Two Democrats and a Republican are competing in the June primary to represent California’s 31st Assembly District, home to nearly half-a-million residents in the City of Fresno and rural communities like Sanger and Parlier.
The winner will replace current Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, who was first elected to represent District 31 in 2016. He’s forgoing a shot at re-election to pursue a seat on the Fresno City Council.
Now, the executive director of a Fresno nonprofit, a sitting Fresno City Councilmember and a retired supervisor with the City of Fresno’s Public Works Department are facing off in the three-way race for Arambula’s seat.
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No matter their party or share of the vote in the primary, the top two finishers in the June 2 election will proceed to a runoff in November.
The winner this fall joins the legislature as state lawmakers decide: How much should California bridge the gap as the Trump administration slashes federal funding and imposes stricter eligibility requirements for locally-administered programs like Medicaid/Medi-Cal and food stamps — programs that see high enrollment rates in Fresno County.
They’ll also face questions of how to tackle the state’s ongoing housing crisis — which has major implications for constituents in the City of Fresno, where rents have soared, and regional homelessness creeps upward.
And, as the future of the state’s health care system becomes a major battleground for the California gubernatorial race happening simultaneously, assemblymembers will also answer important questions about what that system will look like and who will be entitled to care.
Read more about where the candidates — ordered alphabetically by last name — stand on these and other issues below.
What does a California Assemblymember do?
The California State Assembly has 80 members representing distinct geographical districts across the state. The assembly passes laws specific to California and decides on the state’s budget, alongside the 40-member State Senate and the governor who has veto power.
Assemblymembers are elected to two-year terms and, following the passage of Proposition 28 in 2012, can serve up to a maximum of 12 years in the legislature (though they can split that time between the Assembly and Senate).
As of December 2025, California state legislators receive yearly salaries of $134,694. Assemblymembers in leadership positions, such as minority or majority floor leaders or as speakers take home an extra $10,000 to $20,000 a year.
Who is running in the District 31 primary election?
Sandra Celedon
- Job: Executive director of the nonprofit Fresno Building Healthy Communities; previous roles include as an outreach and enrollment programs manager at Clinica Sierra Vista and HIV health educator with Bay Area Addiction Research and Treatment, Inc.
- Age: 41
- Residency: Immigrated to the U.S. at age 5 and grew up in the unincorporated community of Calwa, where she lived for 35 years; now lives with her husband and son near Fresno State
- Key Endorsements: Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, Assemblymember Sade Elhawary, Central Valley Progressive PAC, National Union of Healthcare Workers
Celedon has held elected office only once previously on the Calwa Recreation & Park District board. But she’s also had a hand in crafting local policies and winning state dollars for local projects, such as the City of Fresno’s 30-year Measure P sales tax funding parks and the arts and a $6.6 million renovation project for Calwa Park.
“I have a demonstrated track record,” she said. “There are things I can point to in this community, from sidewalks to clinics to parks to a college that I’ve had a direct hand in helping to build.”
She and her organization have also brought high-profile lawsuits against state and local institutions, including the operator of the Clovis and downtown Fresno hospitals and Caltrans — something she said distinguishes her from her fellow candidates.
“My history shows I’m willing to take on anybody on behalf of our community,” she said. “I have no sacred cows.”
Celedon, one of the two Democrats running, says she’s representative of the district, as a working-class mother and an immigrant.
“I don’t come from a political dynasty. I’m not backed by any corporation,” she said. “I’m backed by everyday people.”
What reforms does she want to make to California’s health care system?
In the long-term, Celedon said she’s an advocate of universal health care and a single-payer system.
“I do not subscribe to the talking point that it’s impossible and that it’s hard, and so therefore we shouldn’t do it. Is it hard? Absolutely,” she said. “We can do hard things.”
As an assemblymember, Celedon said she will either reintroduce or support the reintroduction of CalCare, a proposed single-payer system, after it recently failed a third attempt to pass through the state assembly. The program is backed by the California Nurses Association, which has contributed one of the largest donations to Celedon’s campaign.
