I’m coming out: I’m Team Toni

By Eddie Reynoso | Publisher

Earlier this month, California Senate President Pro Tem Toni G. Atkins announced her 2026 bid to serve as Governor of California.

As publisher of this paper, but also as someone who has had to work multiple jobs at once to survive since the age of 16, I am proud to endorse Toni.

Toni Atkins helps serve Thanksgiving meals at the annual Scott Carlson & Dan Ferbal dinner . *(Courtesy Eddie Reynoso)*

Toni is one of us; the working class. If elected, she will be the first woman to serve as governor of California. And she just so happens to be lesbian.

She has experienced our challenges, and she knows what making a dollar means. She is not afraid to speak about her upbringing, her free school lunches, and the donations of clothes that her family accepted. She understands the struggles that more and more Californians are facing each and every single day. It makes her human. It makes her accessible. And that makes her relatable to a lot of us.

Time, after time, after time again, Toni Atkins has shown up for our people. She has been there for those who struggle to make ends meet, for those whose reproductive rights are challenged, for those with “less than” … Toni is there for us.

And she takes that fight everywhere she goes: from cleaning up our local beaches in San Diego; to the home of our civil rights movement at The Stonewall Inn; to the sidewalks of Hillcrest, where she got on her knees to clean the John Wear Hate Crime plaque; she has been there to remember those of us who have been beaten or killed for being perceived as less than.

Year after year, Toni has given her time to feed our community for Thanksgiving. She lends her support to the LGBT Victory Fund, ensuring other LGBTQ people like you and I are not just benefiting from the work she has done, but she is there to lift us up and provide us with our own platforms by encouraging other young LGBTQ leaders to get involved in local politics, to challenge themselves to grow and run for office.

(l to r) Richard Britton, Toni Atkins, Eddie Reynoso and Eric Hufford clean the John Wear Hate Crime plaque on University Avenue. *(Courtesy Eddie Reynoso)*

From the halls of our city hall where she helped pass San Diego’s first living wage law, to the halls of the state capitol leading both chambers, she is the most qualified person to lead the most populous state in the nation, and the world’s fourth largest economy.

She knows the policy work, and she knows the budget. As leader of both chambers, she is uniquely qualified for and knows how to reach across the aisle to get difficult and challenging things done.

As leader of the State Senate, Toni is the first person in 150 years — and the third in California state history to have served as both the Speaker of the Assembly and President pro Tem of the Senate. She is also the first woman and first openly gay person to ever hold those roles.

As Speaker of the Assembly, she became the first openly gay Governor of California, when she served as acting governor while then-Gov. Jerry Brown and then-Lt. Gov. Newsom were both out of the state. Most recently, this past July, when Gov. Gavin Newsom and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis were both out of state, she made history as the first LGBTQ person to sign bills into state law.

The election for 2026 may be two years away, but TEAM TONI begins today! Support Toni Atkins for Governor of the people, by the people, and for the people. Toni is one of us! Get to know her by visiting toniatkins.org.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article and hope you will also consider supporting our independent news organization. LGBTQ San Diego County News is one of California’s last LGBTQ print newspapers. But we are in danger of going out of print. During times of crisis, celebration, and mourning, crucial information about our community comes from local reporters and writers. LGBTQ San Diego County News needs your help and support in order to continue printing.

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-Eddie Reynoso, Publisher