Jesse Gabriel

Jesse Gabriel
Member of the California Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office June 11, 2018
Preceded by	Matt Dababneh
Constituency	45th district (2018–2022) 46th district (2022–present)
Personal details
Born	Jesse Samuel Gabriel (1981-09-25) September 25, 1981 (age 43) Berkeley, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse	Rachel Rosner
Children	3
Residence(s)	Encino, Los Angeles, California
Education	University of California, Berkeley (BA) Harvard University (JD)
Occupation	Politician

Jesse Samuel Gabriel (born September 25, 1981) is an American constitutional rights attorney and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, Gabriel represents California's 46th State Assembly district, which includes much of the west San Fernando Valley, in the California State Assembly.^[1]

Gabriel currently serves as Chair of the powerful Assembly Budget Committee^[2] as well as Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus^[3] During his time in the legislature, he has authored more than 40 new laws and has been recognized as a “California Influencer” by The Sacramento Bee.^[4]

Gabriel was born in Berkeley, California, and raised in Oak Park, California.^[5] In 2004, he graduated summa cum laude from the University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in political science. At Berkeley, Gabriel served as student government president in the Associated Students of the University of California during the 2002–03 academic year.^[6] He earned his Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where he graduated with honors and received the Dean's Award for Community Leadership from then Dean and now U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Elena Kagan.^[7] 

From 2008 to 2010, he served as counsel to Evan Bayh while Bayh was serving as a member of the United States Senate.

Before being elected to the California State Assembly, Gabriel worked as a constitutional rights and general litigation attorney for Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles, where he was a part of the firm's litigation and public policy groups. Gabriel's most notable cases included representing victims of domestic abuse, Holocaust survivors, and groups facing hate-motivated violence. In 2017, he filed two lawsuits against the Trump Administration on behalf of young illegal immigrants, also known as Dreamers, who were protected by the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.^[8] He received the California Lawyer Attorney of the Year award from The Daily Journal in 2018.^[9]

Prior to his election in 2018, Gabriel served as a board member of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles and the League of Conservation Voters. He also was appointed by LA County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky to the Los Angeles County Commission on Local Governmental Services.^[10]

Following Matt Dababneh's resignation from the California State Assembly after numerous charges of sexual harassment, effective December 31, 2017, Gabriel announced his candidacy in a special election to replace him in California's 45th State Assembly district.^[5] Gabriel won the special election on June 5, 2018, earning 65.7 percent of the vote. He was sworn into office on June 11. He won reelection to his first full term in the November 2018 General Election against Justin Clark, winning with 70.3 percent of the vote.

Shortly after assuming office, Gabriel was appointed to the State Assembly Leadership as Assistant Majority Whip under Majority Whip Todd Gloria. He also was elected by his colleagues as Vice Chair of the California Legislative Jewish Caucus under Chair Ben Allen.

During his first full term in the State Assembly, Gabriel authored nine bills that were signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom, including legislation to expand legal services for low-income Californians in civil cases and to establish a Nonprofit Security Grant Program to improve the physical security of nonprofit organizations that are at high risk of violent attacks or hate crimes.^[11][12]

In 2019, Gabriel co-founded a legislative working group that hosted former Congresswoman and gun control advocate Gabrielle Giffords, the Brady Campaign, and Moms Demand Action with the purpose of discussing gun control in California and enacting more than a dozen new gun safety measures.^[13]

In 2023, Gabriel authored the California Food Safety Act, a bipartisan measure to ban red dye no. 3, potassium bromate, brominated vegetable oil, and propylparaben from foods sold in California.^[14] The bill received significant national and international press coverage ^[15] and was described as a “truly historic win for consumers”.^[16] The bill passed the Legislature on a bipartisan vote in both houses and was signed into law by Governor Newsom on October 7, 2023.^[17]

In 2023, Gabriel authored the Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, a first-in-the-nation measure which taxes gun industry profits to fund gun violence prevention and school safety in communities across California.^[18] This legislation was supported by a coalition of more than 100 gun safety groups but was strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association (NRA) and the California Rifle & Pistol Association.^[19] Governor Newsom signed the bill into law on September 26, 2023.^[20]

Gabriel was a principal co-author of the constitutional amendment to protect reproductive freedom in the California Constitution.^[21] He also co-authored the constitutional amendment to protect marriage equality in the California Constitution.^[22]

Gabriel lives in Encino with his wife Rachel Rosner, an affordable housing attorney, and their three sons.^[7]

• Profile at Vote Smart