Bowen first became politically active when volunteering for her community's Neighborhood Watch. She was elected to the Assembly in 1992 and the Senate in 1998.
Among her legislative achievements: In 2001, the state enacted her bill restricting access to Social Security numbers, including barring healthcare cards from listing such numbers as identifiers.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday June 23, 2006 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 76 words Type of Material: Correction
Secretary of state: An article in the May 14 California section on two Democrats running for secretary of state indicated that a member of incumbent Bruce McPherson's transition team in 2005, a former deputy secretary of state, became a member of the lobbying firm representing electronic voting system manufacturer Diebold Inc. According to the firm, GCG Rose and Kindel, Adan Ortega Jr. was an independent subcontractor when he worked for McPherson and later became an employee.
Another successful Bowen bill required credit card companies to notify consumers of any security breach in personal information. An advocate of open government, she also has written several bills giving Californians electronic access to public records.
As of March 17, the latest for which reports are available, Bowen had spent $200,000 since Jan. 1 and had $322,000 in cash on hand.
Ortiz had raised $46,000 this year and spent $81,000. She had cash on hand of $384,000.
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The candidates
Debra Bowen
Party: Democratic
Occupation: State senator
Age: 50; born in Rockford, Ill.
Residence: Marina del Rey
Personal: Married, one daughter and one stepdaughter
Education: Communications degree from Michigan State University, 1976; law degree from University of Virginia, 1979
Career highlights: Elected to state Assembly, 1992; elected to state Senate, 1998
Platform: Establish auditing requirements for all voting equipment; restore eligibility to thousands of disenfranchised voters; require initiative signature-gatherers to disclose who is paying them; improve access to information on political donors; increase participation in elections and poll-worker training
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Deborah Ortiz
Party: Democratic
Occupation: State senator
Age: 49; born in Sacramento
Residence: Sacramento
Personal: Single, no children
Education: Attended UC Davis; graduated with a law degree from McGeorge School of Law in 1987
Career highlights: First Latina elected to Sacramento City Council; elected to state Assembly, 1996; elected to state Senate, 1998
Platform: Increase enforcement funding for the state Fair Political Practices Commission; adopt public financing of campaigns to blunt the impact of special interest money; consider making polling places more centralized; expand the opportunities to cast a ballot by mail; work to increase participation in elections
Source: Times staff reports