“Short of that,” Celedon added, “specifically around Medi-Cal, we need to continue our promise of providing access to care for all Californians, regardless of who they are.”
Celedon criticized the state legislature’s decision last year to freeze Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented immigrants only a year-and-a-half after opening up eligibility to them as the state looked to plug a $12 billion budget hole.
“This state can’t continue to pretend that they’re fighting for immigrants against the federal administration … but then turn around and quietly try to then do exactly what the federal administration is doing,” she said, “which is starve us and cut us out of the system.”
Celedon added that she believes ridding the system of administrative inefficiencies could help cover the cost of opening up Medi-Cal to more enrollees.
She also wants to reform Medi-Cal to boost reimbursement rates, cover the costs of more medications and potentially pay for food delivery for seniors and patients on restricted diets through partnerships with local community-based groups.
Does she support a second iteration of the Distressed Hospital Loan Program?
Celedon said she isn’t sure whether she could support a second round of the program and that it depends on the strength of the accountability mechanisms imposed on recipients of the bailout funds.
“We do need to intervene and ensure that there are services available for people, but at the same time, how do we make sure that we’re holding them accountable? Because we can’t just keep throwing money at a system,” she said, “but not demand that that system do better.”
Celedon would want especially strong accountability measures for nonprofit hospitals that receive tax breaks in exchange for direct community investment.
“There needs to be quantifiable improvements in the health of people that they’re serving,” she said, beyond minimum services like emergency care. “What are community members getting for that money?”
Does she want to see California bridge the gap after federal cuts to food stamps and changes to eligibility?
“Absolutely,” Celedon said.
“We can’t afford to let any Californian go hungry.”
Celedon wants the state to take care of those basic necessities first when balancing the state budget. She pointed to corporate subsidies as a place where the state could cut back in exchange.
What’s her position on SB 54, the state’s sanctuary laws?
Celedon supports the law and wants stronger mechanisms to ensure local jurisdictions comply with the provisions of SB 54.
At an election forum April 29 hosted by Cultiva La Salud, Celedon floated the idea of withholding state funds until local law enforcement comes into compliance with the law.
“When the city enters into a contract with a contractor, or even a community-based organization … in order to get the next round of funding released, you have to be in compliance. Why not implement the same practice in order for a city or a county to get funding?” she said. “They need to be in compliance with all of the laws that are currently in place.
“To me, that’s reasonable,” she added. “We cannot apply the law in one scenario and then not apply the law in another.”
What policies would she champion to tackle rising rents and other soaring costs?
Celedon said she wants to create a stricter statewide rent cap that keeps up with inflation.
She criticized the Fresno City Council for not already going further than the minimum caps on rent increases imposed by state law, even while Fresno rents have continued to rise.
“Has any city councilmember proposed this? No,” she said. “There’s a lack of leadership, and a lack of willingness to do this. Why? Because there’s strong opposition from the California Apartment Association. There’s strong opposition from the powers that be.”
She said she also wants to boost funding for down payment assistance programs and reduce costs for mortgage insurance for recipients of that assistance.
What other policies does she support to build California’s housing stock faster?
Celedon said she believes the recent policy state lawmakers approved exempting urban infill housing development from the state’s California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is “misguided.”
“Look at what’s been happening in our community. We’ve allowed the development of housing next to toxic polluting sources. That cannot continue to happen. That’s unacceptable to me, and I grew up in a community where we’re surrounded by toxic pollution. I don’t want people to die at 52. I don’t want people to die at 48. … We cannot sacrifice individuals and their lives for the sake of building housing.”
Instead, she wants to push for policies that lower the cost of construction and streamline permitting processes.
Celedon also wants to push for investments in a wider spectrum of types of housing — especially small, 900 to 1,000-square-foot homes like the ones her parents were able to save up for on farmworker salaries when she was a child.
