Sen. Pavley Talks Re-Election, Meeting Obama and Being California 'Senator of the Year'

California State Sen. Fran Pavley (D-Agoura Hills), who's in the reconfigured 27th State Senate district, recently discussed future plans with the Topanga Messenger prior to a fundraiser being held in Topanga on Sunday.

According to the report, Pavley feels that "this will probably be the most competitive senate race in 2012" because of the newly revised district.

"When redistricting maps were created, this was a toss-up district, only a six percent registration district. It will be between myself against a yet-to-be named Republican opponent in the June open primary. You have to win in the top two spots irrespective of the party and the top two go on to November and it doesn’t matter which party," she told the Messenger.

The Consumer Federation of California has named Pavley as its “Senator of the Year” for her tireless work to ban toxins such as lead, cadmium and BPA from children's products; passing legislation to protect consumers from mortgage fraud; and efforts to crack down on elder abuse, according to the Messenger.

Recently, Pavley was invited to attend a White House Rose Garden ceremony, where President Obama announced that the new national automobile emissions standards would be modeled after the “Pavley” law in California, said the report.

Upon meeting the President, Pavley said, "I always think of myself as a teacher, and President Obama looked at me and must have wondered why he didn’t know me; fortunately, Lisa Jackson, Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, filled him in. He is a very personable man and he was about 20 feet away from me surrounded by car executives when he announced that the CA emission’s standards would become the national standard and I was very fortunate to be there," according to the Messenger.

Sen. Pavley and her husband, Andy, were both public school teachers and they believe that improving California’s schools, colleges and universities is an investment in our state’s economy, she told the Messenger. The couple have lived in Agoura Hills for 35 years where they raised their two children.

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