California is one of our top incumbent protection states in 2026.
Shirley N. Weber, PhD
Dr. Shirley N. Weber serves as California’s Secretary of State and has spent her career championing civil rights and protecting the right to vote. In the face of ongoing partisan attacks on our democracy, Dr. Weber remains a steadfast leader committed to safeguarding and expanding voting access for all Californians.
Dr. Shirley Weber was born in rural Hope, Arkansas, where her father worked as a sharecropper. When she was just three years old, her family fled to California after her father stood his ground in a conflict with a white landowner – a decision that led to threats from a lynch mob. The Webers resettled in the Pueblo Del Rio housing community in South Los Angeles, where Dr. Weber was raised.