Kelly Hayes-Raitt, environmental leader, co-founder of Heal the Bay, and the race's only Clean Money Campaign candidate, traveled to Iraq before and after the war began.

"It is rare that Betty and I have the pleasure of supporting a candidate who truly reflects our values and highest ideals," wrote community leader Stanley Sheinbaum in his endorsement of Kelly Hayes-Raitt, candidate for State Assembly in the 41st district.

Kelly's long leadership for environmental protection has shaped our state's future. As executive director of the Coalition for Clean Air and as Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy's environmental representative, Kelly fought to protect our coast from offshore oil drilling. She helped found Heal the Bay, and helped pass important bills to set health standards for toxic mold and to phase out dirty diesel school buses.

Kelly worked on Gov. Davis’ memorial for California’s victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks, fought for universal health care, and was a national moderator for former First Lady Hillary Clinton’s “Women and Social Security” teleconference.

Kelly is a national spokesperson to protect civil rights - and to champion women's rights. She started the Women's Health Campaign to hold pharmaceutical corporations accountable for the deadly products they market to women.

For 25 years, Kelly has been a community leader, earning a reputation as a fearless advocate while working on dozens of state legislative and initiative campaigns that have protected the environment, secured consumers’ legal rights, promoted educational opportunities, protected workers and fought for affordable and accessible health care.

As the president of her own small business, Kelly knows firsthand the challenges entrepreneurs face -- as well as the potential that small businesses provide to our state’s economy. She is the only business owner running in her race.

As a passionate and effective advocate, she has appeared on more than 500 radio and television public affairs shows including PBS "News Hour with Jim Lehrer," CBS "This Morning," CNN "Financial News," and CNN "Moneyline."

A native of Buffalo, Kelly grew up in Fredonia, NY, a rural college town, where her stepfather taught Mexican history. She lived the small-town values of neighborly support during brutal winters and ice storms.

Kelly’s mother, a semi-retired elementary school teacher, made history during Kelly’s teenage years by starting Mothers for Fair Child Support, a group that successfully advocated for the country’s first legislation to hold non-custodial parents financially accountable for their children. At 12, Kelly gathered signatures on petitions and advocated for sweeping policy changes. Kelly’s father runs his own consulting business, providing counseling and intervention support for substance abusers.

After graduating from high school early, Kelly moved to Washington, DC, to pursue a career in politics and journalism. While attending George Washington University, she worked as a community organizer for environmental organizations, traveling around the country to establish door-to-door canvass fundraising efforts.

In 1982, the California League of Conservation Voters brought Kelly to California to start its canvass. She settled in Santa Monica in 1983, where she rented for 20 years. (It was in her modest Ocean Park apartment that Heal the Bay was named!)

In 1999, Kelly was appointed by the Santa Monica City Council to the Santa Monica Commission on the Status of Women, and was elected as Treasurer of the statewide Association of California Commissions on Women. Her volunteer leadership led her to Iraq five weeks before the war. The Iraqis touched her so deeply that she returned during the war and provided on-air commentaries from Baghdad, Basra and Fallouja to KFWB news radio, KNBC local evening news and National Public Radio. Over the next two years, Kelly addressed over 200 audiences about her experiences in Iraq – including a group of Congresswomen in the basement of our nation’s capitol.

To honor her humanitarian leadership, the Los Angeles County Commission on the Status of Women named Kelly a 2004 Women of the Year.

"Now, more than ever,” Stanley Sheinbaum continued, “we need authentic, progressive leaders like Kelly Hayes-Raitt. We are proud to support this inspiring woman's campaign."

Throughout her life, Kelly has worked tirelessly to fulfill our dreams for a California where all children – and adults – receive an education that makes them flourish, where our state leads our nation toward water and energy self-sufficiency, and where we create a more just world for those among us who live without work, homes, healthcare, or dignity.

Download Kelly's bio as PDF.