Santa Clara County Voter's Guide
On Children's Issues
General Election November 5, 2024
Even though they do not vote, over 415,000 children living in Santa Clara County deserve elected officials who understand how funding and policy decisions impact their lives. Too often, children are lost in a long list of priorities. However, decisions made today about investing in children’s safety, health, education and economic security have long-term effects on our community’s future. Our community’s and our nation’s current and future prosperity will be decided by our elected officials. This is why we, the voters, have an obligation to speak for children at the ballot box and why Choose Children, Strong Start of Santa Clara County and Kids in Common came together to create this Voter’s Guide on Children’s Issues.
This Voter’s Guide is informational only and no endorsement of any candidate is intended.
For this guide we asked each candidate running for selected local, state or federal offices in Santa Clara County to answer five questions about their priorities for children. Candidates were given several weeks to respond to the survey. The responses are in their words and are unedited.
A note about participation in this Voter’s Guide:
We did our best to contact every candidate. Some did not have publicly listed addresses and may not have received the invitation to participate. Others may have received the invitation and chose not to participate.
Brought To You By
Choose Children is a partnership of organizations and individuals committed to creating a future in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties where families with children can live and thrive. We work to champion babies, toddlers, and preschoolers and ensure that elected officials and candidates for office take action to support investment and approaches that advance the well-being, care, and learning of young children, their families, and the essential workers who care for them. Choose Children is an initiative of Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Kids in Common challenges leaders to put children first. By fostering cross-sector, data-driven partnerships, Kids in Common drives policies, investments, and practices centered on children’s needs and successes. Through the Santa Clara County Children’s Agenda, Kids in Common unites a network of more than 45 community and system leaders, bringing together their innovative thinking and perspectives to develop and advocate for programs and policies that benefit our children. These leaders from community-based organizations, government, education, healthcare, juvenile justice, child welfare, and philanthropy, work together to eliminate disparities and improve children’s lives.
Strong Start is a coalition of community leaders, early care and education (ECE) providers, school leaders, nonprofit organizations, elected officials, members of the business community, and other key partners who are committed to expanding access to high quality early learning opportunities for all children ages 0 to 8 in Santa Clara County. The coalition looks for local, state, and national solutions to help increase access to high quality early education and conducts advocacy efforts at the state level to encourage increased investments in early learning. Strong Start is an initiative of the Santa Clara County Office of Education (SCCOE) and builds upon the strong leadership of its many partners in the field of early education.