- Republican Elizabeth Wong Ahlers, Crescenta Valley City Council member
Ahlers is the one Republican on this race. She has obtained endorsements from the California Republican Celebration and a number of other state GOP leaders. She beforehand taught English at UCLA, Glendale Group School and Los Angeles Valley School, in response to her marketing campaign bio, and served on a number of boards for humanitarian and academic work. A mom of six and grandmother to a few, Ahlers instructed The Instances she is prioritizing “parental involvement, tackling the fentanyl epidemic, and addressing homelessness.”
- Democrat Sandra Armenta, Rosemead Metropolis Council member and trainer
Longtime Rosemead resident Armenta was first elected to the Metropolis Council in 2009. Armenta went on depart from her job as a district consultant in state Sen. Susan Rubio’s (D-Baldwin Park) workplace to deal with the election, in response to Armenta’s marketing campaign. She is a former trainer, with expertise in particular and normal schooling, from kindergarten by way of highschool. “My hands-on expertise in schooling not solely deepened my dedication to neighborhood service but additionally served as a catalyst for my eventual election to the Metropolis Council and now state Senate,” she instructed The Instances. She describes herself as a reasonable Democrat “with a document of working along with Republicans and Democrats to get issues achieved.” She obtained endorsements from Democrats for Israel Los Angeles and the San Gabriel Police Officers’ Assn.
- Democrat Sasha Renée Pérez, Alhambra vice mayor
When Pérez was elected to her hometown’s Metropolis Council in 2020, she was instantly made mayor, changing into at age 28 the youngest mayor in Alhambra’s historical past. She instructed The Instances that she ran for workplace after she “misplaced members of the family to the homelessness disaster.” Pérez has raised greater than $631,000, in response to state marketing campaign finance data. Her donors embody unions representing academics, nurses and SEIU members; the Pasadena chapter of Deliberate Parenthood; and Good Justice, a gaggle that advocates for prison justice reforms. Pérez mentioned that as a state senator she needs to deal with “addressing rising housing prices, investing in public schooling, and preventing local weather change.”
- Democrat Yvonne Yiu, Monterey Park Metropolis Council member and finance govt
Yiu is the best-funded candidate within the race, with greater than $1 million in her coffer — a lot of which got here from her personal pocket, in response to California secretary of state data. Yiu beforehand ran an unsuccessful marketing campaign for state controller, additionally self-funding her run. As a Metropolis Council member, Yiu helped lead Monterey Park by way of the aftermath of a mass taking pictures at a nightclub in January 2023. She mentioned she escaped the taking pictures by sheer likelihood — she had deliberate to go to the Star Ballroom Dance Studio, the place the taking pictures occurred, however made a last-minute change. On the Metropolis Council, Yiu mentioned she’s enacted gun security legal guidelines and supported local weather motion. “We have to elect a frontrunner with a confirmed observe document,” she mentioned.
- Democrat Teddy Choi, professor and insurance coverage agent
Choi has unsuccessfully run for state workplace prior to now, switching his voter registration from Republican to Democratic in 2015, in response to JoinCalifornia, an independently run political historical past challenge. A Korean immigrant who raised his youngsters within the San Gabriel Valley, Choi beforehand served on the Pasadena police advisory board.
