By MIKE BIDDISON
Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria joined close to a hundred supporters at her Downtown Merced office last Saturday morning to kick off her campaign for re-election to the California State Assembly in this year’s General Election that culminates on Nov. 5.
“We’ve accomplished so much together for the valley,” Soria said, “from securing healthcare funding to investing in public safety and infrastructure, but there’s still more work to be done. I’m confident in our campaign, but this election will be won by the people on the ground, talking to voters and turning out their friends, neighbors, and families. We need everyone’s help to make sure we deliver for the valley again.”
Soria represents the far-reaching 27th District, one of 80 Assembly districts in the state. It stretches from Fresno County northward to the San Louis Rey reservoir, and west to the San Benito County line. The cities of Merced, Madera, Firebaugh, Coalinga, and parts of Fresno lie within. Nearly 200,00 voters reside in the three county district, the majority registered Democratic.
Soria, who first won the seat in November, 2022, after a stint on the Fresno City Council, is of humble roots. Her family are immigrant farmworkers, and Soria, a native Californian, was born and raised in Tulare County. After being awarded a law degree from U.C. Davis, she worked with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation, where she served as a Project Director focusing on affordable housing and safe drinking water for the Valley. She also served as President of the Fresno City Council in 2018.
In the 2020 primary she tried unsuccessfully to unseat Congressman Jim Costa in the 16th Congressional District, before gaining her seat in the State Assembly in ’22. Soria points to her many successes in bringing badly needed state funding to the valley.
“What I’m trying to do is make sure that our valley gets our fair share. In my first term, I brought over $300 million to this region—communities who have never seen a dollar from Sacramento.
“This year, even with a challenging budget, we were able to get a million dollars for Los Banos Colorado Ball Park. We got a half-million dollars for Madera Community Food Bank, because we know there’s a lot of families that are food insecure, and we want to make sure the Food Bank is equipped to serve the families that are in need.”
Soria’s opposition this time out is Atwater resident Joanna Garcia Rose, who bills herself as an auditor who will clean up waste, fraud and corruption in the state capital. Rose, who describes herself as Libertarian, is backed by Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, Republican Congressman John Duarte, and various Republican Party organizations.
Soria is endorsed by numerous individuals and organizations from Fresno to Sacramento, including the California Democratic Party, California Police Chiefs Association, Planned Parenthood, Fresno Democratic Women’s club, Merced Mayor Matt Serratto, State Senator Anna Caballero, California Nurses Association, California Teachers Association, and the list goes on.
Among the supporters and volunteers appearing at the Merced Campaign Launch last Saturday morning were other election hopefuls appearing on the November ballot, including former Assemblymember Adam Gray who is challenging Congressman Duarte for his District 13 seat. Gray posed with Soria volunteer and friend, Nancy Ruding.
Also lending a hand, Annie Delgado, a Merced High Teacher, Women’s Studies Instructor and Director of Youth Programs. Delgado is in the race for a seat on the Merced City School District Board, Area 4. Incumbent Board Trustee Birdi Olivarez-Kidwell is running for re-election in that same race.
There as well, lending support with his presence and his own canopy shelter outside Soria’s moderately sized Merced headquarters — candidate for City Council District 5, Alex Carrillo. Alex shares many of Soria’s concerns, and his campaign has been endorsed by her. Incumbent City Council member Sarah Boyle is running for re-election in the District 5 race, and she also faces another challenger, Felipe Rojas-Flores, an attorney.
One of the larger issues affecting the state last year was water — the lack of it, then too much of it. Soria in the years ahead is looking for better and more permanent water management.
Health and the dearth of proper health care in the valley is another sore spot, and as a partial remedy Soria introduced AB2104, a bill that would allow community colleges to offer Bachelor of Art Nursing Programs. The bill is not without its critics, primarily with the four-year state university system, who talk of treading on their traditional ground as a university, and the possibility of producing a glut of nurses in the state.
Soria counters that, “For many students in rural valley communities, Fresno State is more than an hour away, and some don’t even have transportation. Some say we can do it online, but we all know the challenges with broadband in our rural communities.
“The best thing would be to allow some of these community colleges, in these remote areas where we have a health crisis, to provide access to a Bachelor’s Degree for nursing.”
The air was festive at Soria’s Merced Office for the campaign launch, with colorful balloons everywhere, yard signs for people to take, and enough food to feed an army of volunteers. Pizzas, cakes, fruit, and lots of bottled water.
The Assemblymember had these final words before this reporter left the event.
“We’re changing the narrative in Sacramento — we’re making sure that the residents of this district have an actual voice. If we get re-elected, we will continue to do that. Imagine, if I was able to bring over $300 million in my first term, what can’t we do in the next two, and then the following two? Because we’re going to continue to build up that momentum. I know how to get things done in Sacramento, and I think the proof is in the pudding!”