Flora faces one challenger for Assembly seat

Heath Flora, R-Ripon, will be defending his incumbency for the second time next month. But unlike other incumbents fighting to remain in Sacramento, Flora will be challenged by just one opponent in Lathrop City Councilman Paul Akinjo.

A native of Nigeria, Akinjo immigrated to the United states in the early 1980s, and has been a Lathrop resident since 2001.

A registered Democrat, He was appointed to the Lathrop City Council in 2012, and re-elected in 2014 and 2018.

Akinjo holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial arts and technology from San Francisco State University, as well as an associate’s degree in electronics technology from Laney College in Oakland. He also holds various levels of computer and networking certificates from Cisco and MicroSoft, and works as a technical support analyst with the County of Alameda.

A former member of the United States Army Reserve, Akinjo is also the appointed pastor for the Redeemer Christian Church of God in Lathrop.

If elected to the Assembly’s 12th District seat, Akinjo would like to address issues such as homelessness, transportation, health care and immigration policies.

Flora was first elected to the assembly in 2016, and was re-elected in 2018. Prior to his political career, Flora spent 15 years as a firefighter for various agencies, including CalFire and several volunteer departments.

He has been a farmer and small business owner before his election to the Assembly.

During his first two terms, Flora has fought to stop the Twin Tunnels project, and campaigned to increase water storage in the Central Valley.

He has also campaigned to improve local economies and schools.

He and his wife Melodie live in Ripon with their two daughters.