Two Santa Ana progressives make bids for the 68th Assembly District
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With the 68th Assembly district at the center of Latino politics in Orange County, the 2026 election is poised to be a referendum on its fate.
The district — which is 71% Latino and where 50% of registered voters are Democrats — encompasses Anaheim, Santa Ana and Orange.
It has already fielded three Democrat candidates — all under 40 — since incumbent Assemblyman Avelino Valencia announced a bid for 34th state Senate district in December.
The candidates vying for his open seat hail from Santa Ana City Council, a dais marked by policy battles between progressive and moderate Democrats.
Santa Ana City Councilman David Peñaloza’s candidacy aligns more with Valencia, who has endorsed him alongside Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas and Santa Ana Mayor Valerie Amezcua.
Two new progressive challengers are both looking to push the district’s representation in Sacramento to the left.
Just days after the November elections were certified, candidates announced campaigns for senate and assembly races in heavily Latino, Democrat districts.
“This has historically been a moderate district, even when it has Latino representation,” said Mike Madrid, author of “The Latino Century: How America’s Largest Minority is Transforming Democracy” and a senior fellow at UC Irvine’s School of Social Ecology. “This is a family-centered working class district with working class concerns as a priority.”
Santa Ana Councilman Johnathan Ryan Hernandez surprised political observers with his assembly campaign launch in January. He hopes that the district’s working class concerns pivot towards progressive policies.
“We don’t have a representative who is protecting us when it comes to the cost of living,” he said. “We need to take on universal healthcare. Rent control is a start, but increasing the minimum wage is how we start really addressing the root causes of inequality.”
On Feb. 19, Santa Ana Councilwoman Jessie Lopez entered the race and pledged to lower housing and utility costs while addressing corporate price gouging.
“I’ve lived the struggles that many in our community face, from working multiple jobs at a young age, to still working two jobs now as a sitting councilwoman, to worrying if I will ever be able to buy a home,” she said. “I’ve seen how bad policy can hurt people. I also know how good policy can change the lives of community members. That’s what motivates me.”
On council, Lopez and Hernandez agree more often than not on key progressive policies like rent control and police oversight. As young politicians, they both tout working class backgrounds as products of Santa Ana public schools.
Lopez, a Salvadoran American, grew up in Santa Ana’s Willard neighborhood with a single mother who worked multiple jobs to provide for her children. She attended Santa Ana public schools and credited after-school programs like the Boys & Girls Club for instilling values of giving back to the community.
Her campaign is focused on the cost of living, housing and expanding economic opportunities.
“These are the issues that impact everyday people in our community, whether you’re a parent trying to ensure that your child gets a quality education, or someone working two to three jobs to keep a roof over your head,” she said.
Hernandez, a Chicano, grew up in Santa Ana’s Artesia-Pilar neighborhood, which he now represents as a councilman.
Since first winning election in 2020, he has called himself the “progressive leader” of the council on issues like legalizing street cruising, declaring August as Chicano Heritage Month and police oversight.
The issue of police violence hit close to home less than a year into Hernandez’s first term when Anaheim SWAT officers shot and killed Brandon Lopez, his cousin, during a standoff in Santa Ana.
As the result of Assembly Bill 1506, the state Department of Justice investigated the fatal shooting, instead of the Orange County district attorney’s office, since his cousin was unarmed.
The agency cleared the officers in a 2023 report. Grieving families have expressed frustration with how long investigations have taken, as well as decisions not to prosecute police. If elected, Hernandez pledged to be a critical voice for police accountability, including on issues like qualified immunity for officers.
On economic issues, he wants to see the state’s minimum wage rise from $16.50 an hour to $25 an hour. Using Santa Ana’s local law as a model, Hernandez also favors lowering the rent cap statewide from 5% to 3%.
“My career has been a reflection of my community,” he said. “My community has been rent burdened.”
In addressing the housing crisis, Lopez backs Assemblyman Alex Lee’s public housing initiative, which seeks to create a taxpayer-funded agency to build more mixed-income units. Rent collected would fund more projects.
“I support the revolving door of dollars being managed by the government not only to operate these complexes, these housing units, but to invest further in creating more housing opportunities,” she said. “Our families are now competing with hedge funds coming into our local market and taking that opportunity away from them. Working people will never be able to outbid a hedge fund. That’s just reality.”
Ada Briceño, co-president of Unite Here Local 11, is seeking to represent the 67th Assembly District and wants to bring a pro-working families agenda to Sacramento.
Turning the district Latino and progressive hasn’t yet become political reality.
In 2022, Valencia won election decisively as Bulmaro Vicente, the sole progressive challenger from Santa Ana, did not advance past the primary.
Madrid sees a challenge ahead with two progressives in the race, especially given the shift in Latino politics towards the right, in general, during the past two election cycles.
“A lot of it is going to come down to personality,” Madrid said. “Who works harder? Who knocks on more doors? Who raises the money? Who’s getting support from Sacramento. All of those things matter in electing a representative.”
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