Democrat Aaron Draper, Department of Media Arts, Design and Technology lecturer at Chico State, is running for California State Assembly District 3 against incumbent republican James Gallagher. 

Draper has experience in a variety of different careers. He worked as a funeral director assistant, elementary school special needs aid, forklift driver, writer for the Oroville Mercury-Register newspaper and photographer. He was also deputized by the Butte County Sheriff’s Office. 

Draper has a degree in English from Chico State, a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Art in San Francisco, a Master in Legal Studies and a law degree from Cal Northern School of Law. He currently teaches photography at Chico State.

“I’m running to ensure that we have a voice and can protect the interests of our district, which don’t always coincide with the legislation coming out of Sacramento,” he said.

The seven main issues highlighted in Draper’s campaign are:

• Homelessness
• Water rights and conservation
• Transparency in government spending
• Wildfire mitigation
• Education reform
• Self-reliance
• Small business support

Draper emphasizes plans to increase resources towards mental health, which he sees as an underlying issue in the community.

“I think mental health is crucial for students and other community members because many social issues we’re seeing have mental health components that aren’t being addressed,” he said.

Draper believes all California citizens should be able to access an annual itemized statement on how the State of California has used its tax money to increase transparency in government spending. 

He also has concerns with how PG&E contributed to the recent fires. 

“Smaller, community-level energy sources would be easier to maintain and better suited for each community,” Draper said, citing renewable energy as his preferred alternative moving forward. 

Small businesses are the “middle class” of the economy, according to Draper. He wants California to incentivize and subsidize small businesses in the same way that it does agriculture.

“I think the most challenging part of the position would be pushing back against ideas that don’t help our district,” he said. “This would mean going against the status quo and my own party.”

Anthony Vasek and Dominic Curcuro can be reached at [email protected].