“Not everything has to be a McMansion or a tiny home,” she said. “Those are not the only choices.”
What’s her position on the expansion of bachelor’s degree programs at community colleges?
Celedon supports the expansion of these programs at community colleges.
“Community colleges are amazing, and I think they provide accessibility for low-income students,” she said. “I absolutely want to see higher education be more accessible to young people.”
How will she tackle air quality in District 31, home to some of the most polluted tracts in the country?
Celedon pointed to her work to support the passage of AB 617, a state law that expanded requirements for monitoring local air quality and reimbursements for efforts to clean up the air in the state’s most heavily polluted communities. The law paved the way for $45 million in funding to help South Central Fresno monitor and clean up its air.
She wants to build on that work at the state level to invest in improving indoor air quality through filtration systems, especially in small school districts.
Celedon also wants to invest in transitions toward cleaner technology, like electric buses for schools and cities.
Her organization sued Caltrans to combat a highway expansion in a case a Fresno County judge ultimately threw out — and Celedon wants to continue the fight in the state assembly.
“I want to see Caltrans actually do a better job at maintaining the existing infrastructure,” she said, “the existing freeway system that we already have, and then not expanding it.”
What is her position on the state’s high-speed rail project?
Celedon said she believes the state is too far into the project to give up now, even though she’s not confident it will be completed in her lifetime.
“Could there have been better management in terms of, like, how it got implemented? Yeah, absolutely,” she said. “But hindsight is 20-20.”
She also wants the state to invest in anti-displacement measures for communities surrounding future high-speed rail stations.
Does she support the voter ID ballot measure?
No.
“I think it’s quite unnecessary,” she said. “California has a really good system of allowing people to vote in convenient ways.
“Why would we complicate things? If something is working, don’t mess it up.”
Does she support the so-called ‘billionaire tax’?
Yes.
“It is an opportunity to make sure that folks are paying their fair share,” she said. “It’s not a long-term solution, but it is a start.”
Will she vote ‘yes’ on a Fresno County transportation tax measure?
Celedon is a co-author of the Better Roads and Safe Streets ballot measure and will vote for it.
How will she maintain an open line of communication with constituents?
“My plan in terms of staying connected to people is the same that I’ve always done,” Celedon said.
That will involve meeting people where they are and using direct feedback to shape policy.
“I never make any big decisions unless I actually talk to (the) community.”
What endorsements has she received?
Celedon has received an endorsement from the current District 31 assemblymember, as well as other sitting and former elected officials in the district, including:
- Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula
- Assemblymember Sade Elhawary
- Sanger City Councilmember Esmeralda Hurtado
- Parlier Unified School District Superintendent Rafael Íñiguez
- Former Assemblymember Juan Arambula
- Former Assemblymember Sarah Reyes
She has also been endorsed by a number of progressive organizations in the Central Valley and beyond, including:
- Central Valley Progressive PAC
- National Union of Healthcare Workers
- North Coast States Regional Council of Carpenters
- Working Families Party
- Power CA Action
- Planned Parenthood Advocates Mar Monte
- Dolores Huerta Action Fund
- Central Valley Leadership Round Table
Who are some of her top funders?
Celedon has raised the second highest total in this race at just under $275,938. She has brought in the greatest number of individual contributions, however, at 541 as of May 13.
She has received donations from a handful of labor PACs and progressive candidate PACs, as well as several attorneys, educators, doctors and fellow nonprofit leaders in Fresno. Current District 31 Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula and members of his family have also contributed to Celedon’s campaign.
Celedon’s two largest donations exceeding $6,000 include:
- $11,800 from the Northern California Carpenters Regional Council Power PAC Small Contributor Committee
- $11,800 from the California Nurses Association PAC
Annalisa Perea
- Job: Current Fresno City Councilmember since winning a 2022 election; before that served on the State Center Community College District board from 2018 to 2022
- Age: 38
- Residency: Lifelong District 31 resident with the exception of attending college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo; current resident of the Fresno High neighborhood
- Key Endorsements: California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria, Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, California Democratic Party, SEIU California
Perea, a city planner by training, is coming to the close of her four-year term on the Fresno City Council, representing District 1.
