polls for the Nov. 6 general election.
During the three-candidate race in the June 5 primary election, Cooper received 49,675 of the district’s votes, or 67.8 percent while He received 11,927 votes, or 16.3 percent.
Cooper, a Democrat, has represented the 9th District — which includes the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Galt and Lodi — since 2014. He served with the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department for 30 years, where he reached the rank of captain, and is a graduate of the West Point Leadership Academy, FBI National Academy and earned a master’s degree in organizational leadership from St. Mary’s College.
Prior to his election to the state assembly, Cooper served as founding mayor when Elk Grove was officially incorporated as a city in 2000 and sat on the Elk Grove City Council for 14 years.
Cooper has served on the boards of the Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers Big Sisters and the Sacramento Children’s Receiving Home, and has been a member of the National Narcotics Officers Association, Law Enforcement Managers Association, Sacramento County Deputy Sheriff’s Association and other groups.
If re-elected, Cooper plans to continue working to improve California’s economy and help those still recovering from the recession.
“Unemployment is down, but a lot of those jobs are service worker jobs,” Cooper said. “You’re not going to be able to buy a house with that kind of income.”
Cooper also plans to continue advocating for small businesses in California, as well as the state’s agriculture industry.
“I have been on over 60 ag tours from Lodi and Sacramento all the way to Bakersfield, met with farmers and leaned about their businesses and how, as their representative, I can help protect their livelihood and the future of California agriculture as a whole,” Cooper said.
Between the 30 years he spent in law enforcement and his roles as a local and state politician, Cooper believes he has gained a level of experience that sets him apart from his opponent.
“Experience, to me, counts,” Cooper said. “When you’re dealing with tough issues, my opponent doesn’t have any experience to draw from.”
He, also a Democrat, currently works as an information technology manager for People Supermarket Inc., and previously worked as a real estate agent. He graduated from University of California, Merced with a bachelor’s degree in economics with honors and is active in various Democratic clubs, Loaves and Fishes Homeless Shelter and the SPCA.
If elected, He plans to explore new ways to obtain more funding for environmental protection, work toward building a universal health care system and implement campaign finance reforms.
“We need to have our campaign finance system reformed to the point where candidates are winning based on the merits of their platforms and not the amount of money they can raise,” He said.
He also plans to work toward reforming the state’s criminal justice system, advocating for more rehabilitation programs in prisons and opportunities for inmates to learn job skills.
“Most people in California state prisons are going to be released one day, and we need to make sure they don’t go back to committing crimes and go back to prison,” He said. “Making sure they have job skills when they get out is one way to do that.”
With his stances on environmental issues and criminal justice reform, along with his views on campaign finance reform, He believes that the new perspective he would bring to the state assembly sets him apart from his opponent.
“On all these issues, it is safe to say my opponent and I are polar opposites,” He said in response to a questionnaire sent from the News-Sentinel.