Bill Hedrick

Bill Hedrick was the Democratic nominee in the 2008 congressional elections for the 44th Congressional District (map) of California. He is the Democratic nominee seeking to challenge incumbent Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.). He won primary elections which took place on June 3, 2008, but lost to Calvert in the November general election.

Positions, record and controversies
Iraq:

Hedrick favors ending the war by refusing to fund it and says he would vote to do so immediately: "The war is damaging to long term American interests, and has proven to be politically, militarily, financially, and morally ruinous... Our troops need to be withdrawn from this quagmire.... Our fighting men and women have performed admirably in a tremendously challenging environment... But, it is clear that this intervention has been directed by leaders more concerned about oil and profits than freedom and democracy... This ill-advised mission needs to end before more lives are lost and further damage to our national interest and prestige is incurred... Congress has the power to end this war by refusing to fund it. I will vote to do so immediately."

Trade/Commerce:

Trade policies must be adopted that safeguard the interests of working Americans. Current trade agreements, with completely ineffective environmental and labor requirements for foreign-based manufacturers, have placed American workers at a tremendous competitive disadvantage. The out-sourcing of America needs to stop, and fair markets established for the exchange of goods and services. Conservatives complain about "class war," yet seem to have no problem with the current war on the American middle class that their trade policies have incited.

Health Care:

The health care crisis must be resolved, and I will support plans to do so. It is morally unacceptable as well as financially irresponsible to ignore the human cost to families and fiscal consequences to taxpayers of the current broken system.

2008 campaign
Hedrick won primary elections which took place on June 3, 2008, but lost to Calvert in the November general election.

Controversies
When Hedrick was president of the Rialto Teacher's Union in 2005, he made a public statement noting that a teacher accused of sexual harassment. The teacher was cleared of all charges by the police and school system but later resigned, prompting Hedrick, in his capacity as union president, to note that the investigations had concluded and that the teacher was retiring of his own volition.

In 2007, a newly registered user on DailyKos posted a diary calling Hedrick's 2005 comments "controversial" and disparaging his candidacy. Two days later Hedrick and his Democratic primary opponent, Louis Vandenberg, issued a joint statement calling the diary "nonsense and baseless slander." The original diary poster showed up in comments but refused to identify him or herself. As of mid-January 2008, the original poster had not published any additional diaries.

Bio
A native of Los Angeles, Bill was born in 1952. The son of a Teamster and a teacher, both from the South, he absorbed the lessons of hard work, common sense, and tolerance modeled by his parents. After church, Sunday dinner table conversation always centered around current events, politics in general, and the Democratic Party. Through annual summer visits to east Texas, he learned first-hand the value of tradition, but also the human cost of segregation and poverty. The contrast between middle class Los Angeles and the deep poverty of the rural South left an indelible impression on him and a desire to change the world one student at a time. 

A product of public schools, Bill received his BA in Social Science and MA in Education from CSULA. He began teaching elementary school in Hollywood in 1974, and has spent 33 years in education in Southern California, the last eight years serving as president of the Rialto Education Association, an NEA/AFL-CIO affiliate. Bill’s particular area of expertise has been working with English language learners, and early in his career, he traveled to Mexico to learn Spanish to better communicate with his students and their parents. 

In November 1988, Bill was elected to the Board of Education of the 51,000 student Corona-Norco Unified School District. He has served four terms as president of the Board, representing 250,000 residents of the 44th district, and deals with an annual budget in excess of $400,000,000. 

Upon election he immediately set to work to expand choices for students and families. In doing so, he was instrumental in the adoption and/or expansion of AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination), IB (International Baccalaureate), Dual Immersion (English-Spanish), JROTC (Navy, Air Force), and a host of other options to provide support for students.

Student safety is foremost for Bill. In the wake of a tragic off-campus incident charged with racial overtones, he championed district efforts to develop a comprehension response, including tolerance education, enhanced safety measures, and a comprehensive district plan that values diversity.

Bill demanded an aggressive response from the District to news that toxic vapors were present at a district high school, most likely caused by a contaminated ground water plume. He doggedly pursued remediating despite strong opposition, a fight that continues to this day. He has also worked to create a “green” high school to be uniquely situated in a recovered quarry.

Bill and his wife of 27 years, Beth, have lived in Corona since 1981, and have five children. Their son Adam, a soldier with the 3rd ID, is currently serving a second Iraqi deployment east of Baghdad. Son Jesse served in Baquba with the 1st ID before suffering a near-fatal “heat event,” while his wife, Evelyn, is an army convoy driver in Baghdad, also serving a second tour. Sarah is an apprentice electrician, and Zach and Rebekkah are students.

2008 elections
Hedrick is the Democratic nominee seeking to challenge Rep. Ken Calvert (R-Calif.) in the 2008 congressional elections. He won primary elections which took place on June 3, 2008.

CA-44th Campaign Update
Our campaign manager, Ryan Sandoval, wanted to update folks on this blog as to where California’s 44th Congressional District race currently stands, what sort of support we have in the district, what our chances of winning are, what we’ve been doing to ensure victory, and what our opponent has been up to.

We encourage you to watch the video and then make up your own mind as to whether you think our race is winnable. If you agree with us that this is a completely winnable race (given the right support), we ask that you help us out by donating to the campaign or signing up as a volunteer to help in spreading the word about Bill.

This has always been a grassroots campaign so we’re doing what we’ve done all along - reaching out and asking that the grassroots activists out there step up and help the good guy win in November!

To learn more about our campaign, visit our website at www.hedrickforcongress.com

Thanks,

Lori Vandermeir

Communications Director

Hedrick for Congress

CA-44th Campaign Update

Committees
Hedrick will be assigned committees if and when he is elected to Congress.

Contact

 * Website: http://www.hedrickforcongress.com
 * E-mail: info AT hedrickforcongress.com
 * Address: PO Box 2855 Corona, CA 92878

Related SourceWatch articles

 * 2008 U.S. congressional elections
 * 2008 U.S. congressional election dates
 * Portal:California and the U.S. Congress

External resources

 * 2008 Race Tracker page on California’s 44th Congressional District
 * Official 2008 Campaign website
 * Corona-Norco Unified School District
 * Rialto Education Association
 * Zero Intelligence Blog
 * Youtube Video