Jacqui Irwin

Jacqui Irwin (born January 3, 1962) is an American politician currently serving in the California State Assembly. She is a Democrat representing the 42nd Assembly District, having previously represented the 44th. Before being elected to the Assembly in 2014, Irwin worked as a systems engineer at Johns Hopkins University and Teledyne, then served as a two-term mayor and three-term city councilmember in Thousand Oaks.

Irwin was born in the Tarzana neighborhood of Los Angeles to Dutch immigrants John and Barbara Van Egmond, and grew up in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. She graduated with a systems engineering degree from the University of California, San Diego, where she was an Academic All American swimmer.

After graduating from UC San Diego, Irwin worked as an engineer for three years at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab, then for five years at Teledyne. In 2003, Irwin was appointed to the Thousand Oaks Planning Commission, ran for City Council the following year, and became mayor of Thousand Oaks in 2008.

In 2014, Irwin successfully ran as a Democrat in the race to represent California's 44th State Assembly district, defeating Republican opponent Rob McCoy. Irwin has been reelected four times in 2016, 2018, 2020, and most recently 2022 in the new California's 42nd State Assembly district after redistricting occurred.

Irwin is the chair of the Assembly Committee on Revenue and Taxation, and the Assembly Select Committee on Cybersecurity, and the Assembly Select Committee on Gasoline Supply and Pricing. She also serves on the Committees on Agriculture, Business & Professions, Higher Education, and Privacy and Consumer Protection. She previously served as chair of the Assembly Committee on Military and Veterans Affairs from 2014-2021.

Irwin has also been appointed to other significant roles including the Governor's Military Council, and as co-chair of the National Conference of State Legislature’s Task Force on Cybersecurity.

During her first term in office, Irwin passed significant legislation. Irwin improved the cybersecurity of the state by mandating state agencies undergo independent security assessments, she banned powdered alcohol, expanded the ability of University of California research to be turned into real-world applications, and worked with Attorney General Kamala Harris to create the OpenJustice Web portal to provide better access to criminal justice data.

During her second term in office, Irwin helped secure critical funding for infrastructure projects in Ventura County, including $68.6 million for a grade separation project at Rice Avenue in Oxnard, California, and $9.5 million for emergency wastewater treatment facility repairs in Oxnard, California.