She said she decided to give up a chance at another four years on the city council because pursuing an assembly seat felt like a way to help the community “at an even greater level.”
“I love what I do for the City of Fresno, but what I’ve learned is,” she said, “a lot of what we can or can’t do is dictated by what happens at the state level — whether it’s the type of laws that are created or what the budget looks like.
“I don’t see it as a job promotion. I don’t see it as moving up,” she added. “I just simply see it as an opportunity to serve my community in an even bigger way.”
Perea said she’s proud of city policies she championed like ministerial approval for infill development in office-zoned districts and near transit corridors. She was also pleased to see two neighborhood land use plans affecting her district — the Tower District and the neighborhoods west of the 99 freeway — receive council approval in her time.
But she has also faced controversies in her tenure, including a legal fight over the city’s budget process. That battle recently concluded with a judge ruling the city’s past process, which involved annual private budget committees where elected leaders did their final negotiations over the city’s multibillion-dollar budget, violated the state’s open meetings laws, known as the Brown Act.
Perea became council president after a lawsuit was first brought against the city over its budget process, and she made changes to the budget process subsequently, though she didn’t opt to make its subcommittee a standing committee with public meetings.
She defended the city’s budget process, stating she believes it’s the most transparent in the Central Valley, though she said that if a future council president wanted to create a standing budget committee subject to the Brown Act, she would support that decision.
“When it comes to taking public feedback into this process,” she said, “I’ve respected each respective councilmember’s decision to choose how they think the budget process should look for their respective districts.”
Perea comes from a well-known family in Fresno politics: her father, Henry R. Perea, is a former Fresno City Councilmember and Fresno County Supervisor, who is now a California High-Speed Rail Authority board member and continues to influence local issues like the future of Fresno County’s transportation sales tax measure. Her brother, Henry T. Perea, also previously served on the Fresno City Council and represented the 31st Assembly District before transitioning to a job as a lobbyist for Chevron.
She said that she’s “proud to come from a family with a long history of serving the Central Valley,” while emphasizing that she, her brother and her father are all “individuals with our own perspectives and experiences.”
“My approach to every policy issue, from transportation to economic development, is grounded in what I believe is best for the residents I represent and the values I bring,” she said. “I respect the work my father and brother have done in their respective roles, but voters should know that when I take a position, it is my own.”
Perea is also among the two Democrats running in this race. She said what distinguishes her from her fellow Democrat is her experience in government, especially the last few years in Fresno where she and her colleagues have had to make tough decisions in the face of budget shortfalls several consecutive years.
“I’m the Democrat that has the experience of working across the aisle to get things done. You pair that with working as a policymaker during tough budget times,” she said, “and I think that provides me with a unique set of skills that the other candidate doesn’t have.”
What reforms does she want to make to California’s health care system?
Perea wants to see the expansion of what types of medical expenses and treatments are covered by insurance in California.
She said she’d personally experienced those gaps in coverage when she and her partner had to leave the country to receive IVF treatment. They were one of many same-sex couples for whom fertility treatments weren’t covered by insurance, even while policies covered that treatment for their heterosexual counterparts.
Perea also wants to expand access for all. She said she believes assemblymembers struck the wrong compromise last year when they addressed a $12 billion budget deficit in part by freezing Medi-Cal enrollment for undocumented people.
“Diseases don’t discriminate based on your documentation status,” she said, “and so coverage shouldn’t either. When you talk about freezing coverage for anyone, we’re just going to pay for it even more on the back end.
“We can’t be surprised if later on, our ERs are that much (fuller),” she said, “because we didn’t take care of people when we had the opportunity to.”
She added that while she’s a proponent of “affordable, if not free, health care” she doesn’t want to promise “free this and free that” on the campaign trail even while anticipating tough budget times and difficulty balancing the state’s health care demands with other needs like education.
