Nanette Barragán

Nanette D. Barragán (born September 15, 1976) is an American attorney and politician from the state of California. She is the member-elect to the United States House of Representatives for California's 44th district. She is a member of the Democratic Party. She served as the first Latina ever elected to the Hermosa Beach City Council.^[1]

Early life and education

Barragán was born in Harbor City, California and grew up the youngest of eleven siblings, raised by immigrants from Mexico in Carson and the surrounding area, where she attended Stephen White Junior High School.^[2] She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science with a minor in Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles in 2000 and her Juris Doctor degree in 2005 at the University of Southern California, where she served on the Interdisciplinary Law Journal.^[3]

During college and until 2003, Barragán served as the Executive Director of the Gillian S. Fuller Foundation (formerly called the Fuller Foundation) where she was in charge of funding worthy nonprofits focused on education, the environmental and youth programs. Funded organizations included Heal the Bay, the Nature Conservancy, the Natural Resources Defense Council, Para Los Niños, Proyecto Pastoral, Literacy Partners among others.^[4]

Career

Legal

In 2003, Barragán served as an extern to Justice Carlos Moreno at the California Supreme Court. In 2004, Barragán served as an extern at the Los Angeles Legal Aid Foundation, a law firm for low-income people in Los Angeles. There she assisted pro per workers who needed assistance filing claims for unpaid overtime and meal breaks.^[5]

In 2005, Barragán received an externship at the United States Attorney's Office, Central District of California where she worked with attorneys in the Organized Crime and Terrorism section. While there Barragán assisted attorneys on a money laundering trial team, investigations and prosecuted Central Violation Bureau cases.

Barragán began private practice as an attorney at Latham & Watkins, LLP where she worked on a variety of cases from land use to securities litigation. While at Latham, Barragán was the lead attorney in an immigration asylum case spanning three years for a child and mother from Guatemala. Withholding of removal was granted. After Hurricane Katrina, Barragán and her colleague Blake Megdal flew to Biloxi, Mississippi to provide pro bono assistance to victims of the hurricane concerning insurance claims. She also served as a child advocate and was the Spanish speaking adoption attorney for low-income families seeking adoptions.^[6]

Political

Barragán started her political career at the Clinton White House in the Office of Public Liaison doing African-American outreach, serving as the facilitator between the President and African-American organizations such as the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In 1999, Barragán worked with the NAACP's Washington Bureau where she worked on health policy and was reaching the issue of racial health disparities. Thereafter, she volunteered for many federal and local candidates while serving on the Board of the L.A. County Young Democrats for three years prior to attending law school.

In 2012, Barragán took a leave of absence from her law firm to move to Florida to work on President Barack Obama's campaign with the voter protection team. She served as the out-of-state volunteer attorney director and recruited attorneys across the country to volunteer in Florida to make sure every eligible voter had the opportunity to vote.^[7][8]

City Council

After serving in Florida for the President, Barragán ran for Hermosa Beach City Council where she stood up to an oil company and worked to stop its proposal to drill 34 oil and water injection wells in Hermosa Beach and out into the Santa Monica Bay. She also ran to end waste and mismanagement at City Hall and repave streets.^[9] Barragán beat six candidates and was the top vote getter.^[10] She became the first Latina ever elected and the first woman in ten years.^[11]

Congressional candidate

Barragán officially announced her candidacy for California's 44th congressional district on Equal Pay Day in mid April 2015. The seat is being vacated by Congresswoman Janice Hahn.^[12]

In June 2015, a local newspaper cited her motivation for running, "The district is one where only 60 percent graduate from high school and 10 percent go onto college," she said. "That’s how people live. I’m one of those 10-percenters who beat the odds. … I’ve achieved the American dream. Now I’m coming home to make sure that others have the same shot at the dream."^[13]

Since announcing her candidacy, Barragán has received major endorsements, including EMILY's List, a nationally prominent backer of female Democratic candidates, National Women's Political Caucus (NWPC), the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV), the Latino Victory Project, South Gate Mayor Henry Gonzalez, (ret.) South Gate Council members Bill De Witt, Maria Davila, Belen Bernal, Carson Commissioner Janice Schaffer, and scores of congressional members including Rep. Linda Sanchez, Lucille Roybal-Allard, Eric Swalwell, Raul Ruiz, Ruben Gallego, Joaquin Castro, Lois Frankel and others.^{[14][15][16][17][18][19]} In the November 8 general election, Barragán defeated state senator Isadore Hall III to succeed Hahn.^[20]

References

External links

• Campaign website