Eduardo Garcia
Re-elect State Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia to keep AD-56 on the right track.
About the Position
State Assembly Members form part of the California State Legislature, and work alongside the governor to establish laws and a state budget. They hold the power to pass bills that affect public policy, set state spending levels, raise and lower taxes, and uphold or override the governor’s vetoes. The California State Assembly has 80 districts. Each represents a population of at least 465,000 Californians. Representatives are elected to the Assembly for a two-year term. Every two years, all 80 seats are subject to election. Members elected before 2012 are restricted to three two-year terms (six years) in the Assembly. Those elected in or after 2012 are allowed to serve 12 years total across both the State Senate and Assembly. This term, Democrats currently hold a two-thirds supermajority of 61 seats in the California State Assembly, while Republicans hold 17 seats. One seat is held by an Independent, and one seat is currently vacant.
About the District
California's 56th Assembly District includes all of Imperial County and parts of Riverside County. Democrats typically hold this district. The most recent election results show 64.2 percent of AD-52 voted for Clinton for president in 2016, and 61.5 percent of the district voted for Newsom for governor in 2018.
About the Race
In the primary, Democrat incumbent Assemblymember Garcia led Republican challenger America Figueroa by a margin of 28 percent. Neither candidate has pledged to refuse corporate PAC, fossil fuel, or police money. Garcia’s campaign has raised $387,571.73. Garcia has accepted funds from corporations and fossil fuel interests. Figueroa’s campaign has raised $8,365.00, mostly from individual donations.
About the Candidate
Eduardo Garcia is a lifelong resident of the Coachella Valley, and currently lives in Coachella. He is the incumbent, having served in this position since 2015. According to campaign materials, Assemblymember Garcia wants to continue to champion health care, as well as environmental and economic development for the Coachella and Imperial Valleys.
Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia has authored several critical pieces of legislation. In 2016, he authored a landmark bill that mandates the reduction of emissions, improves oversight of the Air Resources Board, and lays the groundwork to ensure that future policies prioritize investments in the disadvantaged communities that are most affected by pollution. He currently chairs the Committee on Jobs, Economic Development, and the Economy, and the Select Committee on Renewable Energy Development and Restoration of the Salton Sea.
Rep. Garcia currently sits on 15 committees and chairs the Standing Committee on Water, Parks, and Wildlife. Rep. Garcia has co-sponsored one bill about affordable housing this year, which has successfully passed. He scores a lifetime score of 92 out of 100 on Courage Score, our annual analysis of legislators’ progressive voting records. Based on our Courage Score analysis, Rep. Garcia has supported the most progressive bills that made it to a vote. That said, he was absent on a vote that would prohibit medical insurance companies from engaging in surprise billing.
Prior to his election to the State Assembly, he served as Coachella’s first elected mayor.
Rep. Garcia is endorsed by many progressive groups in the district. Challenger Figueroa is endorsed by the California Pro-Life Council and conservative figures who oppose sex education in schools. According to our analysis, Rep. Garcia is the strongest choice for equitable and representative leadership in office.