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MEET THE CANDIDATE - One feature of many winning candidates is their capacity to spark community support and inspire volunteers. By this measure alone there is a clear front-runner for the open seat to represent Northeast Los Angeles in the state Senate: Sara Hernandez.
Hernandez has enlisted nearly 200 volunteers in her campaign for Senate District 26. She already serves Angelenos as president of the L.A. Community College District board of trustees, elected by voters in 2022 and recently selected as top officer of the panel by her colleagues. She’s also a housing attorney, a part-time instructor of Constitutional law, volunteer in immigration clinics, parent of a young public-school student, and advocate for higher education access and safe green spaces in our park-deprived Eastside communities.
By any formal measuring stick, Sara Hernandez has built the most formidable campaign to win in the competitive contest against four other Democrats. She’s raised by far the most dollars (while avoiding donations from oil, tobacco, guns, deputy associations, and charter schools, among others) and attracted the most individual donors. Plus, she has earned most union and environmental endorsements, including the Sierra Club, and most local Democratic clubs’ endorsements, including Democrats for Neighborhood Action (DNA) and East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD).
Communities in the district range from East L.A. and Boyle Heights and El Sereno in the east to Echo Park and Eagle Rock, Atwater Village, and Los Feliz to Koreatown and Hancock Park and Mid-Wilshire on its west edges. State Senate districts in California encompass about one million residents, even more than the 750,000 or so in a Congressional District.
One facet of Hernandez’ message that has drawn voter attention is her matter-of-fact nod to cynicism and her appeal to hope and People Power as essential antidotes.
“Californians are losing faith that government will deliver on the policies we approve and laws we enact,” she has said during informal chats with constituents, which focus on overcoming the affordability crisis. “My job as a decision-maker is to listen, lead, and follow through. Our job, together, is never to give up but to speak up. To show up. So all of us see the results. In our lives and in our neighborhoods. To show that we can meet the needs of the community, including the most vulnerable. To make government deliver and build people’s trust that democracy works.”
Labor and women’s rights leader Dolores Huerta has endorsed Sara Hernandez for state Senate, as have dozens of unions ranging from California Federation of Teachers and California Teachers Association to sheet metal workers, auto workers, and Teamsters.
One issue raised frequently by voters in the district is housing costs and rents that outstrip wages and earnings, even by two- and three-income families. Hernandez conveys unparalleled know-how on how she as a state lawmaker can achieve specific fixes that can increase and make quickly available to residents the deeply affordable and affordable units that are missing from L.A. and to sustain progress once started.
Another issue voters have put squarely on Hernandez’ radar is Prop 28 money, approved by Californians in 2022, that L.A. Unified School District and previous Superintendent Alberto Carvalho appear to have misdirected away from the required focus on arts and music teaching in the district. Where did the $76 million, for each of the past three years, actually go? Sara Hernandez has expressed impatience and a determination to get the money allocated where it belongs: to students, including her own son, just the way other nearby school districts have done successfully, such as in Long Beach.
As ballots arrive in the next week, it’s worth tuning in more closely to contests at the local and state level. Voters have the responsibility to fill the job of state Senator in District 26. It’s up to us to choose wisely.
Former Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, who finished fourth in a bid for City Council in 2024, is attempting a comeback in the state Senate contest. She triggered ethics concerns in April when she accepted $20,000 in campaign donations to her ballot-measure account, which is supposed to be separate, from the much-criticized state prison guards association.
And it is these offices that touch the lives of Angelenos more directly than some higher-profile jobs that serve the public. With masked, armed agents of ICE and CBP still hunting, ambushing, and abducting residents of L.A., Hernandez is ready to lead the pushback to safeguard the safety, dignity, and due-process rights of all residents. For those seeking a bright spot in how Californians can solve big problems and govern ourselves, Sara Hernandez and her volunteer-powered campaign for state Senate are an uplifting place to look first, and to lend a hand.
(Hans Johnson is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns have appeared in USA Today and leading newspapers across more than 20 states. Based in Eagle Rock, he serves as president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), California’s largest grassroots Democratic club with over 1,100 members. Hans brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his work, advancing equity and accountability in local and national politics.)
