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Assembly District 31 candidates left to right, Democrat Sandra Celedon, left, Republican Jim Polsgrave, center, and Democrat Annalisa Perea, far right, are vying for the seat held by Joaquin Arambula who will term out.<\/p>\n
Handout photos<\/p>\n
Two Democrats and one Republican are vying for the for an open assembly seat held for the past decade by Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula.<\/p>\n
Arambula, an emergency room physician and Democrat from Fresno, will term out of the Assembly District 31 seat, which he has represented since 2016. He\u2019s currently seeking a seat on Fresno City Council to represent District 3<\/a>, which includes downtown, Chinatown, the Tower District and most of the city\u2019s industrial parks in south Fresno.<\/p>\n Candidate websites, endorsements and campaign finance filings show Fresno nonprofit leader Sandra Celedon, Fresno City Councilmember Annalisa Perea and retired engineering technician Jim Polsgrove, have mounted serious campaigns.<\/p>\n The primary election will take place on June 2. The top two candidates will face a runoff in the general elections on November 3.<\/p>\n Where is the district?<\/p>\n District 31 is a majority Latino district<\/a> within Fresno County that includes most of the city of Fresno, western Fresno County rural communities, as well as the cities of Fowler, Orange Cove, Parlier, Sanger, Selma and a small piece of Clovis.<\/p>\n Of the 225,729 registered voters in the district, 98,228 or 43.52%, are registered Democrats and 54,077, or 24%, are registered Republicans, according to state data<\/a>. Another 23.7%, or 53,590, have no party preference.<\/p>\n Sandra Celedon<\/p>\n Celedon, the daughter of Mexican immigrants, grew up in the unincorporated Fresno County community of Calwa, where she held her first public office on the Calwa park district and helped secure a $6.6 million grant for park upgrades and innovation.<\/a> She said she\u2019s running because she wants to see someone in the seat who understands the people of the majority Latino district as they push for higher educational opportunities, affordable communities and green parks.<\/p>\n Celedon, 40, is the CEO of the nonprofit Fresno Building Healthy Communities, where she has worked for 13 years. She led the fight for Measure P, the 3\/8-cent city-wide sales tax that is expected to generate $1.14 billion for parks, arts and trails over the next 30 years<\/a>. Before that, she spent the first decade of her career opening clinics in neighborhoods across west Fresno, southeast, south central Fresno and Easton.<\/p>\n She described her skillset as very broad, tangible and practical.<\/p>\n \u201cYou need people who actually understand that policy is not an abstract concept,\u201d she said. \u201cPolicy is about people.\u201d<\/p>\n Through her work with Fresno BHC, she\u2019s involved in a lawsuit against Community Health System alleging it diverted state and federal public funding earmarked for its downtown hospital to fund a new hospital project in the wealthier nearby city of Clovis<\/a>. The nonprofit also sued Caltrans alleging it violated laws by hiding the full scope of a highway expansion projec<\/a>t and making the area less safe for residents.<\/p>\n If elected, Celedon said she would prioritize affordability, housing, expanding access to healthcare, clean air and investing in and expanding career opportunities.<\/p>\n \u201cIf folks in District 31 want someone who\u2019s not looking for a career in politics, who\u2019s not looking to climb any type of political ladder, but who\u2019s going to actually fight for everyday people and who\u2019s going to get things done, that\u2019s me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Annalisa Perea<\/p>\n Perea, a third-generation Central Valley native<\/a>, is the first openly gay Fresno City Councilmember. She currently represents District 1 on the Council<\/a> after assuming a seat left vacant by Esmeralda Soria who was elected to the state assembly in 2022. Before that, she was a trustee and president of the State Center Community College District, an office she was elected to in 2018.<\/p>\n Perea, 38, said she brings a pragmatic leadership style thanks to her private sector urban planning and policymaking experience during tough budget times. She described herself as someone who can solve tough problems and work across party lines.<\/p>\n She pointed to her role in securing a tax-sharing agreement with Fresno County as council president that secured a greater share of sales and property tax revenues to the city. She also said she\u2019s worked on policies to help incentivize infill development as well as worked with the council and mayor\u2019s office to roll out the Pave Now, Pay Later $100 million bond program to fix Fresno\u2019s roads.<\/p>\n \u201cI think people are ready to have someone that\u2019s willing to listen and learn on a diverse set of issues,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n She also comes from a political family. Her dad Henry R. Perea, served on the Fresno City Council<\/a> in the late 1990s and then the Fresno County Board of Supervisors. Her brother, Henry T. Perea, also served on the Council. She is endorsed by the California Democratic Party<\/a>, California Attorney General Rob Bonta, and several assemblymembers including Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas.<\/p>\n If elected, Perea said she will focus on issues such as affordability, education, first-time homeowner assistance, expanding access to healthcare and improving pay for childcare providers.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m casting votes up in Sacramento, I want to make sure that I\u2019m doing so with our community\u2019s pocketbooks in mind,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Jim Polsgrove<\/p>\n Republican candidate Jim Polsgrove said he\u2019s running to bring \u201ccommon sense\u201d back to Sacramento. Born and raised in Fresno, Polsgrove has nearly 40 years of experience working for the city of Fresno, with 31 years in several roles before rising to supervising engineering technician. He also worked for Fresno County as a senior engineering technician\/utility coordinator, according to his campaign website<\/a>.<\/p>\n Polsgrove, 69, is a member of the Fresno County GOP committee, the Republican National Hispanic Assembly, and the Fresno County California Republican Assembly. He has also served as vice president of the National Rifle Association Members Council of the Central Valley.<\/p>\n The self-described problem solver said he\u2019s the only candidate with the amount of experience fixing problems in his career. He\u2019s done everything from projects on roads, traffic signals, water and sewer extensions and more, he pointed out.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a team builder, I\u2019ve worked for a number of different agencies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Polsgrove said if elected he would prioritize making California an affordable state, reducing crime, improving water supplies, expanding access to healthcare and providing for our veterans.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s funding the race?<\/p>\n Perea is leading the way in funding, with $378,675 raised from 127 contributions as of April 2, according to California Secretary of State records.<\/p>\n Her largest individual contributions are from: Fresno Police Officers Association PAC, SEIU California State Council Small Contributor Committee, State Building and Construction Trades Council of California PAC, California Teachers Association\/Association for Better Citizenship and the California Real Estate PAC – California Association of Realtors.<\/p>\n Celedon is the candidate with the most individual support. She has secured $163,668 from 382 contributions \u2014 a mix of community members, small business owners and labor unions. \u201cIt\u2019s not about me, it\u2019s about \u2018we,\u2019 \u201d she said of her contributions.<\/p>\n Polsgrove trails behind the Democratic frontrunners, with $31,740 raised from seven contributors. Polsgrove contributed $25,000 to his own campaign; his second largest contribution of $5,900 came from developer Richard Spencer.<\/p>\n
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