Who will represent South Park in the California Assembly?Let’s Meet the Candidates

Efren Martinez and Sade Elhawary advanced to the general election as candidates to represent you in the California Assembly (57th District). Let’s meet the candidates you will vote on in November (listed alphabetically below).

Sade Elhawary

Sade Elhawary, Democrat, educator and community organizer

Sade was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is a first generation, multilingual American of African and Latina descent and from Muslim and Christian families. She has worked for the Community Coalition, an organization dedicated to the racially “exacerbated socioeconomic inequities” in South L.A.

Sade helped create the curriculum at the Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice in Brooklyn, New York.  She also worked on Mayor Karen Bass’s mayoral campaign in 2022.  

If elected, she has named universal healthcare, reproductive justice, and equity issues such as equal pay and paid family leave as priorities.

In addition to Bass, her endorsements include Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-Los Angeles), California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta, LA County Supervisors Holly Mitchell and Hilda Solis, and a list of influential labor unions including the California Teachers Association.

Efren Martinez

Efren Martinez, Democrat, small-business owner

Born and raised in South LA, Efren is a Marine veteran, son of Mexican immigrants, and has served as the executive director of the Florence-Firestone/Walnut Park Chamber of Commerce. He attributes his struggles with poverty growing up in South L.A. as his motivation for community activism.

In 2020, Martinez ran against incumbent Reggie Jones-Sawyer in a tight race, earning 42% of the vote. In that race, he enjoyed the support of the California Correctional Peace Officers who opposed the incumbent’s criminal justice reform efforts.

If elected, Martinez has vowed to prioritize “community policing” that focuses on prevention and emphasizes positive interactions with law enforcement.

In the upcoming election, he has been endorsed by U.S. Reps. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) and Robert Garcia (D-Long Beach) as well as Democratic L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn.

Want to meet and learn more about the candidates? Mark your calendar for Thursday, September 19 from 6-8 pm at First Draft, corner of Olive and Pico. More information both on the event and the two candidates will be provided in the September newsletter.

By Debra Shrout