Senate District 23 includes High Desert communities in both Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. It stretches from Santa Clarita in the west, through Lancaster and Palmdale and to the Victor Valley communities of Adelanto, Hesperia and Victorville in the east.
Five candidates — three Democrats and two Republicans — seek to claim the open seat. Among the candidates is former Republican Assemblymember Suzette Valladares.
Candidates are listed in this article in the order in which they will appear on the March 5 ballot, as determined by the San Bernardino County Registrar of Voters. We asked all candidates the same questions. Below are their responses.
Bianca Azucena Gomez, Democrat
Occupation: Victorville City Council member
Website: No website as of Feb. 7
Campaign donations: $0 as of Feb. 7
Gomez did not respond to repeated requests for comment for this story.
Kipp Mueller, Democrat
Occupation: Workers rights attorney
Website: KippForSenate.com
Campaign donations: $620,558.75 as of Feb. 7
If elected, what would you do to respond to the housing crisis in the district?
“Ensuring people can afford their homes and don’t fall into homelessness must be a priority. That’s why I believe we need to build far more housing than we are — instead, each year we fall behind further on demand, driving up housing prices and putting more people on the street. And it’s not good enough to simply build more housing — we need to build affordable housing in all areas of our state, not just in areas that have historically attracted low-income communities.”
What would you do in the Legislature to address crime in the district?
“We must ensure those who are properly trained to deal with mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, and other circumstances are the ones responding to those calls, and officers are freed up to focus on stopping violent crime. We also must stop crime before it starts, which happens when we address the root causes like…
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