Wendy Carrillo was elected to serve in the California State Assembly in December 2017. She represents the 51st Assembly District which is home to close to 500,000 residents in the City of Los Angeles, incorporated East Los Angeles and includes some of the most historic and iconic communities in the city. Prior to being elected to office, Assemblywoman Carrillo was a broadcast journalist for twelve years covering human rights, global conflict and US politics. Additionally, she worked in communications for the Service Employee International Union United Long Term Care Workers, which represents over 350,000 Home healthcare workers in California and served in local government as a communications deputy for a member of the Los Angeles City Council. She has been an advocate for education, immigration reform, environmental justice, healthcare for all, job creation and innovation. In the State Assembly she serves on the Appropriations, Rules, Public Safety, Health and Water, Parks and Wildlife committees. Assemblywoman Carrillo immigrated to the United States as a young child during El Salvador’s Civil War and is a first generation American with Salvadoran and Mexican heritage. She is the eldest of five daughters and received a Bachelors of Arts in Communications from California State University Los Angeles and a Masters in Journalism and Political Science from the University of Southern California.

California State Assembly - District 51
District 51 — California State Assembly
Get the facts on the California candidates running for election to the District 51 — California State Assembly
Find out their top 3 priorities, their experience, and who supports them.
About this office
Candidates
- Access to Quality Education: As a first generation...
- Creating Economic Opportunity: Wendy will continue...
- Improving Access to Healthcare: Wendy supports efforts...
- Prioritize fiscal responsibility and reduce our debt.
- Increase economic freedom, creating jobs and allowing...
- Promote individual liberty, including welcoming immigrants...
My Top 3 Priorities
- Access to Quality Education: As a first generation college graduate, Wendy knows that education is the foundation for our children to succeed.
- Creating Economic Opportunity: Wendy will continue fighting for high wage jobs, retirement security, affordable housing and economic growth.
- Improving Access to Healthcare: Wendy supports efforts to provide a permanent source of funding to build affordable housing as well as a statewide housing bond.
Experience
Biography
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My Top 3 Priorities
- Prioritize fiscal responsibility and reduce our debt.
- Increase economic freedom, creating jobs and allowing for housing construction.
- Promote individual liberty, including welcoming immigrants and reforming drug policy.
Who supports this candidate?
Organizations (1)
Questions & Answers
Questions from League of Women Voters of California Education Fund (4)
As more and more people move to Los Angeles, the need for housing rapidly increases. However, restrictive zoning laws and building regulations make it difficult to meet this growing demand, causing skyrocketing rents and housing costs. Though some suggest forcing renters to maintain certain prices, this does not address the primary problem: there is simply not enough housing to meet the demand of our growing population, forcing prices continuously higher. I will work towards making housing development easier, thus alleviating the problems of costly rents and homelessness in our city, all while allowing for more construction jobs and greater economic growth.
If elected, my position as a third party candidate will put me in a unique position to reach across the aisle and come to effective, nonpartisan solutions to California's problems. I will insist that my policy positions and conversations are not centered around the vitriolic two-party feuding that has engrossed our nation, but rather are founded in independent thought, civil discourse, and the input from all of my constituents. Likewise, libertarianism is built around the Non-Aggression Principle, an idea that is very important to me: violence against others is never appropriate except in the case of self-defense against violence. Though much of the anger in our political dialogue is warranted, it cannot ultimately be what guides our actions.
It goes without saying that air pollution and water supply are issues important in Los Angeles. However, oftentimes the burden of solving these problems is put on the backs of normal, hard-working Californians instead of those who disproportionately pollute or use resources. Instead of instituting across-the-board penalties (such as burdensome gas taxes) on people who contribute the least to pollution, I will create more targeted restrictions towards those who pollute the most. Perhaps more importantly, however, I would like to create incentives for clean energy, particularly in the form of more extensive tax breaks for those who invest in or utilize renewable energy. Finally, I would push to see money currently being wasted on unnecessary infrastructure - such as special interest projects like high speed rail - be used instead on water retention and efficiency measures.
Our educational system has been overrun with administrative bloat, a problem that has been compounded by both neverending regulations and self-interested educational management. Currently, California spends roughly $9000 per student, or $225,000 per every classroom of 25 students. The idea that this is not enough to both pay a fair salary for a teacher and one year of operating costs for one classroom is absurd, and this reality demonstrates the amount of waste in our system. Further, the allocation of these resources often disproprtionately goes to already well-off areas, as there is no incentive for reallocation to schools in need. I believe that we need a different approach to our education system, and ideas such as charter schools and school vouchers provide a means to allow all young Californians to receive the education they deserve. I will work to ensure that systems are put in place to ensure money is going to the right places, rather than giving empty promises that simply increasing spending will help matters.
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