Valladares announces candidacy for 23rd Senate District

Former Assemblywoman Suzette Valladares, R-acton, has announced her candidacy for the state’s 23rd Senate District, which incorporates the Santa Clarita Valley, Antelope Valley, and a portion of the Victor Valley.

Valladares enters the race with the endorsements of state Sen. Scott Wilk, R-santa Clarita, whose current 21st Senate District includes much of the newly redrawn 23rd Senate District, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, who represents the 34th Assembly District, former California GOP chairman and Antelope Valley business leader Frank Visco, and state Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones, R-san Diego.

“California is broken and desperately in need of bold leaders to move us forward,” Jones said in a statement released by Valladares’ campaign. “Suzette Valladares is a proven leader, strong voice and problem solver who will put the needs of the people of California’s 23rd Senate District first, and I am proud to endorse her candidacy.”

Valladares was elected to the California Assembly in 2020 and was one of the founders of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus. She serves as executive director of a nonprofit organization that partners with law enforcement to invest in youth. Supporting law enforcement, making neighborhoods safer, lowering California’s high cost of living, and working to end the homeless crisis and fentanyl crisis remain her top priorities, the campaign statement said.

“We need to continue working to make our streets and communities safe, lower the cost of living, including our energy bills, have available and affordable housing, and solve the homeless, drug trafficking, and fentanyl crises, problems that are all connected,” Valladares said in the statement. “The 23rd State Senate District has led the way in the aerospace, technology, energy and entertainment industries. We can lead the way to make California a better place to live and work.”