Elaine Alquist
A policy maker for over 20 years, Senator Elaine Kontominas Alquist (D-Santa Clara) is completing her first Senate term representing almost a million people living in the cities of San Jose, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Mountain View, and Gilroy.
The daughter of an immigrant, Elaine Kontominas Alquist was born in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in St. Louis. She worked her way through college and graduate school and earned a B.A. in mathematics from MacMurray College in Illinois. Sen. Alquist also earned an M.A. in Guidance and Counseling, and Education from Washington University where she graduated with honors.
After being an algebra and trigonometry teacher and a counselor in the public schools, Senator Alquist moved to Santa Clara County in 1978.
In 1981, she served as PTA President and then beginning in 1983 served eight years as a member and then President of the Board of Education of the Cupertino Union School District.
A former small business owner, realtor, and financial analyst at Stanford University, Senator Alquist is the first Greek American woman elected to both houses of the California State Legislature.
In the Assembly (1996-2002), she was the first Chair of the Assembly Committee on Information Technology, where she blew the whistle on the disastrous Statewide Automated Child Support System (SACSS) which saved taxpayers one hundred million dollars.
Elected to the State Senate in November 2004, Senator Alquist chairs the Senate Health Committee; the Senate Subcommittee on Aging and Long Term Care; and, the Select Committee on Emerging Technologies and Economic Competitiveness.
Sen. Alquist is also one of three voting members of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Health, Human Services, Labor, and Veterans Affairs. She also serves on the Senate Committees on Education, Human Services and Revenue and Taxation.
A recognized leader on K-12 and higher education issues, Senator Alquist understands that opportunity in a democracy is linked to access to a good education, preschool through university. She has authored and advocated for policies to reduce class size, improve career technical education, strengthen teacher training in math and science, increase per pupil funding, and expand the CalGrant student aid program. A passionate advocate for the elderly and disabled, she has authored landmark laws on nursing home safety and HMO reform.
A lifetime champion of crime victims, and the first woman to chair the Senate Public Safety Committee, she authored ground breaking legislation that makes it easier to protect our children from sexual predators. For her work, the California Coalition Against Sexual Assault (CALCASA) honored her with their prestigious Leadership Award in August 2009.
In her first Senate term, she has authored pioneering hospital safety legislation that establishes a meaningful hospital error reporting and enforcement/fine system.
A thirty-year resident of Santa Clara County, Senator Alquist understands the transportation and housing challenges that we face in Silicon Valley. She created the First-Time Homebuyers Down Payment Assistance Program and is working on solutions to ease traffic congestion by fighting for BART to San Jose and bringing High-Speed Rail through San Jose.
Senator Alquist has sponsored thirteen women’s heath forums, where over three thousand women have receive the latest information and life saving tests for cholesterol, blood glucose, and bone density.
As a champion of education and job creation and sustainability, she has fought for revitalization of our economy that encourages the clean energy, high-tech and bio-tech industries remain in California.
Senator Alquist’s family includes her sons Peter, married to Anju Chowdhry, and Bryan White, married to Asako Yasui. She is the adoring yia yia (Greek grandmother) of Jasmine and Logan.