The California Professional Firefighters (CPF) have endorsed Steve Bennett, the leading candidate in the race for Assembly District 37 in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, joining a growing list of supporters including the Sierra Club. CPF represents firefighters throughout both counties.

Bennett, a member of the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, has led the county to 19 balanced budgets in a row, helping secure funding to bolster firefighting efforts and make sure local firefighters and paramedics have the resources they need to battle wildfires and protect neighborhoods.

“Firefighters trust Steve Bennett to ensure we have the resources we need to keep the neighborhoods we serve safe,” said Brian K. Rice, President, California Professional Firefighters. “The California Professional Firefighters proudly endorse Steve Bennett for Assembly because he has a proven record of putting safety first.”

Bennett is an environmental champion who co-authored the landmark SOAR Initiatives (Save Open Space and Agricultural Resources) to protect open spaces from development. The SOAR initiatives require a vote of the people before land zoned for open space or agriculture can be rezoned for development.

The California Professional Firefighters join the Sierra Club, Ventura County Supervisors John Zaragoza and Linda Parks, local councilmembers and a growing list of local leaders and organizations supporting Steve for State Assembly.

A Ventura County Supervisor, Steve Bennett is an independent local leader who wrote one of the strongest campaign reform laws taking big money out of local politics. Before being elected as a County Supervisor, Bennett served as a local high school economics teacher, and a Ventura City Council member for one term. He is running to take his unique brand of independent environmental leadership and passion for good government to Sacramento.