CAMPAIGN NEWS: Pérez Raises Over $300,000 for State Senate Campaign

Alhambra City Councilwoman Sasha Renée Pérez announced that she has raised over $300,000 for her campaign for the 25th Senate District, which includes Pasadena and other San Gabriel Valley communities. 

The District seat is currently held by Anthony Portantino, who will be termed out.

In the race Pérez faces Monterey Park Councilwoman Yvonne Yiu and attorney John Harebedian.

Her campaign characterized the fundraising as “grassroots,” apparently in reference to Yiu’s significantly self-funded war chest.

Pérez said in a statement that she received $255,605.62 from 512 contributions between Feb. 14 and June 30, according to her first public disclosure filing with California’s Fair Political Practices Commission. She said she has gone on to collect more than $300,000 in total contributions since the filing.

“I’m grateful to each and every contributor to this campaign and their belief in the grassroots movement we are building,” she said. “I am inspired by the many people whose contribution was the first ever given to a political campaign.” 

Pérez, an educator and equal rights advocate, was raised in Glendora and Alhambra, the daughter of a union electrician, a Los Angeles County social worker, and the granddaughter of a Sheetmetal worker and AFL-CIO organizer. She excelled at Monterey Highlands Elementary and Mark Keppel High School and became the first in her family to graduate college, earning degrees in Political Science and Economics from California State University, Los Angeles.

Pérez began her professional career with the Pat Brown Institute at Cal State LA, where she educated high school students about civic engagement and policy. She then joined the Campaign for College Opportunity, advocating for equitable policies in higher education and leading coalitions that worked to improve college access, success, and affordability. 

She also worked on the Cal Grant Equity Framework with Senator Connie Leyva and Assemblymember Jose Medina, to simplify and expand Cal Grant access to nearly half a million college students. Most recently, she served as the Political Director for the “Yes on Prop 1” campaign, which enshrined the right to abortion and contraception in the California State Constitution.

In 2020, Pérez was elected to Alhambra City Council and immediately sworn in as Mayor, making her the youngest female Mayor in San Gabriel Valley history and the youngest Latina Mayor in California history to lead a mid-sized city. Her campaign added she was the first openly bisexual mayor in the country. 

The primary election is scheduled for June 4, 2024.

For more information on her campaign, visit www.sashareneePérez.com.