Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria ’11 Elevates the Valley
By Carla Meyer
Assemblywoman Esmeralda Soria ’11 is devoted to the San Joaquin Valley, the swath of California often overlooked in coastal city-centric state politics.
Issues affecting her district, which encompasses UC Merced and vast expanses of farmland, “are very different from Bay Area or Southern California issues,” Soria said during an interview at the state Capitol. “I make the most of every opportunity to talk to colleagues who have no idea what is happening in the valley.”
A daughter of Tulare County farmworkers and a two-term Fresno councilwoman, Soria was elected to the Assembly in 2022. She faced crises almost immediately: the closing of Madera Community Hospital, and flooding in rural Planada (Merced County).
Soria helped create the Distressed Hospital Loan Program. It earmarked $52 million for the Madera hospital, which UCSF aims to help reopen. Soria secured $20 million for Planada, after working with UC Merced’s labor center to identify the true need in a community where many are undocumented “and not applying to FEMA,” Soria said.
The University of California is another through-line for Soria, a Berkeley political science-Chicana/o Studies major and a legislative aide before law school. At King Hall, she found “a great mentor” in Immigration Law Clinic Co-director and California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation Executive Director Amagda Pérez. A CRLAF clerkship led Soria back to policy work.
Currently up for re-election, she is one of three siblings to hold elected positions.
“My mom always said, ‘To whom much is given, much is required.’ We believe much was given, (including) opportunities to go to some of the best public institutions in the state. … We owe it to the people who fought for those resources to help those coming behind us.”