Suzette Martinez Valladares (born December 21, 1980) is an American politician who served as a member of 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 the 38th district, which included the

Santa Clarita Valley The Santa Clarita Valley (SCV) is part of the upper watershed of the Santa Clara River in Southern California. The valley was part of the Rancho San Francisco Mexican land grant. Located in Los Angeles County, its main population center is the ...

and

Simi Valley Simi Valley (; Chumash: ''Shimiyi'') is a city in the valley of the same name in the southeast region of Ventura County, California, United States. Simi Valley is from Downtown Los Angeles, making it part of the Greater Los Angeles Area. The ...

. Elected in 2020, she assumed office on December 7, 2020. In 2022, she ran in the newly redrawn 40th Assembly district, and narrowly lost

the election ''The Election'' () is a political drama series produced by Hong Kong Television Network (HKTV). With a budget of HK$15 million, filming started in July 2014 and wrapped up on 28 October 2014. Popularly voted to be the inaugural drama of ...

to Pilar Schiavo by a 50.2% to 49.8% margin.

Early life and education

Valladares was born in

Sylmar, Los Angeles Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and is the northernmost neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century and t ...

and graduated from

Sylmar High School Sylmar Charter High School is a charter school in the northeast San Fernando Valley in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles, California. Established in 1961, it is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, District 2, and serves more than ...

in 1999. A third-generation Californian, her grandfather was a farmworker who worked alongside

Cesar Chavez Cesar Chavez (born Cesario Estrada Chavez ; ; March 31, 1927 – April 23, 1993) was an American labor leader and civil rights activist. Along with Dolores Huerta, he co-founded the National Farm Workers Association (NFWA), which later merged ...

in vineyards near Bakersfield. She earned an

associate degree An associate degree is an undergraduate degree awarded after a course of post-secondary study lasting two to three years. It is a level of qualification above a high school diploma, GED, or matriculation, and below a bachelor's degree. The fi ...

from the

College of the Canyons College of the Canyons (COC) is a public community college in Santa Clarita, California. It comprises the Santa Clarita Community College District. The college is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and has campus loc ...

and a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Career

From 2009 to 2012, Valladares was a district representative for

Congressman A Member of Congress (MOC) is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The term member of parliament (MP) is an equivalen ...

Buck McKeon Howard Philip "Buck" McKeon (born September 9, 1938) is an American politician who served as a U.S. representative from California's 25th congressional district from 1993 to 2015. He is a member of the Republican Party. He is a former chairman of ...

. In 2014, she was a candidate for the 36th district in the

. In 2014 and 2015, she worked as the California Director of Hispanic Initiatives for the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...

. From 2015 to 2018, she was the executive director of Southern California Autism Speaks. In 2018, she was a candidate for

California's 25th congressional district 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 ...

before withdrawing from the race to run for state assembly. In 2020, Valladares became one of two Republican nominees for the 38th district in the

after incumbent Democrat Christy Smith announced that she would not seek re-election and instead focus on her run for the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

against Mike Garcia. Valladares placed first in the

nonpartisan blanket primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

and defeated fellow Republican Lucie Lapointe Volotzky, a furniture store owner, in the November general election. In 2021, Valladares became one of the inaugural members of the California State Legislature's "Problem Solvers Caucus," a bipartisan group consisting of members of both the State Assembly and State Senate. The Problem Solvers Caucus says that their goal is to, "create a group of legislators committed more to progress than to ideology."

Personal life

Valladares and her husband, Shane, have one daughter and live in

Santa Clarita, California Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

References

External links

Living people 1980 births People from Sylmar, Los Angeles Politicians from Los Angeles College of the Canyons alumni California State University, Northridge alumni Republican Party members of the California State Assembly Women state legislators in California 21st-century American politicians 21st-century American women politicians American politicians of Mexican descent {{California-CAAssembly-stub