LOS ANGELES — Jessica Caloza is a step closer to becoming the first Filipino American woman to get a seat in the California Legislature after garnering the highest votes in the recent primary election.
Caloza registered about 30.13%, or around 15,931 votes, in her bid for the California Assembly District 52 seat, based on unofficial results on Friday, March 8 for the recently concluded March 5 primary election.
The Los Angeles County registrar is slated to certify election results by March 29, while the California secretary of state will certify results by April 12.
Assembly District 52 includes south Glendale, Eagle Rock, Mt. Washington, Highland Park, Glassell Park, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Atwater Village, Lincoln Heights, Loz Feliz, East Hollywood, Cypress Park, Elysian Valley, Monterey Hills, Hermon, Montecito Heights, El Sereno and East Los Angeles. There are about 13,000 Filipino American voters in this district.
“I’m incredibly humbled and honored by these initial results,” Caloza told the Asian Journal, in a text message.
The Fil-Am public servant has also expressed her gratitude to all her supporters.
“I first want to give an enormous thank you to the hundreds of volunteers and supporters who worked tirelessly to get us to this point. Every day, working-class people have been the backbone of our campaign and I am deeply grateful to all of you,” she said.
Caloza thanked the Filipino community for this initial victory. “I am extremely humbled by the support our campaign has received from every corner of this district from Glendale to Northeast LA to East LA, including from the Filipino community,” she added.
Caloza also appealed to her supporters to remain steadfast and continue to rally behind her campaign for the Assembly.
“That said, this is only one step in this process, and I look forward to continuing to make the case in the coming months that I am the best candidate to deliver for District 52 on the most important issues, from affordable housing and homelessness, to climate action, more good-paying jobs, safer communities, investments in local classrooms, women’s rights and more,” she said.
Caloza is vying to make history as the first Filipino American woman elected to the California state Legislature.
This isn’t the first time Caloza has made history. She has served at the highest levels of government at the federal, state, and local levels. Currently, she works for Rob Bonta, the first Filipino American to serve as the California Attorney General, and previously worked for President Barack Obama.
Before working for Bonta, Caloza served as the first Filipina on the powerful LA Board of Public Works.
In an earlier interview with the Asian Journal, Caloza said Filipino Americans have an opportunity to make a mark in U.S. politics.
“In Los Angeles County, we have the largest population of Filipinos outside of the Philippines. There’s nearly half a million Filipinos in L.A. County but we have never elected anyone to the state level. Why? Because we’re not voting. That is a huge loss for our community, because it means that we don’t have a voice at the table for positions like the Assembly. An assemblymember is a powerful position and they help decide where your taxpayer dollars go. They’re the ones who write the bills that eventually turn into law,” Caloza said.
With the state facing a huge budget deficit, Caloza pointed out that it is crucial to elect somebody who can represent the district in securing much-needed funds for the community’s programs and projects.
“I want to make sure to promote policies that protect working families, especially immigrants. Filipinos play a huge role in that. We have to make sure that we protect the programs that are really important around education, small businesses, housing affordability, women’s rights and that’s really important because we have a budget deficit of over $50 billion and so what does that mean? That means my job will be to make sure to protect resources for our district,” she added.
Caloza believes that she can also push for crucial policies that will create more opportunities and promote affordability for her constituents if she wins a seat in the CA Assembly.
“The biggest need is really affordability. We’ve been going door-to-door, talking to people since October and the top issue is that people can’t afford to live in their neighborhood anymore,” said Caloza, who is a renter and lives in Eagle Rock. Her family immigrated from Quezon City, Philippines when she was very young.
“We are in a housing crisis and have to build more affordable and low-income housing. We also have to protect renters,” she noted.
Caloza likewise sees the need to push for more policies that will help sustain small businesses in the district.
“If we have to make it affordable for people to live here, we need to make it affordable for businesses to survive here, too, and more than to survive but to actually thrive. We also need to make sure that workers have the benefits they need to succeed,” she said.
Caloza said she would also fight to ensure clean air and water for our neighborhoods and invest in public schools to give every child a shot at success.
In 2019, Caloza became the first Filipina American to serve on the LA Board of Public Works, overseeing more than 5,500 employees. As a Public Works commissioner, she expanded good-paying union jobs, raised wages for workers and required equal pay for women while increasing transparency and accountability.
In California Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office, Caloza served as deputy chief of staff, where she assisted Bonta in his bid to reduce crime and gun violence, take bold action to protect the environment, and helped victims of sexual assault receive justice.
After the March 5 primary election, the general election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024. n