“When it comes down to: How do we split the pie?” she said, “I just think we have to be realistic in the promises that we’re making to people right now.”
Does she support a second iteration of the Distressed Hospital Loan Program?
Perea said she’s a big supporter of the program.
Does she want to see California bridge the gap after federal cuts to food stamps and changes to eligibility?
Perea wants the state to offset the financial impacts — even if it can’t “fill the gap entirely” left by the sudden loss of billions of federal dollars.
She pointed to her work on the council to create an LGBTQ grant program as an example of her past efforts to supplement funding diverted from local nonprofits under the Trump administration.
“We are doing everything we can at the city level to fight back against what’s happening at the federal government. I know the state is doing the same exact thing, and so that’s why I think it’s important to continue to have that type of leadership at the state level,” she said. “We can’t backfill every single dollar that has been lost from the federal government level, but we can definitely do our part.”
What’s her position on SB 54, the state’s sanctuary laws?
Perea said she wasn’t familiar with SB 54 specifically but that her personal stance is that local law enforcement’s cooperation with ICE should remain at a minimum.
“My personal stance is that it needs to be extremely limited,” she said, “unless it’s a severe case where we have a dangerous criminal that, for whatever reason, is within our city and ICE is in need of cooperation from local law enforcement.”
California’s sanctuary law already carves out some exceptions for local law enforcement to play a role in federal immigration enforcement for undocumented people convicted of serious or violent felonies and a number of misdemeanors, though even in those cases it doesn’t allow local agencies to initiate contact with ICE.
Some Fresno County officials, including the sheriff and a county supervisor, have criticized the latter provision in recent months.
What policies would she champion to tackle rising rents and other soaring costs?
Perea said she supports manufactured housing construction as a way to build homes “expeditiously, in a cost-effective way” that also allows owners to then charge more affordable rents.
She also brought up wanting to pursue policy to hold corporate landlords accountable, an issue she recently asked the Fresno City Attorney’s Office to study on the local level.
Perea pointed to existing state law protecting tenants and capping annual rent increases.
Outside of that, she said her philosophy as a councilmember has been to balance the need for regulation with market demands.
“We could have all the regulations and red tape in the world, but if we’re driving away the market, and we’re seeing the market go to other parts of the Central Valley or other parts of the state, then our policies are having the opposite effect,” she said, “which is decreasing the amount of housing that’s ultimately being built in our city.”
What other policies does she support to build California’s housing stock faster?
Perea said she supports state lawmaker’s recent move to exempt urban infill housing development from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and said it’s comparable to the changes she pushed for to allow ministerial approval at the local level.
“Being a city planner, I know what it takes to remove red tape” and speed up housing construction, she said. “It doesn’t mean you circumvent environmental law. It just means that you do it at the forefront. So that way, when you have project proposals that come before you, it’s covered underneath that umbrella, blanket CEQA.”
What’s her position on the expansion of bachelor’s degree programs at community colleges?
Perea said she’s very supportive, specifically of Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria’s recent efforts to expand bachelor’s degrees in nursing at state community colleges through a pilot program.
Soria’s bill passed both houses of the state legislature but was vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year — though she has since reintroduced the bill.
“We have a brain drain when it comes to local talent within the health care workforce,” Perea said. “I think this bill would definitely allow us to grow more homegrown talent.”
How will she tackle air quality in District 31, home to some of the most polluted tracts in the country?
Perea said she wants to invest in the expansion of the state’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure, particularly in the Central Valley, as well as a subsidized program to help low-income families afford transitioning to EVs.
She also would like to look at expanding CEQA exemptions for battery storage systems, solar farms and other projects that would help the state meet state climate goals.
“I think CEQA is well intended,” Perea said, “but when we see people use it to stop solar projects, we see CEQA used to stop any other projects that will help us better meet our energy goals, then I think we have a real problem.”
