Josh Lowenthal was born in Long Beach and now represents the 69th District, based in Long Beach and Signal Hill. Before seeking a seat in the California State Assembly, he worked as a teacher, owned restaurants and a conference calling company, did community work and considered running for a school board. He is also the son of two politicians, Alan Lowenthal and Bonnie Lowenthal. His 2018 Assembly campaign ended in defeat; his 2022 run, four years later and in a newly drawn district, put him in office. Lowenthal is a businessman and second-generation politician whose route to the Assembly included both private enterprise and a loss at the polls.
ROOTS
Joshua Alder Lowenthal was born in Long Beach on February 15, 1970. He is Jewish. He attended Cornell University, where he served as student body president, and later attended the University of California, San Diego.
Both Alan and Bonnie Lowenthal were politicians. Josh Lowenthal worked as a teacher and businessman before becoming a politician like his parents. He also did community work.
Before becoming an Assembly candidate, he had worked as a teacher and businessman and done community work while considering a school-board run. His successful 2022 Assembly campaign followed his failed run for the same body in 2018.
THE JOB BEFORE THE JOB
Lowenthal worked as a teacher and business owner before entering politics. His businesses included restaurants and a conference calling company, giving him experience in two different kinds of enterprise: one rooted in physical establishments, the other in communications.
He also engaged in community work and considered running for a school board before running for the California State Assembly in 2018.
His pre-Assembly record included work as a teacher and businessman, community work and campaigns for the Assembly in 2018 and 2022.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Lowenthal first ran for the Assembly in 2018, when the 72nd District seat opened after incumbent Assemblymember Travis Allen chose to run for governor. Lowenthal was the sole Democratic candidate and faced Republican Tyler Diep in the general election.
The campaign included accusations that Diep had used anti-Semitic imagery against Lowenthal. Diep’s campaign denied manipulating images to depict Lowenthal as stereotypically Jewish. Diep later apologized about the campaign mailers. Lowenthal lost the election by 8 points.
Four years later, he tried again under different district lines. In 2022, incumbent Patrick O’Donnell announced his retirement, and Lowenthal ran in the newly redrawn 69th District. Lowenthal placed first and faced Long Beach Councilman Al Austin. He defeated Austin in the general election.
In 2018, Lowenthal lost the contest for a seat opened by Allen’s gubernatorial run. In 2022, he won following O’Donnell’s retirement, defeating a Long Beach councilman.
WHAT TO KNOW
Lowenthal’s documented record describes his path to office but does not identify a policy signature. It contains no legislation, committee assignments, appointments, budget votes or stated policy agenda from which to name the issue for which he is most known in office. Nor does it establish a particular labor, business, neighborhood or advocacy constituency as the principal beneficiary of his Assembly work.
The available particulars are narrower: teaching, ownership of restaurants and a conference calling company, community work, consideration of a school-board race and two campaigns for the Legislature. Those particulars describe his work and activity before office, but they do not support a claim that he has made any one of them his governing priority.
The defensible bottom line is therefore electoral rather than legislative: he returned after losing in 2018 and won the 69th District in 2022. The documented particulars do not establish whose interests he has served through his work in the Assembly.
- State Assembly · Assembly District 69 · 2022–present
Josh Lowenthal was born in Long Beach and now represents the 69th District, based in Long Beach and Signal Hill. Before seeking a seat in the California State Assembly, he worked as a teacher, owned restaurants and a conference calling company, did community work and considered running for a school board. He is also the son of two politicians, Alan Lowenthal and Bonnie Lowenthal. His 2018 Assembly campaign ended in defeat; his 2022 run, four years later and in a newly drawn district, put him in office. Lowenthal is a businessman and second-generation politician whose route to the Assembly included both private enterprise and a loss at the polls.
ROOTS
Joshua Alder Lowenthal was born in Long Beach on February 15, 1970. He is Jewish. He attended Cornell University, where he served as student body president, and later attended the University of California, San Diego.
