Josh Lowenthal | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2022 | |
| Speaker pro tempore of theCalifornia State Assembly | |
| Assumed office December 2, 2024 | |
| Preceded by | Jim Wood |
| Member of theCalifornia State Assembly from the69th district | |
| Assumed office December 5, 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Tom Daly |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Joshua Alder Lowenthal (1970-02-15)February 15, 1970 (age 56) Long Beach, California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Erika Lowenthal |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Alan Lowenthal (father) Bonnie Lowenthal (mother) |
| Education | Cornell University (BA) University of California, San Diego (MA) |
Joshua Alder Lowenthal (born February 15, 1970)[1] is an American business executive and politician from California serving as a member of theCalifornia State Assembly, representing the69th district, based inLong Beach andSignal Hill. The son of politiciansBonnie andAlan Lowenthal, he was first elected in 2022 after a failed run for the State Assembly in 2018.
Lowenthal was born on February 15, 1970, inLong Beach, California, toAlan Lowenthal andBonnie Lowenthal, and is Jewish.[2] He attendedCornell University, where he became the student body president, and later attended theUniversity of California, San Diego. Before becoming a politician like his parents, he worked as a teacher and as a businessman who owned restaurants and a conference calling company. Prior to running for State Assembly, Lowenthal did community work, considering a run for a school board.[3]
In 2018, Lowenthal ran for theCalifornia State Assembly as the sole Democratic candidate for the72nd district. The seat became open when the incumbent Assemblymember,Travis Allen opted torun for governor in lieu of reelection.[4][5] Lowenthal faced RepublicanTyler Diep in the general election. Diep was accused of using anti-Semitic imagery against Lowenthal during the campaign. Diep's campaign denied allegations of manipulating images to depict Lowenthal as stereotypically Jewish, but Diep later apologized about the mailers.[2][6] Lowenthal lost to Diep by 8 points.[7]
He ran for State Assembly again in 2022 in the newly-redrawn69th district after incumbentPatrick O'Donnell announced his retirement.[8] Lowenthal placed first and faced off against Long Beach councilman Al Austin, and defeated Austin in the general election.[9][10]
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal | 34,462 | 36.8 | |
| Republican | Tyler Diep | 27,825 | 29.7 | |
| Republican | Greg Haskin | 19,199 | 20.5 | |
| Republican | Long Pham | 7,692 | 8.2 | |
| Republican | Richard Laird | 4,555 | 5.0 | |
| Total votes | 93,733 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Republican | Tyler Diep | 83,221 | 51.6 | |
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal | 78,080 | 48.4 | |
| Total votes | 161,301 | 100.0 | ||
| Republicanhold | ||||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal | 30,919 | 45.6 | |
| Democratic | Al Austin II | 17,985 | 26.5 | |
| Democratic | Janet Denise Foster | 12,790 | 18.9 | |
| Democratic | Merry Taheri | 6,052 | 8.9 | |
| Total votes | 67,746 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal | 62,582 | 58.9 | |
| Democratic | Al Austin II | 43,686 | 41.1 | |
| Total votes | 106,268 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| Primary election | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal (incumbent) | 54,782 | 68.0 | |
| Republican | Joshua Rodriguez | 25,755 | 32.0 | |
| Total votes | 80,537 | 100.0 | ||
| General election | ||||
| Democratic | Josh Lowenthal (incumbent) | 120,340 | 68.4 | |
| Republican | Joshua Rodriguez | 55,595 | 31.6 | |
| Total votes | 175,935 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratichold | ||||
| California Assembly | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Speaker pro tempore of theCalifornia Assembly 2024–present | Incumbent |
