10th District Assembly candidates Guerra, Porter commended by leading civil rights group for taking stance

Two of the four leading candidates for the 10th District Assembly California were commended by a top civil rights and liberties organization in a mailer received this week.

The candidates, Democrats Sacramento City Councilmember Eric Guerra and Rev. Tecoy Porter Jr., were thanked for their responses to questions from the American Civil Liberties Union. Guerra and Porter answered several questions while Democratic Elk Grove City Councilmember Stephanie Nguyen and Eric Rigard, the sole Republican in the race, did not.

The candidates were asked 10 questions in six categories. The categories include criminal justice, police accountability, immigrants rights, LBGTQ+ rights, reproductive justice, and racial and economic justice.

See the chart below for Guerra and Porter’s answers. Also below are polling findings about civil liberty issues.

Although considered a liberal organization, the ACLU is non-partisan and does not endorse candidates. The organization had famously defended the KKK’s application for a protest march in the north Chicago suburb of Skokie, a predominately Jewish community, and filed an amicus brief on patient privacy when Rush Limbaugh was under investigation for doctor shopping.

For Nguyen, her non-response to the civil liberty questions is not surprising given her campaign’s focus on homelessness and emphasis on law enforcement endorsements which typically clash with stances taken by the ACLU. Republicans like Rigard typically oppose most issues supported by the ACLU.