Two Latinas battle for Fresno state assembly. Will the district flip from Democrat to Republican?

California’s closest race is between two Latinas offering opposite visions for the region they want to represent. All eyes are on District 27’s state assembly race between Esmeralda Soria, the Democratic incumbent, and Joanna Garcia Rose, the Republican challenger.

In March, Garcia Rose surprisingly beat Soria in the primary with 51% of the vote.

The district which includes parts of Fresno, Madera, and Merced county, has a majority Latine population. Latines make up the largest racial and ethnic group in Fresno County at nearly 55% of the population. Merced has a nearly 65% Latine population.

The candidates could not be more different in their politics and personal backgrounds. Outside of party affiliation, the two women had different upbringings and relationships with their Latinidad. For a state that is known for its liberal leanings, the two candidates present a window into the growing political divisions within the Latine community and the conservative views some hold.

“We did have a historically low turnout, so I wasn’t surprised,” Soria tells Latino Times referring to her primary results, “I knew from the very beginning because there were only two of us on the ballot.” The Fresno County Clerk’s Office stated primary turnout was at roughly 21% of the electorate.

Esmeralda Soria, 42, is a Visalianative and daughter of immigrant farmworkers from Michoacan, Mexico. She has a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a law degree from UC Davis School of Law (J.D.). The bilingual Latina was elected to Fresno city council in 2014 and later won her first assembly race in 2022 where she currently holds the seat.

Soria’s views are in line with liberal Democrats across the state, advocating for immigrant rights, reproductive rights, and farm worker rights, among others. During her time at the state assembly, she was appointed to chair the agricultural committee in 2023 among other committees. On policing and environmental policy, she leans centrist, yet in comparison to her opponent, she is more progressive on those issues as well.

Joanna Garcia Rose, 39, was born in Concord to parents raised in Iowa. She identifies as a third-generation Latina. Her paternal grandparents were immigrants from Guadalajara, Mexico, and died before she was born. She graduated from Fresno State with a degree in agricultural business and her work experience includes farmer, tax auditor, and now accountant. 

Garcia Rose’s politics are conservative, she’s a registered Republican and advocates for strong policing, stricter border patrol, economic prosperity for the middle class, and stronger immigration laws. She is campaigning heavily on funding farmers and tackling California’s water crisis.

“It was tough being a first generation [farmer] and I wasn't able to keep the farms,” Garcia Rose told Latino Times, “but I think that makes me very relatable to the Central Valley because there's a lot of families that are losing their farms.” She claims she wants to make California more business-friendly.

Garcia Rose says she’s proud of being Latina despite being a few generations removed. “I've always been proud of that heritage,” she says. Her dad never learned Spanish and couldn’t pass the language down but claims she wants to start learning now. “I've decided to learn Spanish. I have to just do a full immersion and spend like two weeks in Mexico!” she says. 

Despite the district being minority registered Republicans at less than 20%, Garcia Rose finished two percentage points – a difference of 1,130 votes – ahead of Democratic incumbent Soria during the primary in March. Garcia Rose is hoping to replicate those results in November. “I did well because I'm not a career politician,” she says, “I'm just a mom who's upset with what's going on in California.”

When it comes to immigration the two candidates differ greatly. Garcia Rose is outspoken against illegal immigration and advocates for stricter border patrol. “Just look at the border crisis in Texas,” she says, “Their governor is defending their border. He doesn't care what the federal government's doing. He's keeping his citizens safe.” She supports Central Valley congressman John Duarte’s (CA-13) border plan which is strict and conservative in nature. In 2023 the congressman announced he would be co-leading the Integrating New Technologies to Empower Law Enforcement (INTEL) at Our Borders Act.

Soria however advocates for migrants' rights. “The majority of the farm workers in the valley are undocumented to date,” she says, “Not because of their own fault or them not wanting to become legal permanent residents. The reality is that we have a broken immigration system”

Soria studied immigration law with the intent to help immigrants like her parents who were once undocumented. As an elected official, she has worked to support immigrant farm workers and DACA recipients in the district, providing DACA students at State Center Community College endowed scholarships. “We provided students the opportunity to do paid internships where we've raised money to be able to hire them,” she says.

Both candidates are campaigning to address the water crisis, advocating for different solutions from desalination technology to increasing above-ground water storage. Garcia Rose aims to focus on desalination technology. “We have lots of opportunities to be able to filter things out,” she says. “I think the key in solving the [water] crisis is getting more water so we stop living in this drought.”

Soria advocates for sustainability rather than relying solely on desalination technology. “I'm a big supporter of investing in the infrastructure for groundwater recharge,” she says, “but equally important is also the above groundwater storage.” California legalized water catchment in 2012 with the Rainwater Capture Act and Soria is hoping to expand that for farmers in her district.

Garcia Rose also wants to deregulate agriculture so farmers can increase profits. “We're pushing people out of business here in California,” she says, “because we can't afford to keep up with [agriculture regulation].” In 2021 however, Fresno County farmers and ranchers experienced a record year of crop and livestock production grossing almost $8.1 billion, according to The Fresno Bee. 

When it comes to the growing national discussion on Latines leaning increasingly conservative Garcia Rose is not surprised, having had a Republican father. “I think [Latinos] are just getting informed about what the Republican Party is about,” she said. “We stand for our constitution, we stand for limited government, common sense, fiscal responsibility, all of the things that I'm advocating for.”

Soria is confident her campaign's voter outreach efforts will prevail this election and reflect the district's majority Democratic electorate. “If you look at my finance reports, we've raised an overwhelming amount of funding,” she says, “we've been doing [door-to-door outreach] now for six weeks, and we've already hit about 35, 000 doors.”