She added that she would oppose a mileage tax, an issue that recently sparked controversy as state lawmakers weigh how to handle projected declines in gas tax revenue as vehicles become more fuel-efficient and drivers switch to EVs. Mileage taxes charge drivers taxes based on their miles traveled, as opposed to tacking on that tax at the gas pump.
“I’ll tell you that a mileage tax would be devastating to the Central Valley,” Perea said.
What is her position on the state’s high-speed rail project?
Perea said she supports the project and believes it would be a “game-changer” for Fresno economically.
But she wants the state to revisit the project’s business plan to find an economically feasible path forward.
With the federal government, she said the project’s future will hinge on “ who is going to be in the White House next.”
“While it is our state project,” she said, “I think it needs to have more of a national support system attached to it in order to fully realize what ultimately, hopefully will be a high-speed rail system that helps people travel throughout our country.”
Does she support the voter ID ballot measure?
No.
Does she support the so-called ‘billionaire tax’?
Yes.
Will she vote ‘yes’ on a Fresno County transportation tax measure?
Perea said she’s not ready yet to commit to supporting either of the rival plans to replace Measure C.
One of the plans is backed by some of her colleagues at Fresno City Hall, as well as Mayor Jerry Dyer, who has endorsed Perea. A rival plan is backed by other rural Fresno County mayors, as well as Perea’s father. Both are still in the process of qualifying for the ballot, although the Dyer-backed plan has already taken the step of submitting signatures to the county clerk.
Perea added that as she’s been canvassing, she has heard criticism of the Dyer-backed plan specifically from rural residents who feel like they’re not getting their fair share of funding, she said.
“What people are telling me is that this measure … it’s better than nothing,” she said, “but it’s not good enough.”
How will she maintain an open line of communication with constituents?
Perea pointed to the town halls, neighborhood watch meetings and other community events she has hosted throughout her time on the Fresno City Council as examples of the kinds of engagement she’ll continue as an assemblymember.
She wants to also host regular health resource fairs.
“I will carry that same openness and accessibility,” she said, “when I am at the state level.”
What endorsements has she received?
Perea has received a slew of endorsements from state lawmakers and officials and local elected officials, including:
- California Attorney General Rob Bonta
- Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas
- Former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins
- State Senator Anna Caballero
- Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria
- Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer
- Fresno City Councilmember Mike Karbassi
- Fresno City Councilmember Tyler Maxwell
- Fresno County Supervisor Luis Chavez
- Fresno County Supervisor Brian Pacheco
She has also been endorsed by numerous local and statewide labor groups, including:
- Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1027
- California Federation of Labor Unions
- California Professional Firefighters
- California Teachers Association
- California School Employees Association
- Fresno City Employees Association
- Fresno, Madera, Kings, Tulare Building Trades Council
- Fresno Police Officers Association
- Operating Engineers Local 3
- SEIU California
She’s also received support from several political groups, such as the California Democratic Party, the California Latino Legislative Caucus, the CA Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus and the National Women’s Political Caucus, among others.
A complete list of her endorsements is available on her campaign website.
Who are some of her top funders?
Perea has outraised her opponents by hundreds of thousands of dollars, amassing the highest total in the race at $520,766 across 183 contributions as of May 13.
She’s received large donations from several labor PACs, real estate developers, agricultural companies, health care companies, women’s and LGBT candidate PACs and some of her elected peers at Fresno City Hall, as well as Native American tribes like the Picayune Rancheria of Chukchansi Indians and Pechanga Band of Indians.
