Meet Third District County Supervisor Candidate
and Former Mayor Dr. Justin Cummings

Prior to becoming the Third District Supervisor, Justin Cummings served a four year term on the Santa Cruz City Council, with two years as a Council member, a year as Vice Mayor, and a year as Mayor in 2020 during which the community had to respond to COVID-19, social unrest after the murder of George Floyd, and the CZU fires.

 

In his professional career, Justin was the Co-Founder and Associate Director of the UCSC CITRIS Initiative for Drone Education and Research, an on-call Project Scientist and Drone Pilot with Integral Consulting Inc, the Founding Program Director of the UCSC Doris Duke Conservation Scholars Program, and a two year Post Doctoral Researcher at Florida International University where he studied the impacts of climate change on the Everglades.  

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Justin earned a Ph.D. from the department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology with a designated emphasis in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz.   He also holds a BA in Spanish,  in which he is fluent, and a BS in Biology from Eastern Illinois University.

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After being one of the highest signature gatherers to place rent control on the ballot in 2018, Justin decided to run for Santa Cruz City Council and in 2018 received the highest number of votes, launching his career into local politics and making him one of two black men elected for the first time to the Santa Cruz City Council that year and the first black man to serve as Mayor in 2020. 

 

After serving four years on the City Council, Justin decided to run for Third District County Supervisor and in 2022 became the first African American to ever be elected to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors.   

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As Third District County Supervisor, Justin has prioritized many issues including: 

• Environmental protection and carbon emission reduction 

• Creating and supporting effective programs and services that promote public health, justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion

• Sustainable land use planning and affordable housing production

• Sustainable Transportation

• Resisting efforts by the federal administration attacking immigrants, people of color, the poor, and members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

• Strengthen disaster preparedness, resiliency, and recovery from Climate Change impacts

• Promoting programs that serve women, children, and families

• And much more…

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In addition to serving as Third District Supervisor, Justin also served as the Central Coast Elected Representative on the California Coastal Commission beginning in April of 2023, and served as Chair of the Commission from January 2025 until his term ended in May of 2025.