For the federal congressional primary elections for California’s new 38th district to be held on June 2, four candidates are competing: Democrats Hilda Solís, Erik Lutz and Mónica Sánchez, and Republican Pedro Antonio Casas.
Lutz, a real estate broker for more than 25 years, is a Pico Rivera councilman and is a past president of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.
Sánchez is also a councilor of Pico Rivera and its mayor expert-temwho with a PhD in education works as an educator for the Los Angeles County Office of Education.
Casas is a retired Army colonel psychologist with a doctorate in Psychological Counseling from UC Santa Barbara.
La Opinión supports the candidacy of Hilda Solís and urges its Californian readers to vote for her.
Hilda Solis is currently the President of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Supervisor for District 1. She leaves the position due to electoral term limits. In 2014 she was elected to the board to replace Gloria Molina without opposition, the same as in 2018. In 2022 she won the election to that position with 76% of the votes.
Between 2009 and 2013 she was the federal Secretary of Labor in President Barack Obama’s cabinet – the first Latina to head a federal executive department – and previously Congresswoman for the 31st and 32nd districts, from 2001 to 2009, a position to which she was re-elected three times with large majorities. These districts correspond to East Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Valley, the majority of whose populations are Latino.
Before that, she was the first Latina woman in the California State Senate, to which she was elected in 1994 and re-elected four years later. And even earlier, the community elected her to the California Legislature.
Solís has a long history in elected positions serving the community. She is characterized by her tireless work and practical approach. The newspaper articles, interviews and statements about her in La Opinión define her as a pioneer, because she opened doors for community activists, especially women, in all public positions.
Hilda Lucía Solís was born in Los Angeles 68 years ago and grew up in La Puente. His parents – mother Mexican, father Nicaraguan – were working-class immigrants and union members. She studied political science at Cal Poly Pomona and public administration at USC, the first in her family to attend college.
For this election, California’s congressional districts changed as a result of the constitutional amendment approved last November by 65% of voters. Thus, a new district was formed that is vacant. Linda Sánchez, who represented the former 38th district, is running for re-election, now for the 41st district.
The new District 38 includes the cities of Montebello, Bell, Stanley 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley Park, City of Commerce, Cudahy, Maywood and parts of Diamond Bar, Pico Rivera, Placentia, Anaheim and Yorba Linda – the latter in Orange County – as well as the unincorporated areas of Avocado Heights, Hacienda Heights, North Whittier, Rowland Heights, Valinda and West Whittier, administered by Los County. Angels.
Approximately 60% of the district’s population is Latino and 20% is Asian American.
Congressmen work on a combination of national issues with those related to their district, their cities and their state. In a recent statement, Solis said that “Southern California workers are being attacked by the Trump administration, and I will not stand by and let it happen.” That commitment is precisely what we consider the essence of parliamentary work in Washington during the current president’s presidency.
Additionally, her record as a supervisor indicates a strong commitment to the interests of the less privileged population, especially Latinos. This is how it contributed to public health during the COVID-19 pandemic by establishing testing sites, supporting the use of face masks and encouraging vaccination in affected communities. He fought for the passage of Measure H, a 0.25% tax approved by seven in ten county voters to invest in homelessness reduction. He worked for a change in the conception and dynamics of the fight against crime based on “care first, jail last”, for the growth of small businesses in communities where they are needed and for the creation of new green spaces in those low-income areas where they are needed.
In Congress, Solis is set to protect unions and workers under attack, create affordable housing by expediting permitting and loans, protect the rights of immigrants nationwide, and protect health care for low-income people.
The long list of supports for Solís’ candidacy for Congress covers an important representation of the state leadership. It is endorsed by U.S. Senator Adam Schiff and House Speaker Emeritus Nancy Pelosi, followed by 15 congressmen, 2 former congresswomen, 5 state senators, 10 state assemblywomen, three of the other four County Supervisors, Sheriff Robert Luna, LA Mayor Karen Bass, followed by four city council members and dozens of elected officials, unions, and community and political organizations.
For all these reasons, La Opinión once again supports the candidacy of Hilda Solís for Congress.