She has received more than 50 contributions above the $5,000 mark. Her highest contributions at or above $6,000 include:
- $11,800 from the Fresno Police Officers Association PAC
- $11,800 from the SEIU California State Council Small Contributor Committee
- $11,800 from the SEIU Local 2015 State PAC
- $11,800 from the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California PAC
- $11,800 from the California Teachers Association / Association for Better Citizenship
- $11,800 from the Association of California School Administrators PAC
- $10,800 from the California Real Estate PAC (CREPAC) – California Association of Realtors
- $6,800 from Plumbers and Pipefitters U.A. Local #246 COPE Committee
Jim Polsgrove
- Job: Retired after 31 years working for City of Fresno in the Public Works Department, including as a supervisor overseeing right of way and special districts, followed by five years with Fresno County’s Public Works Department
- Age: 69
- Residency: Born and raised in Fresno; currently lives in the old Sunnyside area
- Key Endorsements: U.S. Rep. Vince Fong, Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig, Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce, Orange Cove Mayor Diana Guerra Silva
Polsgrove said his platform is to “bring common sense back to California,” which he says is lacking mainly from the political left.
“There’s many issues out there (where), hey, this is a good idea, but it’s not practical,” he said. “We don’t have the infrastructure. It’s premature. We need to do more prep work before we implement this.”
He is the only Republican in the Assembly District 31 race. Beyond party lines, Polsgrove said what distinguishes him from his two opponents is his track record of solving issues in the city and county for roughly 40 years.
“I have been able to bring people together to reach a solution. I had to work with the railroad, I had to work with PG&E. Anybody that’s ever had to work with those, know that they don’t play well with other people,” he said. “And I’ve been successful in being able to work with them to bring resolution to various problems.”
What reforms does he want to make to California’s health care system?
Polsgrove said the state either needs to raise reimbursement rates so that hospitals don’t have to go into debt providing care for patients, or eliminate Medi-Cal eligibility for non-citizens — the latter being something the state has already begun to walk back.
“The first people that you need to take care of are your constituents,” he said, “the citizens of the state of California.”
Does he support a second iteration of the Distressed Hospital Loan Program?
Polsgrove said he wouldn’t support a second round of the funding “because of the way it’s structured.”
“Throwing money at a problem doesn’t solve the problem,” he added, “that just puts it off until it’s so bad that it’s going to collapse.”
He said he believes the hospital’s financial distress stems partly from the “people on public assistance health care that shouldn’t be there in the first place,” and that the state may need to limit eligibility to U.S. citizens only.
Does he want to see California bridge the gap after federal cuts to food stamps and changes to eligibility?
Polsgrove said he doesn’t want to see the state raise the tax burden on Californians any higher than it currently is, and that he doesn’t want programs like food stamps to become an “ongoing generational handout,” rather than a supplement for individuals who don’t make enough money to afford necessities on their own.
“You’ve got people that just want to take advantage,” he said. “They want to sit back and watch Oprah or whatever, and get that check every month and get the SNAP benefits and so on. They are failing to do their part in their own life.”
What’s his position on SB 54, the state’s sanctuary laws?
Polsgrove wants the law repealed.
“Regardless of the level of crime,” he said, “you’re protecting a criminal.
“A lot of people come to the United States for the American Dream, and I’m all in favor of that,” he added. “I’m sure my ancestors came to the United States to succeed and achieve the American Dream, but if you’re achieving the American Dream, you’re not out there committing crime.”
What policies would he champion to tackle rising rents and other soaring costs?
Polsgrove wants to cut taxes and fees and eliminate fraud. He specifically mentioned lowering the state’s gas tax and vehicle registration fees to lower costs and keep more money in the hands of Californians.
“I personally drive a 2020 Chevrolet truck, two-wheel drive. My son that lives in Idaho, he drives a (2018) Dodge, but it’s four-wheel drive, so they’re roughly the same value. His registration tags and registration on his truck are $62.50 a year. I just paid mine: $557,” he said. “Where’s that money going to? Why is there such a discrepancy in the amount?”
What other policies does he support to build California’s housing stock faster?
Polsgrove said that when he started campaigning a year ago, he expected residents’ concerns to center on cost of living, inflation or water policy.
Instead, “very close to the No. 1 issue I keep hearing from people is homelessness,” he said. “They’re tired of inaction with the homeless problem. It needs to be solved, and what they’re doing right now in Sacramento is not solving the problem.”
