If money decides the 27th Assembly District race, then incumbent Democrat Esmeralda Soria will dominate the Nov. 5 election after raising almost $1 million this year and holding $1.5 million cash. Her Republican opponent has raised less than $93,000, according to the California Secretary of State.
If the March primary result matters eight months later, the Republican Joanna García Rose will become the first Latina Republican elected to the Assembly from the San Joaquín Valley. García Rose squeezed past Soria in the primary with 50.9% of the votes to 49.1% — 29,457 to 28,402 — when more than 75% of eligible voters did not vote.
Opinion
Voters will write the final story in this district, which is 67% Latino and covers portions of Merced, Madera and Fresno counties. It includes the cities of Livingston, Atwater, Los Baños, Mendota and Coalinga and portions of the cities of Fresno, Madera and Merced.
Soria, 42, is a former member of the Fresno City Council and an adjunct professor at Fresno City College. García Rose, 39, is an accountant by profession and has experience as a farmer, contractor, tax auditor, and real estate broker. She finished fifth among six candidates in a 2014 race for the 16th Congressional District.
The salary for an Assembly member is $128,215.
The Bee/Sun-Star Editorial Boards did not make a recommendation in the primary, but did meet with the two candidates recently. There are differences between them on issues ranging from homelessness to gasoline prices to Proposition 36.
Proposition 36
The proposition — which seeks to battle retail theft by strengthening criminal penalties for repeat offenders of drug and theft crimes — changes certain parts of Proposition 47, a 2014 initiative that turned some non-violent felonies into misdemeanors.
“Communities are fed up and tired. I think we need to do something different,” said Soria, whose AB 1960 to put tougher penalties on retail theft crime was signed by the governor on Sept. 12. She withdrew her name on the bill when hostile amendments were added.
García Rose is a co-chair of Proposition 36, and has seen her husband’s retail business hit by people “who just come in and help themselves to whatever they want” because the consequences are almost nonexistent. She believes tackling crime at the root cause through intervention, and reducing the recidivism rate, will reduce the criminal footprint.
Homelessness solution
A state audit released in April showed that the state has spent $24 billion in five years to battle homelessness, but did not consistently track the outcome. The state’s homeless population is pegged at nearly 186,000.
García Rose believes greater accountability on the dollars spent on homelessness is necessary. If counties are not using the money “proactively, then we need to take a different approach,” she said. The homeless should accept help with mental health or drug treatment, or “suffer criminal consequences. We need to do that in a compassionate way.”
Soria said the solution is to transition the homeless out of temporary shelters and into permanent housing. “We’ve thrown a lot of money at this issue, but we need to have better accountability to ensure that we’re getting the best return on investment to make sure we have policies in place,” said Soria, who added that drug treatment and mental health services.
Democrats’ supermajority
Soria said being a Democrat helped in her first 150 days in office pass a bill to provide $150 million to save rural hospitals like Madera Community Hospital, which is scheduled to open before the end of the year after shutting its doors in January 2023.
She does not always agree with colleagues on her side of the aisle. “A lot of times some of my colleagues that are from the urban areas don’t understand the challenges that exist in our rural communities, or the challenges that come with being an agricultural economy,” said Soria.
García Rose said a super majority of one party “is terrible.” But, she identifies as a pragmatist who can work with everyone. “I’ve worked with countless Democrats. Good ideas can surpass politics, and people are starting to hold their politicians accountable.”
She said politics stops when a community suffers a natural disaster, but would like to see “a more balanced representation.”
Gasoline prices
García Rose opposes the governor’s special legislative session to deal with gasoline prices. “A capitalist system works best when you have free enterprise and free trade, where we have competition,” she said. “We need to continue to advocate for that.”
She said California needs to take advantage of its natural resources. “There are safe ways and sciences that can allow people to do things. We can frack. We don’t need to be burdening families with the ridiculous prices of gas,” said García Rose.
Soria said California families have seen costs for gasoline and groceries gone up, which harms mostly immigrant families in the Central Valley. “It is critical that we look at how we’re going to make life more affordable for those hard-working families, and that we don’t do anything policy-wise to increase the cost of gasoline or any other goods.”
Soria said she will fight against any policies in the special session that result in increased gas prices.
Housing
Soria said it is “very expensive” just to build affordable housing. “The best rent control is actually having the opportunity to own a home, something I saw early on when my parents were actually farmworkers and they were undocumented,” she said.
Her focus in the next legislative session will be on building rural housing, she said. “We need to figure out policies that are going to streamline the processes to build entry-level homes.”
García Rose, who started as a real estate agent in 2007, said she would employ the creative ideas she used during that recession to make things more affordable. The process for building a home, or a shed that cost her $750 to get through the approval process, needs to be streamlined, she said. “It takes years to go through the permitting processes, and then you have to jump through all these hoops on top of the inflated costs,” she said.
Other issues
Valley poverty : García Rose said the solution starts with education, and that the local workforce should be bolstered to help people have a “long-term, life-sustaining career. Soria said rural school districts should be assured of having facilities to improve education. The region should embrace ag innovation.
Climate change : Soria supports Proposition 4, a $10 billion bond that prioritizes lower-income communities and those most vulnerable to climate change. The environmental and climate projects include drinking water improvements. García Rose said that whether one calls it climate shift or global warming, “we go through cycles” of flooding, drought and heat in the state. She holds the government accountable for water shortages for farming.
Water : García Rose, who lost her farm 10 years ago, said water is a complex issue. She said bureaucrats should not be making decisions on saving fish or providing water to farmers. Soria said California’s water delivery system was built at a time when the state had half its current population. Additional investments in above-ground storage and recharging must be made, she said.
García Rose brings strengths as an auditor and would be well suited in some capacity to make sure the state’s funds are spent correctly. We encourage her to seek public office.
The Bee/Sun-Star Editorial Boards believe that Soria has served her district well in her first term and deserves a second term. In two years, she has directed state funding for affordable housing for college students, directed state dollars for a police station in Kerman, road repairs in Tranquillity, and a community center in Mendota.
That is the type of representation that benefits the 27th District.
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