ASSEMBLY

make sure they’re being met.”

But she faces an uphill battle against current Republican Assemblyman Randy Voepel, the two-term incumbent and the former mayor of Santee who won reelection two years ago by more than 20 percentage points.

Voepel said his office has also restructured his campaign in recent months to assist East County constituents who contact his office with issues getting access to state government resources.

“We switched gears dramatically in my office from working on bills ... to working on individual paperwork problems my constituents are facing,” Voepel said. “We used to get two or three calls a month about unemployment benefit issues. Now it’s 35 to 50 a week.”

Voepel said his office typically received a handful of calls from constituents about Department of Motor Vehicle issues. It now handles about 40 calls a week.

“Everyone’s working way harder than they used to solely on constituent problems,” Voepel said.

The district represents much of East County and a small part of Riverside County. It includes more than 450,000 residents, many of whom reside in Santee, Alpine, Ramona, La Presa, El Cajon, Spring Valley and Lakeside.

Voepel was first elected to the state Legislature in 2016. He has since served on several committees, including as vice chair for the committees on aging and long-term care, public employment and retirement, and veterans affairs. The latter panel hits close to home for Voepel, who served two tours with the Navy during the Vietnam War.

Lavertu has a long history of volunteering in local politics. She is a former member of the San Diego County Democratic Party Executive Board and former chair of the Spring Valley Community Planning Group, and she spent years volunteering at local schools and helped raise more than $100,000 to install an outdoor fitness circuit at Jamacha Elementary.

Voepel said his main work and efforts in office can be seen in those committees, since it’s been difficult to bring forward conservative bills in a Democratically controlled Legislature. He was unable to name a specific piece of legislation he brought forward during the last session.

“The last two years were like a bad dream, at least for a conservative Republican like me,” Voepel said.

Gail Ramer, Voepel’s chief of staff, said Voepel authored Assembly Bill 3137, which provides U.S. Armed Forces and California National Guard members the opportunity to continue their higher education as part of the California Promise Program after a leave of absence. It was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom last month.

He also co-authored several bills, Ramer said, and approved a legislative audit request of the Employment Development Department, or the EDD, which maintains employment records for California workers, administers unemployment and state disability insurance, and audits and collects payroll taxes.

“We were inundated with hundreds and hundreds of calls from people that were having issues with the EDD,” Ramer said. “We have been pleased to be able to help these people get the answers to their questions and to rectify their situations.”

According to CourageScore.org, which compiles and publishes California legislators’ voting records, Voepel voted against or declined to vote on 36 of the 40 f loor votes in 2019. The previous year, he voted no on all but one f loor vote.

Lavertu said she decided to run because she was tired of Voepel’s voting record, which she saw as ineffective.

“Instead of adding to those bills, or attaching amendments that could help our district, he just votes no,” Lavertu said.

As of Sept. 30, more than 40 percent of the 260,600 registered voters in the 71st Assembly district are Republican, according to the San Diego County Registrar of Voters. About 30 percent are Democrats, and 23 percent declare no party preference.