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Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Teri Holoman

Teri Holoman. Illustration by Chris Shary

26. Teri Holoman

If we had to rank California interest groups in terms of their political influence at the California Capitol, the California Teachers Association would be at or near the top of the pyramid. In Sacramento, CTA’s ground commander is Teri Holoman, associate director for government relations, which means she coordinates the 310,000-member CTA’s aggressive lobbying presence. Capitol buzz suggests that CTA’s clout has diminished in recent years, but there’s little evidence. Few doubt that CTA has faced severe challenges in recent years: The pandemic, SCOTUS’ Janus ruling limiting public unions’ fee collections and the 2019 departure of the 19,000-member California Faculty Association were clearly blows. But those wounds have apparently healed, as shown in the 2022 election cycle, when 38 of 40 CTA-backed candidates made it through the primaries and won heavily in November. Holoman, formerly Jerry Brown’s appointments secretary, is an ally of Gavin Newsom. She was a district director in the office of Assemblymember Karen Bass and a campaign political director of the state Democratic Party in 2004. Full disclosure: Holoman serves on the board of Open California, the publisher of Capitol Weekly.

Updated Aug. 15, 2023

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