Exclusive Interview; Lori Mills for State Assembly, District 42

By Kevin Harris

Republican Lori Mills has announced her candidacy for California State Assembly, representing District 42. The 42nd Assembly District lies within the Counties of Los Angeles and Ventura. It includes the Cities of Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Camarillo, Hidden Hills, Malibu, Moorpark, Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, and Westlake Village, and the unincorporated communities of Bel Air, Beverly Crest, Beverly Glen, Brentwood, Casa Conejo, Oak Park, Newbury Park, Pacific Palisades, Santa Rosa Valley, Santa Suzanna Knolls, Sinaloa Lakes, Tierra Rejada Valley, and Topanga.

Mills is a Southern California native and a successful business woman who works at a Fortune 500 company. She decided to use the best of her business experience to serve her district when she became concerned about Sacramento politicians and their policies’ impacts on her community. One interesting side note is that her campaign manager is former State Senator Tony Strickland. Following is an exclusive interview Citizens Journal Reporter Kevin Harris conducted with Lori Mills on May 13, 2022. Though it was edited for content and space restrictions, every attempt was made to include all pertinent and interesting responses. 

(CJ) You were born in Santa Monica. Does being a California native play into your decision to run for State Assembly at this time?

(Mills) Absolutely. Our state isn’t what it used to be, and we’re going in the wrong direction. Our children, the water crisis, the war on energy… we need serious change in California. 

(CJ) Can you describe some of the challenges of being a prominent conservative in Southern California, and has that always been your political outlook? 

(Mills) I’ve always been a Republican. My dad was a Republican, my grandfather was a Republican. It was kind of one of those family things. But (before 2010) I was an ill-informed voter. I would just vote to vote, without really knowing what the issues or policies were. 

(CJ) You have a well thought out “6-Point-Plan” for California, which includes everything from a “Parents Bill of Rights” to “Ending Government Overreach” to “Dealing with Homelessness,” among others. As you work to promote it, will you treat the plan as an “all or nothing,” or will you be willing to move ahead in pieces if that’s how the political winds blow? 

(Mills) Well right now we need the Assembly to stop the Super Majority. I believe that our country was created with checks and balances, and California has lost that. If we get the 8 seats we can get a lot done, and if we continue to have a Super Majority in California we’re going to see this bad policy that actually hurts Californians continue moving forward, which is why we’re losing five businesses every week in this state. 

My goal is to do all of these things (6-Point-Plan). I can’t promise I’m going to win every battle, but I can promise I’ll never quit. 

(CJ) One of the positions you favor is to resume energy production in the state. In your opinion, is fracking safe to do on or near fault lines and around natural groundwater locations? How do you feel about offshore or near shore oil drilling?

(Mills) As far as doing it by earthquake fault lines, I would have to do a little more research on that. But as far as fracking, I think that we need natural gas. As far as drilling I believe that this war on energy needs to end. We produce the cleanest energy in the world, and right now we’re dependent on our enemies. 

Petroleum is in everything. It’s in the wires that you have to hook up your computer; it’s in the makeup that I wear; it’s in the tires that you drive on… you can not just eliminate fossil fuels. Also, I have solar on my house, and I just received a $4 thousand bill. Explain that. (During our post interview discussion, Mills said she is a big proponent of desalinization to help with the state’s water crisis and that the state has to resume controlled burns to reduce the threat of massive wildfires).  

(CJ) Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to tell District 42 voters about your candidacy as June 7 approaches?

(Mills) We’re the highest taxed state in the country and it’s time to cut the cost of living for our families. I can tell you Jacqui Irwin voted “no” to suspend the gas tax. In my opinion we need to eliminate the gas tax. I’d like to audit the state – I’d like to see where our money is going. 

As of yesterday they put through a bill in the senate to vaccinate our kids without our consent. I think children belong to the parents and not the state. As far as the homeless situation, I have a lot of ideas but the State Legislature has been the problem. We need change in California. We need common sense again.     

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Details of Lori Mills’ “6-Point-Plan” along with the rest of her campaign information is available online at https://lorimills4stateassembly.com.

The California State Primary Election takes place on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. 

Kevin Harris is a reporter, editor and journalist, previous President of Cal State Northridge’s Society of Professional Journalists, and having worked for the LA Times and Newhall Signal. He is now also an author and videographer, and lives with his two children in Thousand Oaks. 

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