Polsgrove said his priority would be to direct funding toward rehabilitative services for homeless people dealing with substance abuse and mental health issues, rather than relying on the state’s “housing first” model.
“All you’re doing at that point is putting a broken person under a roof,” he said. “You’re not fixing the problem that got them there in the first place.”
A landmark 2023 UCSF study that surveyed thousands of homeless adults in California found that the most often-cited reason people gave for having become homeless was loss of income. Thirty-five percent of those surveyed reported regular drug or alcohol use three or more days a week, and about 20% said they wanted but couldn’t access addiction treatment. Sixty-six percent of the surveyed adults also reported experiencing mental health symptoms, while only 18% said they had accessed treatment or medication in the past 30 days.
What’s his position on the expansion of bachelor’s degree programs at community colleges?
Polsgrove said he wasn’t familiar with the expansion of bachelor’s programs at California community colleges but said he would support them only if they were equally rigorous at the community college and university level.
“The cost of education is high, and anything that would make it cheaper to educate people, to bring them into the workforce, to make them a productive person, I’m all in favor.
“But,” he added, “if you’re talking about giving a bachelor’s degree in nursing but you’re only qualifying them as a lower level, versus an RN that’s spent the money, spent the time at Fresno State in their program, I would disagree with that.”
How will he tackle air quality in District 31, home to some of the most polluted tracts in the country?
Polsgrove said he hadn’t studied policies specific to improving air quality but said he supports protecting the environment.
What is his position on the state’s high-speed rail project?
Polsgrove called the project “one of the biggest jokes in the world” and a “bottomless pit.”
“They need to cut their losses,” he said, “and be done with it.”
Does he support the voter ID ballot measure?
Yes.
“The bottom line is, if you go buy a beer, do you need to have an ID? If you go drive a car and get pulled over, do you need to show your ID?” Polsgrove said. “I mean, which is more important: buying a beer or voting for the future of the United States?”
Does he support the so-called ‘billionaire tax’?
No.
“You’re already seeing an exodus of businesses, billionaires, companies and whatnot, that are moving out of California,” he added.
“Now, you’re going to drive these people out by taking 5% of their hard-earned money. I mean, maybe they’ve been lucky, but these people have worked for the money.”
Will he vote ‘yes’ on a Fresno County transportation tax measure?
Polsgrove said he’s been more focused on state-level issues in this campaign and wasn’t familiar enough with the competing proposals for a county-level transportation sales tax to throw his support behind one.
How will he maintain an open line of communication with constituents?
Polsgrove said that he has a goal of opening an office in District 31 and opening it up for constituents to meet with him personally at least one Saturday per month.
He also discussed wanting to help relay District 31 residents’ concerns to elected officials at the federal level who may not have the same bandwidth to engage with them “on a personal level.”
What endorsements has he received?
Polsgrove has received endorsements from a number of Republicans in Congress and local government, including:
- U.S. Rep. Vince Fong
- U.S. Rep. David Valadao
- U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock
- Fresno County Supervisor Buddy Mendes
- Fresno County Supervisor Nathan Magsig
- Clovis Mayor Vong Mouanoutoua
- Clovis Mayor Pro Tem Diane Pearce
- Clovis City Councilmember Drew Bessinger
- Clovis Unified Trustee Deena Combs-Flores
- Orange Cove Mayor Diana Guerra Silva
- Selma Unified School District Board President Narinder Sahota
- Sanger City Councilmember Michael Montelango
He’s also been endorsed by local, statewide and national GOP groups including the California GOP, the Fresno County Republican Party, Fresno County’s Republican National Hispanic Assembly and Valley Young Republicans.
Who are some of his top funders?
Polsgrove has raised the least among his competitors in this race as of May 13. He’s brought in a total of $32,340 from nine donors, and $25,000 of that comes from a loan he gave to his own campaign.
His single largest donation outside of that comes from developer Richard Spencer, who donated $5,900 to Polsgrove’s campaign.
