Voters Support Propositions 1 and 31 and Reject Proposition 29

Sacramento, CA— On Election Day, the California Medical Association’s top priorities performed exceedingly well, with Jasmeet Bains, M.D. (D-Bakersfield) on track to win the hotly contested 35th Assembly District, joining physician legislators, Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, M.D. (D-Fresno) and Assemblymember Akilah Weber, M.D. (D-La Mesa) who have also been re-elected to the California State Assembly.

“As we continue to grapple with one of the most unprecedented health and economic health crises our country has every faced, we are fortunate to have leaders like Dr. Bains whose deep understanding of our health care delivery system will be a great benefit to constituents in her own district and all Californians,” said CMA President Donaldo Hernandez, M.D. 

Dr. Bains, a relative political newcomer, faced off against fellow Democrat, Leticia Perez, who has been elected as a Kern County Supervisor for nearly a decade.  CMA helped assemble a coalition of supporters who participated in an “independent expenditure” campaign to communicate directly with voters in support of Dr. Bains. 

Dr. Bains is a medical director at Bakersfield Recovery Services, a nonprofit that treats adults suffering from addiction.  After attending medical school in Illinois, she returned home to Kern County to complete a residency at Clinica Sierra Vista and was motivated to run for Assembly after witnessing the disparities in health access during the pandemic.

“I love being a doctor,” Dr. Bains told the Bakersfield Californian, explaining why the decision to enter the Assembly contest was not an easy decision. “If I want to be the physician that I always dreamed of being, I need to make sure that we have the correct legislation in place,” she said.

Voters also supported Proposition 1 to enshrine the right to an abortion into the state constitution, which was strongly supported by CMA, as well as Proposition 31 to enact a ban on flavored tobacco. At the same time, voters rejected, for a third time, CMA-opposed Proposition 29, which would have imposed additional requirements on dialysis clinics.