Dulce Vasquez Says She has Positively Learned Her Painful Lessons from the Previous Election

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Dulce Vasquez is passionate about politics. Her life has taught her that, having worked her way up and gained the experience to help people and her community.

After losing to Curren Price in City Council District 9 last year, Vasquez does not feel intimidated. She now seeks to obtain the position of Assemblymember Reggie Jones-Sawyer in District 57, who will be termed out next year.

The district includes portions of Downtown and South Los Angeles, including the neighborhoods of Florence, Harbor Gateway, Historic West Adams, University Park, and Walnut Park.

“We have learned from that election, and we will correct those mistakes in this election,” says Vasquez in an interview with Parriva. “We feel very confident in our campaign.”

Vasquez is a formerly undocumented immigrant from Mexico who was brought to the U.S. by her parents at the age of 7. She grew up in Florida and moved to L.A. in 2008 after graduating from Northwestern University.

According to her website, she spent years working on civic engagement as the managing director for Zócalo Public Square, an events and journalism nonprofit, and most recently in education as the Asst. Vice President of Strategic Advancement in the Office of University Affairs at Arizona State University.

As a child, she went through what many immigrant families experience. Coming from a working family, both parents worked, and she would help her mother clean houses in residential neighborhoods.

“I would clean windows, vacuum the house, anything I could do to help my mom. I did it to assist but also to finish earlier and be able to be together at home,” says the candidate. “That’s where I learned that no job is easy, and we must respect any work that is done. We must treat people with dignity,” she adds.

“She split the rest of her childhood between her studies and looking after her little brother—a responsibility many immigrant siblings share. She attended public schools that did not turn her away for being undocumented and even qualified for free and reduced breakfast and lunch,” mentions an editorial from the LA Times, which supported her candidacy in last year’s election.

“The struggles of her family, both the ones that migrated to the U.S., and her extended family that remains in Mexico, have shaped her worldview and fueled her passion to help others,” the Times adds.

In high school, she became interested in politics. She wanted to give back to the community and the country.

“Last year, I built an excellent campaign, but I was up against a veteran politician with 30 years of experience,” she says.

For her, it is clear which issues she needs to address. “Education, transportation, and housing. Those are three topics we need to focus on. I want to make sure we support the construction of all types of housing. I want to support those who need it,” she adds.

The 2024 California State Assembly election will be held on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, with the primary election being held on March 5, 2024. All of the seats of the California State Assembly will be elected as part of the 2024 California elections. So far, there are two other candidates vying for the same position:

• Community leader René Romero announced his campaign for California State Assembly District 57. A native of South Central Los Angeles, Romero seeks to represent the community that helped raise him and where he shares in their daily struggle.
• Assembly District 57 candidate Efren Martinez. He currently serves as the Chair of the LAUSD Board of Education Compensation Review Committee and a past executive director of the Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce.