State Senator, District 2

Damon Connolly has spent 25 years in local and state government. He was a Deputy Attorney General, then a San Rafael city councilmember, vice mayor and a Marin County supervisor. He also helped found Marin Clean Energy and served as its board chair. In 2022 he was elected to the State Assembly, where he has written bills on wildfire prevention, climate resilience, cleaner air near schools and affordable housing.

He says he is running for this open seat because these are dangerous times that call for someone who can act immediately with a proven record. He opposes a major state housing bill, known as SB 79, that would let denser housing be built near transit without local approval. He instead favors state funding to build affordable housing rather than state mandates on local zoning.

He promises to make sure the North Coast is heard in Sacramento and says he will keep fighting for climate action, wildfire protection and affordable housing. He also promises mental health and drug treatment programs, along with mobile crisis teams, as his answer to homelessness rather than forced camps.

Tief Gibbs co-owns Vintage Vehicles, an auto shop in Novato. She became politically active during the COVID-19 pandemic. She ran for Congress in 2024 but did not make it past the primary. She has not held elected office.

She says the pandemic made her a voice for people struggling with mandates and business closures. She proposes that homeless people be given a choice between leaving the streets or entering a rehabilitation camp for drug and mental health treatment and job training. She says the camps would not be a lockdown and that people could leave.

She promises stronger consequences for crime, including jail time, and more local control over housing instead of state mandates. She also promises to cut costs and regulation for farmers and calls for stronger immigration enforcement.