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Headshot of Esmeralda Soria

Esmeralda Soria

Democrat, State Assembly
District 27, Merced
Time in office:
  • Assembly: 2022-present

Bio

Esmeralda Soria, 42, is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and worked with them in the Central Valley’s agricultural fields. She graduated from UC Berkeley, earned a law degree from UC Davis, worked briefly as a lobbyist for a non-profit and became a member of the Fresno City Council. She was the first Latina council president in Fresno. In 2020, she ran for Congress against incumbent U.S. Rep. Jim Costa and lost in the primary. In the Assembly, she has worked to secure funds to re-open rural hospitals.

Ideology

Left

Moderate

Right

Bill Activity

0

Of 3 bills:
 Passed
 Failed
3 Pending

For this session year, this legislator initiated 3 bills: None passed, None failed, and 3 are currently pending.

Alignment Meter

See all-time percentage of this legislator’s alignment with any organization based on total votes.

xx%votes: xx

Financials

This feature tracks three sources of money intended to help a candidate win election: 1-Money given directly to a candidate’s committee, 2-Money given to an Independent Expenditure Committee, 3-Money given to a political party. (NOTE: Senators are elected every four years. Twenty of the 40 Senators are on the ballot in even-numbered years, so Senators may do little or no fundraising in the first two-year session of their Senate term).

Election

This display shows money given directly to the incumbent’s campaign committee (NOTE: The industry categories for donors come from Open Secrets, a nonpartisan research organization for campaign finance. Some contributions are “uncoded,” meaning they have not been assigned to an industry sector. As a result, the total for each sector is also an estimate).

Agriculture

$112.3K

Candidate Contributions

$5.8K

Communications & Electronics

$29.6K

Construction

$17.5K

Energy & Natural Resources

$76.8K

Finance, Insurance & Real Estate

$146.1K

General Business

$170.2K

Government Agencies/Education/Other

$127.8K

Health

$143.9K

Ideology/Single Issue

$50.2K

Labor

$385.4K

Lawyers & Lobbyists

$6.2K

Party

$187.3K

Transportation

$36.3K

Uncoded

$978.6K

Unitemized Contributions

$1.5K

Candidate Donations

Individuals, corporations, organizations and committees are limited to a maximum donation to candidates of $5,500 for the primary and for the general elections.

Total
$2.5M

228.0% higher than the average legislators

Independent Expenditures

Money from Independent Expenditure Committees (IEC) for advertising or grassroots activity to help a candidate win office is unlimited, but it cannot be spent in coordination with the candidate or the candidate's campaign.

Total
$178.5K

Grand Total for Elections

$2.7M

251.0% higher than the average legislators

This is a total of the money to help this legislator win office including direct donations to the candidate, money from Independent Expenditure Committees and money from political parties.


Influence

There are three categories of donations to legislators after they are elected that encourage a working relationship between the donor and the legislator. The three categories are: 1-Gifts, 2-Travel, 3-Behests.

Giver
Value
Date
Description
Western States Petroleum Association$692.76Dec 13, 2022Food & Drinks*
University of California Merced Foundation$110Dec 9, 2022Food & Drink
Viejas Band of Kumeyaay Indians$108.39Sep 30, 2022Food & Drinks
Rivas for Assembly 2022$107.22Oct 2, 2022Food & Drinks
Urban Associates, inc.$99.7Jun 25, 2022NALEO Architecture Tour
Dr. Juan Munoz, University of California Merced$67.83Dec 13, 2022Holiday Wreath
California Democratic Party$61.78Nov 9, 2022Centerplate

Personal Gifts

Legislators are not allowed to accept gifts of more than $10 per month from registered lobbyists. Gifts from any other single source are limited to $590 in a calendar year.

Gift Received Rating
#51/120

This legislator is ranked 51st highest for the amount of personal gifts received.

Hearings

Featured Comments

Below are links to the video and transcript of recent, substantive comments by this legislator in committee hearings or floor sessions.

Preview image for AB 26611MIN
Aug 31, 2024

AB 2661

Electricity: Westlands Water District.

Preview image for AB 327550SEC
Aug 29, 2024

AB 3275

Health care coverage: claim reimbursement.

Preview image for AB 210438MIN
Jul 3, 2024

AB 2104

Community colleges: Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program.

Preview image for AB 266112MIN
Jul 2, 2024

AB 2661

Electricity: Westlands Water District.

Preview image for AB 327517MIN
Jun 26, 2024

AB 3275

Health care coverage: claim reimbursement.

Preview image for AB 20606MIN
Jun 25, 2024

AB 2060

Lake and streambed alteration agreements: exemptions.

Preview image for AB 22817MIN
Jun 18, 2024

AB 2281

Tribal judges.

Preview image for AB 26618MIN
Jun 11, 2024

AB 2661

Electricity: Westlands Water District.

Preview image for ACR 2046MIN
Jun 6, 2024

ACR 204

Alzheimer’s Disease and Brain Awareness Month and The Longest Day.

Preview image for AB 26612MIN
May 23, 2024

AB 2661

Electricity: Westlands Water District.

Preview image for AB 21043MIN
May 22, 2024

AB 2104

Community colleges: Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Pilot Program.

Preview image for AB 19606MIN
May 22, 2024

AB 1960

Sentencing enhancements: property loss.

View All Hearings

District

View of map with yellow overlay for Assembly District 27 boundaries.
District 27 is a Leans Democratic District
Democratic Party candidate has a high likelihood of winning in an election

Previous Election:

Esmeralda Soria
53.9%
WON
Joanna Garcia Rose
46.1%

Party Registration

Census Data

Median age0102030

Median age