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Sasha Renée Pérez

Sasha Renée Pérez
Member of the California Senate
from the 25th district
Incumbent
Assumed office
December 2, 2024
Preceded byAnthony Portantino
Mayor of Alhambra
In office
June 24, 2024 – December 1, 2024
Preceded byRoss Maza
Succeeded byNoya Wang
Member of the Alhambra City Council
from District 4
In office
December 31, 2020 – December 1, 2024
Preceded byDavid Mejia
Succeeded byNoya Wang
Personal details
Born (1992-09-16) September 16, 1992 (age 32)
Alhambra, California, U.S.
Political partyDemocratic
EducationCalifornia State University, Los Angeles (BA)

Sasha Renée Pérez (born September 16, 1992) is an American politician who is a member of the California State Senate for the 25th district.[1] A Democrat, she is the youngest State Senator in California.[2] Pérez previously served as mayor and city councilor of Alhambra.

Early life and education

Pérez was born in Alhambra and was raised there and in Glendora. Her father is a union electrician and her mother is a social worker.

Pérez graduated from Mark Keppel High School and is a first-generation college graduate, holding a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and a Bachelor of Science in Economics from California State University, Los Angeles.

Career

Portrait as mayor of Alhambra, 2020

Pérez began her career running an after-school program at Roosevelt High School for the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs. In 2018, she left to work at the Campaign for College Opportunity a non-profit focused on improving college access, success and affordability for California students.[3] Pérez led efforts to expand financial aid to 150,000 more students through the passage of the Cal Grant Equity Framework [4] and created reports on the needs of diverse student populations in colleges and universities.[5]

Alhambra City Council

In 2020, Pérez challenged incumbent Alhambra Mayor David Mejia unseating him after winning 58.49% of the vote. Upon being elected to the Alhambra City Council in 2020, Pérez was selected to serve as Mayor. This made her the first openly LGBTQ+ person and renter on the council and the youngest woman to serve as Mayor in San Gabriel Valley history.[6][7]

Pérez was honored as Outstanding SGV Elected Official in 2021 for her work to reduce plastic waste, create dedicated bike lanes and provide hazard pay to grocery store and pharmacy store workers during the pandemic.[8]

California State Senate

In 2023, Pérez announced her candidacy for the California State Senate seat being vacated by Anthony Portantino, who was terming out and running for the U.S. House of Representatives. In her announcement, she expressed her commitment to "ensuring a future where everyone can achieve the California dream."[9] In the primary election, Pérez advanced alongside MAGA-aligned Republican Crescenta Valley Town Council member Elizabeth Ahlers to the general election, where Pérez ultimately defeated Ahlers to secure the seat.[10][11]

Pérez is the youngest member of the California State Senate and the 2nd youngest woman to ever serve in the California State Senate.[2]

Personal life

Pérez is openly bisexual.[12]

Electoral history

2024

2024 California's 25th State Senate district election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Elizabeth Wong Ahlers 73,002 35.7
Democratic Sasha Renée Pérez 67,266 32.9
Democratic Yvonne Yiu 35,693 17.5
Democratic Sandra Armenta 19,486 9.5
Democratic Teddy Choi 8,881 4.3
Total votes 204,328 100.0
General election
Democratic Sasha Renée Pérez
Republican Elizabeth Wong Ahlers
Total votes 100.0

2020

2020 Alhambra City Council, Fourth District election
Primary election
Party Candidate Votes %
Nonpartisan Sasha Renée Pérez 16,934 58.49
Nonpartisan David Mejia (incumbent) 9,541 32.95
Nonpartisan Karsen Luthi 2,479 8.56
Total votes 28,954 100.0

References

  1. ^ "California - General Election - Tuesday, November 5, 2024 - State Senate District 25 - Districtwide Results".
  2. ^ a b @AlexCVassar (November 8, 2024). "FUN FACT: @SashaReneePerez will be the youngest current State Senator as well as the second-youngest woman to ever serve in the California State Senate". Twitter.
  3. ^ "Home". The Campaign for College Opportunity. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "Cal Grant Equity Framework | California Student Aid Commission". www.csac.ca.gov. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  5. ^ Dow, Audry; Bustilllos, Leticia Tomas; Brymner, Jake; Perez, Sasha; Vasquez, Linda. "In their voices: undocumented in California public colleges and universities | VOCEDplus, the international tertiary education and research database". Campaign for College Opportunity: 22.
  6. ^ Resendiz, Eric (December 31, 2020). "Alhambra native makes history, is youngest woman to be mayor of the city". ABC 7. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  7. ^ "Sasha Renee Perez makes history as she's sworn in as mayor of Alhambra". Pasadena Star News. December 16, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  8. ^ "Noche 2021 Honoree - Outstanding Elected Official - Sasha Renée Pérez". www.activesgv.org. Retrieved December 3, 2024.
  9. ^ Orona, John (February 14, 2024). "With Portantino terming out, race for state Senate seat heats up with 3 candidates so far". Pasadena Star-News.
  10. ^ "Sasha Pérez Leads in State Senate District 25 Democratic Primary". Colorado Boulevard. March 4, 2024.
  11. ^ "2024 Election Results: Alhambra Mayor Sasha Renée Pérez in lead for state Senate 25th District seat". Pasadena Star-News. November 6, 2024.
  12. ^ Bajko, Matthew (January 31, 2024). "Political Notebook: Record number of bi women seeks CA legislative seats". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
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