Bisexual Corte Madera Town Councilmember Eli Beckman is aiming to be elected the first out state legislator from the North Bay. He is seeking the open Assembly District 12 seat straddling Marin and Sonoma counties in 2026.
Beckman, 32, jumped into the race Friday, one day after the incumbent, Assemblymember Damon Connolly (D-San Rafael), announced he would seek the open Senate District 2 seat on next year’s ballot. Senate President pro Tempore Mike McGuire (D-North Coast) is termed out next year, with the contests for the open legislative seats both expected to draw large fields of contenders on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot.
The same issues Beckman has tackled on his town council, from climate change and disaster preparedness to housing and water policy, are also regional and statewide issues that he wants to address in Sacramento, he told the Bay Area Reporter during a phone interview in mid-March as he was preparing to officially launch his Assembly campaign.
“I am proud of my track record and what we have accomplished here in Corte Madera. But there is more work to do, and it is important for folks to step up and really lead on these issues,” said Beckman, who owns his own architecture firm called HAUS+ that specializes in additional dwelling units. “I think about what type of people need to be stepping up and leading on these issues, and they are local elected officials.”
As a local leader, he would bring to Sacramento first-hand experience of how decisions made by the Legislature impact cities across the state. In particular, Beckman said too many bills enacted by state lawmakers create unfunded mandates for local governments.
“We are the ones on the frontlines in the trenches scrambling with staff to figure out how to fund all these unfunded bills coming from Sacramento,” said Beckman, arguing that effective legislators “must know” how their decisions are affecting people in their day-to-day lives. “We have not seen enough of that in Sacramento.”
The first LGBTQ person to serve on his hometown’s council, as well as its ceremonial mayor for two terms, Beckman first won election in 2018 and secured a second four-year term in 2022, both times garnering record vote counts for his town. If he is elected to the Assembly then Beckman would be the first out resident of either Marin or Sonoma counties to serve in the Legislature.
There have been out lawmakers whose districts included a portion of the North Bay but didn’t live there. Such is the case with current gay state Senator Christopher Cabaldon (D-West Sacramento), whose 3rd Senate District includes Yolo County where he resides plus portions of Solano, Sonoma, Napa, Contra Costa, and Sacramento counties.
Gay former Senator Mark Leno and his predecessor, lesbian Senator Carole Migden, both San Francisco Democrats, represented Senate districts that included all of Marin County and part of southern Sonoma County in addition to all of the city and county of San Francisco. Due to redistricting, the Senate seat held by McGuire ends at the northern approach to the Golden Gate Bridge across from San Francisco.
“In the Assembly, we have not had anybody openly out representing us,” said Beckman, who is recently single and has a twin brother.
In addition to San Rafael Mayor Kate Colin and Santa Rosa Vice Mayor Eddie Alvarez, Leno also early endorsed Beckman April 4.
“As a former state senator who represented the North Bay in Sacramento, I’m proud to support Eli Beckman for State Assembly. He deeply understands our communities and our needs, and will always fight for us,” stated Leno.
Time for change
It is time for that to change, argued Beckman, especially in light of the current political climate where LGBTQ rights are under attack at all levels of government, from conservative politicians here in the Golden State to Washington, D.C.
“One thing I am reminding folks in our community is we are under attack, the likes of which we have not seen in decades,” said Beckman. “It is more critical than ever that we expand our representation in Sacramento and our resistance to what is coming out of Washington, D.C.”
Beckman is the first LGBTQ non-incumbent in the Bay Area to formally launch a 2026 legislative campaign. As the Political Notebook reported in February, the list of out contenders across the state is likely to grow as it gets closer to the March 6 deadline next year for candidates to file ahead of the primary election.
Under the state's open primary system, the top two candidates regardless of party affiliation will advance out of next spring's contests to the fall ballot. At least 15 out candidates have already pulled papers to seek either an Assembly or Senate seat next year.
On April 2, the Legislative LGBTQ Caucus early endorsed four of the declared candidates, all Democrats. It is once again backing Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes, who is queer and bisexual, in her rematch against Assemblymember Leticia Castillo (R-Corona). Cervantes, the younger sister of lesbian state Senator Sabrina Cervantes (D-Riverside), narrowly lost to Castillo last year in their contest for her sibling’s former 58th Assembly District seat.
