Lorena Gonzalez
Assemblywoman
Lorena Gonzalez was elected in 2013 to represent California’s 80th Assembly District, which includes portions of the City of San Diego, Chula Vista, and
National City.
The daughter of an immigrant farmworker and a nurse, Lorena was raised to value hard work and determination. She attended public schools in San Diego County before earning a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, a master’s degree from Georgetown University, and a Juris Doctorate from UCLA School of Law.
Lorena worked as the Senior Advisor to former California Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, where she served as his appointee to the California State Lands Commission and as an alternate on the California Coastal Commission. In January of 2008, Lorena was elected the first woman and person of color to serve as CEO and Secretary-Treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO, a non-profit labor advocacy organization that represented more than 200,000 local workers in 135 affiliated unions and worker centers.
Upon her special election to the California Assembly, Lorena immediately began working on issues important to the border district. In her first four months in office, Lorena authored and the Governor signed legislation protecting immigrants from legal services fraud and allowing “Dreamer” law students who pass the State Bar exam to become attorneys. Lorena has won recognition for her work on behalf of workers, small businesses, seniors, immigrants and more. Most recently, the Governor signed history making legislation authored by Lorena, guaranteeing California workers three paid sick days per year.