Frances Audrey Florez is an American politician from

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

and a member of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

Biography

Florez began work at

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. The bank w ...

in 1964, became the first female loan officer in the Shafter branch in 1973, and became the branch manager in 1990. She later worked as a consultant for the

PG&E The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

corporate contributions program. She is also a past president of the Chamber of Commerce of

Shafter, California Shafter is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is located west-northwest of Bakersfield. The population was 16,988 at the 2010 census, up from 12,736 at the 2000 census. The city is located along State Route 43. Suburbs of Sha ...

. Florez won election to the Shafter City Council in 1996 and served there through 2008; she served as mayor (a council position) for four years, and was the first Hispanic mayor of Shafter. While serving as mayor, she decided to run for the 30th District seat in the state Assembly. Beginning in 2002, she served as a member of the

California High-Speed Rail Authority The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is a California state agency established pursuant to the California High-Speed Rail Act to develop and implement high-speed intercity rail service, namely the California High-Speed Rail project. Mem ...

, serving as chairman in 2005. In 2008, she was the Democratic nominee for the 30th District in the state Assembly. The outgoing incumbent, Democrat

Nicole Parra Nicole M. Parra (born February 3, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of the California State Assembly from 2002 to 2008. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represented the California's 30th Assemb ...

, endorsed Fran Florez's Republican opponent, former Assistant

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is a state law enforcement agency of the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary patrol jurisdiction over all California highways and roads and streets outside city limits, and can exercise law enfor ...

Chief

Danny Gilmore Danny Gilmore (born December 23, 1973) is a Canadian actor, who is best known for his role as Vallier in John Greyson's ''Lilies'' (1996), for which he received a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 17th Genie Awards. He has also appear ...

. Florez narrowly lost to Gilmore. In June 2010, Florez won the Democratic primary in the 30th Assembly District by 13 percent of the vote against Nicole Parra's father, Pete Parra. She faced Republican farmer

David Valadao David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A me ...

in the November general election. Nicole Parra endorsed Valadao in a televised advertisement. Valadao won by a 61% to 39% margin. In March 2013, she announced her candidacy for the 16th Senate District of the California state Senate, and soon after ended her campaign to help support candidate Leticia Perez and the prospects of the Democratic party by avoiding a contested primary.

Personal life

She is the mother of

Dean Florez Dean Raymond Florez (born April 5, 1963 in Shafter, California) is a former California State Senator from the 16th Senate District, who served from 2002 until the end of his second term in November 2010. He was first elected to the California ...

, who represented the area (which includes

Fresno Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, Tulare,

Kern KERN (1180 AM) is a commercial radio station licensed to Wasco-Greenacres, California, and serving the Bakersfield metropolitan area. The station is owned by American General Media. The radio studios and offices are in the American General Me ...

and

Kings Kings or King's may refer to: *Monarchs: The sovereign heads of states and/or nations, with the male being kings *One of several works known as the "Book of Kings": **The Books of Kings part of the Bible, divided into two parts **The ''Shahnameh'' ...

counties) 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 1998 to 2002 and in 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 ...

from 2002 to 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florez, Fran Living people Women mayors of places in California Mayors of places in California Politicians from Bakersfield, California 1943 births 21st-century American women