Gail Pellerin

Assemblymember Gail Pellerin (D-Santa Cruz) represents California's 28th Assembly District, covering portions of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, and brings nearly three decades of experience in elections administration to the Legislature ^[1,2]. A deeply personal commitment to mental health advocacy -- driven by the loss of her husband to suicide in 2018 -- has made her one of the Assembly's most prominent voices on mental health parity and suicide prevention, an area where families of faith and CFC can find in supporting struggling families ^[3,4]. With a 15% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, Pellerin's voting record has consistently diverged from the California Family Council's worldview framework on the sanctity of life (Chapter 6), parental authority in education (Chapter 8), and religious liberty (Chapter 9).

Gail L. Pellerin was born on June 24, 1962, in Torrance, California. She graduated from Santa Ynez Valley High School in 1980 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, in 1984.

Her 16.2% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 74 scored floor votes reflects consistent divergence from CFC's worldview framework. Her voting record has supported abortion access expansion over the sanctity of human life, government-directed education over parental authority and school choice, and progressive social mandates over religious liberty protections.

From the perspective of the California Family Council, Pellerin represents a Democrat whose policy positions on many social issues -- including her endorsements from Equality California and Planned Parenthood, and her authorship of a bill integrating behavioral health screenings into abortion-related services services -- diverge substantially from CFC priorities on life and family. However, her sustained and deeply personal advocacy for mental health services, suicide prevention, and family support in times of crisis represents a genuine area of shared concern.