Sara Hernandez, a housing and environmental attorney, won the race for California’s Senate District 26, defeating her opponent Sarah Rascón, according to the Associated Press.
Hernandez will represent a district of nearly 943,000 people across Los Angeles, including Boyle Heights, El Sereno, Lincoln Heights, Koreatown, Pico Union, unincorporated East LA, and the city of Vernon. She will succeed Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, who will soon take charge of Supervisorial District 1 on the LA County Board of Supervisors, replacing Hilda Solis.
The Democrat and former middle school teacher has served as an elected Los Angeles Community College trustee since 2022. She finished first in the June primary.
Throughout her campaign, Hernandez has said she will push for innovative housing solutions, improving public transit and expanding access to higher education. Her background in environmental justice and immigration will also inform her work in Sacramento, she’s said.
Millions in funding
Hernandez’s campaign raised a total of $1,600,960.72 via 1,068 contributions (including the primary period), according to the Secretary of State’s fundraising database. Rascón raised a total $392,585.78 via 839 contributions.
Even as part of Hernandez’s platform was putting “people over big tech profits,” according to her campaign website, outside groups backed by major tech companies and contributors spent millions on ads in support of her.
Grow California and California Leads, two new tech-backed political action committees, spent upwards of $3 million on Hernandez’ campaign, according to CalMatters. Grow California is funded by cryptocurrency investor Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper. California Leads is funded by Meta and Google. Hernandez was also supported by Keep California Golden, a coalition representing Realtors, the building industry and farmers and ranchers, according to Los Angeles Daily News.
Independent groups and PACs may spend unlimited amounts of money supporting candidates of their choosing, as long as they are not coordinating with the campaign.
Hernandez told Los Angeles Daily News, “We did not solicit this money. We did not ask for this money,” and acknowledged that big spending from outside groups “doesn’t necessarily help candidates all the time.”
Rascón, meanwhile, criticized Hernandez for the heavy spending in her favor.
“My opponent was a corporate development attorney, the type of lawyer big companies hire to develop our neighborhoods. And now they’re spending millions to elect her,” said Rascón in a campaign video earlier this week.
Eastside promises
Leading up to Election Day, Eastside residents have pressed candidates about environmental health and the effects of incidents like the Lineage warehouse fire and the East LA oil spill.
Hernandez said she will push back against polluters by expanding zero-emission infrastructure for trucks and freight, enforcing existing clean-air laws to protect neighborhoods near warehouses and industrial facilities, and expanding green spaces in those communities.
“Clean air and green space are not luxuries. They are basic rights, and the communities that have carried the greatest environmental burden should be first in line for investment and protection,” Hernandez previously told The LA Local.
Hernandez also said she would work to improve street cleaning on the Eastside by securing dedicated state resources to expand bulky-item pickup, illegal-dumping removal, graffiti abatement and lighting and sidewalk repairs.
“I want to help expand those efforts through grants and partnerships that support neighborhood cleanups, tree planting, murals, community gardens, and other projects led by the people who know their neighborhoods best,” Hernandez said.
On immigration, Hernandez said she would fight to protect immigrant families’ personal information and sensitive data from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and other federal immigration agencies on the state level. Hernandez said she would also protect the access of citizens and lawful permanent residents to programs like Medi-Cal and immigration legal services.
