Charlene Zettel (née Gonzales) born May 26, 1947, served in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

from 1999 until 2002. Ms. Zettel was born in

East Los Angeles, California East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010 United States Cen ...

. She attended Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy in La Canada-Flintridge and then earned her bachelor's degree in

dental hygiene Oral hygiene is the practice of keeping one's mouth clean and free of disease and other problems (e.g. bad breath) by regular brushing of the teeth (dental hygiene) and cleaning between the teeth. It is important that oral hygiene be carried out ...

from

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

. While serving in the State Assembly, Zettel worked for the passage of "Oliver's Law", which provides parents with information about day care providers. She was also the first

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

elected to the State Assembly. She stepped down with one term to go before term limits would have claimed her in order to run for the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

, but lost that election to

Dennis Hollingsworth Dennis Clark Hollingsworth (born January 12, 1967, in Hemet, California) is an American politician who represented California's 36th State Senate district, which includes portions of San Diego and Riverside County, from 2002 to 2010. In 2000, Hol ...

, who claimed 54% of the vote while Zettel claimed 46%. She was appointed the Director of the Department of Consumer Affairs in March 2004 by Governor

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...

. Charlene Zettel was appointed University of California Regent by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2009. Regent Zettel will serve a 12-year term that expires March 1, 2021. She is also a board member of the

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

Regional Airport Authority and a former public interest director of the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco. Also in 2009, she was appointed director for the San Diego Office of the Governor. Ms Zettel has been married to David for 40 years; the couple has two adult sons.

References

# Politicians from Los Angeles University of Southern California alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Women state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians 1947 births {{California-CAAssembly-stub