The caucus also is backing bisexual San Diego City Councilmember Marnie von Wilpert’s bid for the open Senate District 40 seat and gay West Basin Municipal Water District board member Scott Houston’s candidacy for the open Assembly District 66 seat. In the Central Valley, it’s supporting gay Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea’s bid for the open Assembly District 31 seat.
There are now 15 out of California's 120 state legislators hailing from the LGBTQ community, with all but one a member of the LGBTQ caucus. Gay Republican Assemblymember Carl DeMaio (D-San Diego) isn’t part of the affinity group.
The Statehouse is now at 12% out representation but continues to lack a transgender state lawmaker. Of the 15 out legislators, 10 will be up for reelection in 2026, including the current lone bisexual man in the LGBTQ caucus, Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-San Jose).
Beckman is hopeful of earning endorsements of his candidacy from various LGBTQ political groups and leaders in addition to others. He already has been lining up support from North Bay leaders and expects to quickly have a campaign war chest of six-figures.
“My strategy is to announce with a strong show of early viability. Once I do that, I hope some of the LGBTQ organizations will come around and say they understand I am the only LGBTQ person running for the seat and will get involved a little earlier,” said Beckman.
He recently ended a four and half year relationship with a man and, due to campaigning for the legislative seat, told the B.A.R. he doubts he will have time to date at the moment. At age 22, Beckman had come out to his Jewish family, who have been supportive of him ever since. Both his parents are psychologists who live in Corte Madera while his sibling, who is straight, now lives in New York. His mother’s brother is gay and has served as a role model for Beckman.
“When I came out to my family, it went well. I have a loving and supportive family,” said Beckman, adding that his parents gave him the tools needed “to navigate life and understand myself and what I am feeling and why. They are tools a lot of people don’t have. It helps me connect with people and helps ground me.”
In 2021, during his mayoralty, Beckman worked to raise the Pride flag for the first time at his City Hall. Reaction to the town council doing so made Beckman aware how even something seemingly unsurprising for a liberal city to do can have an outsize impact.
During public comment on the matter at the council’s meeting, recalled Beckman, “a young person who lived in Corte Madera said they had never felt fully safe or at home in Corte Madera and didn’t know if they would be welcome because of their sexual orientation. Flying the Pride flag felt like an affirmation to them.”
It was a reminder, noted Beckman, that what may feel symbolic to some can have “substantive impacts” for others.
“I can’t tell you how moving that was for me,” said Beckman, who told the B.A.R., “it reminded me these things matter to people in how it makes them feel safe and welcome.”
He hopes his serving as a state legislator can send a similar message, especially as on out bisexual individual who at times has felt the need to be closeted in certain situations.
“At the worst, I feel not straight enough for straight spaces or not gay enough for gay spaces,” said Beckman. “When I would meet someone new, I made it a practice of dropping mention of my partner and referring to him as him because it was important to see how people reacted. You get a sense of where their values are. We, as LGBTQ people, know we have to know who you are dealing with in order to be safe.”
At the same time, Beckman said he wants to be modeling to other people what it looks like for LGBTQ people to be comfortable “in their own skin,” especially for young people who are queer.
“They deserve to feel welcome and comfortable anywhere they choose to show up,” Beckman said.
He doesn’t expect his sexual orientation to be much of an issue in the race. Beckman does expect to be the only LGBTQ person running in it.
“Knowing my own politics, I am guessing people who have a problem with my sexuality wouldn’t have voted for me anyways,” said Beckman. “With that said, I do always have one eye open. I want to understand where people are at and how they understand these issues.”
A Substack posted in early March that appears to have since been deleted had accused Beckman of trashing Sara Aminzadeh, who lost to Connolly in 2022, in his private talks with potential donors and endorsers for his Assembly bid. The dispatch under the name of North Bay Insiders said that Aminzadeh, now an elected school board member in Kentfield, had decided not to run again for the legislative seat.
Beckman told the B.A.R. the “nasty hit piece” against him was “totally misleading and totally baseless. I am hoping that will be the exception, not the rule for this race.”
With his opponents likely to be people he considers friends and colleagues whom he “respects deeply,” Beckman said he intends to run a positive campaign.
“I have never seen anything like this before in my career so far in public service,” he told the B.A.R. “We do things differently in Corte Madera. We don’t subscribe to nasty attacks, so it was shocking and disappointing for me to see this.”
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