Both Alan and Bonnie Lowenthal were politicians. Josh Lowenthal worked as a teacher and businessman before becoming a politician like his parents. He also did community work.
Before becoming an Assembly candidate, he had worked as a teacher and businessman and done community work while considering a school-board run. His successful 2022 Assembly campaign followed his failed run for the same body in 2018.
THE JOB BEFORE THE JOB
Lowenthal worked as a teacher and business owner before entering politics. His businesses included restaurants and a conference calling company, giving him experience in two different kinds of enterprise: one rooted in physical establishments, the other in communications.
He also engaged in community work and considered running for a school board before running for the California State Assembly in 2018.
His pre-Assembly record included work as a teacher and businessman, community work and campaigns for the Assembly in 2018 and 2022.
THE PATH TO OFFICE
Lowenthal first ran for the Assembly in 2018, when the 72nd District seat opened after incumbent Assemblymember Travis Allen chose to run for governor. Lowenthal was the sole Democratic candidate and faced Republican Tyler Diep in the general election.
The campaign included accusations that Diep had used anti-Semitic imagery against Lowenthal. Diep’s campaign denied manipulating images to depict Lowenthal as stereotypically Jewish. Diep later apologized about the campaign mailers. Lowenthal lost the election by 8 points.
Four years later, he tried again under different district lines. In 2022, incumbent Patrick O’Donnell announced his retirement, and Lowenthal ran in the newly redrawn 69th District. Lowenthal placed first and faced Long Beach Councilman Al Austin. He defeated Austin in the general election.
In 2018, Lowenthal lost the contest for a seat opened by Allen’s gubernatorial run. In 2022, he won following O’Donnell’s retirement, defeating a Long Beach councilman.
WHAT TO KNOW
Lowenthal’s documented record describes his path to office but does not identify a policy signature. It contains no legislation, committee assignments, appointments, budget votes or stated policy agenda from which to name the issue for which he is most known in office. Nor does it establish a particular labor, business, neighborhood or advocacy constituency as the principal beneficiary of his Assembly work.
The available particulars are narrower: teaching, ownership of restaurants and a conference calling company, community work, consideration of a school-board race and two campaigns for the Legislature. Those particulars describe his work and activity before office, but they do not support a claim that he has made any one of them his governing priority.
The defensible bottom line is therefore electoral rather than legislative: he returned after losing in 2018 and won the 69th District in 2022. The documented particulars do not establish whose interests he has served through his work in the Assembly.
The record
396 events, each with its sourceRelative to National 4-H Week.
Relative to Home Hardening Week.
Relative to California’s First-Generation College Celebration Month.
Relative to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Awareness Month.
Relative to Student Cancer Education, Detection, and Prevention Week.
Relative to Young Women’s Reproductive Health Awareness Month.
Relative to Transgender History Month.
Relative to Sarcoma Awareness Month.
Relative to Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase Deficiency Awareness Day.
Relative to racial discrimination.
Relative to Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.
California Firefighter Appreciation Month and California Firefighters Memorial Day.
Relative to Chicano Heritage Month.
Relative to Probation Services Week.
Relative to the FIFA World Cup.
Relative to California Wildflower Week.
Social Media Harms Victim Remembrance Day.
Relative to International Referees’ Day.
Relative to California Craft Beer Week.
Relative to Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act of 1996.
Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Awareness Month.
Electronic Dance Music Month.
Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
Relative to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ+) Pride Month.
Behavioral Health Awareness Month.
The Province of Gauteng in South Africa: sister state relationship.
Relative to focal segmental glomerulosclerosis.
California Native American Day and the California Indian Cultural Awareness Conference.
Elder and Dependent Adult Abuse Awareness Month.
Congenital Cytomegalovirus Awareness Month.
Restoration of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Relative to Black Music Month.
Relative to International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Interphobia, and Transphobia.
Maternal Mental Health Awareness Month.
International Year of the Woman Farmer.
Italian American Heritage Month.
Jewish American Heritage Month.
California Small Business Month.
National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
California Day of the Teacher.