For the record, Hilda Solis is asking California voters for a chance to continue to serve.
A day after she launched her campaign for what would be California’s 38th Congressional District, should voters approve new district maps in November, Solis, 67, spoke about her life in politics, how to get things done in the Trump era, and if working in the divisive national landscape ever gets her down.
The answer to that last question is no, thank you very much.
Since first getting elected to public office in 1985, as a member of the Rio Hondo Community College Board of Trustees, Solis said one word her parents taught her has driven the purpose of her work.
“Ganas, my, my parents would always tell me, and, and if you could translate it, it’s like you have the power, you have the energy, you have the foresight,” she said. “It’s almost like what Obama and Cesar Chavez talked about when they said, ‘Si, se puede,’ yes we can. ‘Ganas’ means having the energy to get behind it and to work hard, to know that your work is going to be valued and respected.”
Solis’ parents, Raul and Juanita, were immigrants from Mexico and Nicaragua. He worked as a shop steward and labor leader, she at the graveyard shift at Mattel’s in the City of Industry.
The third of their seven children, raised in La Puente, now boasts a lengthy, high-profile resume, serving now in the all-women Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and before that, in the California State Assembly and as the first Latina in the state Senate. Solis was also secretary of labor under the Obama administration from 2009 to 2013.
If California voters approve redrawn congressional maps in a November special election, in a move to counter a similar Republican strategy in Texas, Solis would be running to serve Los Angeles areas where she’s well-known, such as her hometown of El Monte, Bell, Commerce, Diamond Bar, Montebello, Pico Rivera and West Whittier. The redrawn map would also include Yorba Linda and Anaheim in Orange County.
Solis said a lot hinges on Prop. 50 passing in November.
“I hope it does, and for me it’s a very exciting time to be able to be in a position to say I’m ready,” she said Friday.
She doesn’t like the notion of the proposition, but it’s because she feels voters are under attack.
“We need to say, ‘wait a minute, let’s stop,’” Solis said. “We need to make sure we’re taking care of California, of the 40 million people that live here, but more importantly, in this new district, which is made up of many immigrant populations.”
“I’m ready to continue in this fight for our residents and for people who need to have a say-so in how their federal government is either working for them or not, and I want to be that voice to say that we can make it work.”
Top among the new district’s needs is affordability, Solis said, from health care for seniors, young children and people with disabilities, to housing, and transportation. There’s a lot to be done for women and veterans, students and working families.
Solis said she fights for things “I know people really care about, which is also environmental justice, workers’ rights, healthcare access and making investments in our underserved communities.”
Her work experience, she said, means she knows how to harness assets, whether it’s through federal dollars, state dollars, county support, and private sector investments.
Her roster of backers includes civil rights leader Dolores Huerta, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass, and five representatives who could be colleagues: Reps. Judy Chu, Lou Correa, Laura Friedman, Robert Garcia and Luz Rivas.
They point to Solis’ record on the environment, which earned her the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2000, the first woman to do so.
Solis said she is willing to adapt how she gets things done, describing herself as one who likes to build coalitions, not tear them down.
“I will tell you that for decades I’ve represented Democrats, Republicans, people from many walks of life, and have been able to give them the trust and the work ethic that’s required to do the job,” she said.
“I’m coming in with wide eyes, you know, I know that this is going to be a challenge for all of us, but I’m prepared to stand up and fight and voice my opinions, but do it in a manner that we build coalitions, that we also talk sense, and I believe my background can help with that, certainly,” Solis said. “I’m always listening.”
It’s about the history of her work and her record, she added, that proves she can work and come to productive terms with people who may not share her political views.
“Being able to say you can count on me, I will do my best to deliver, but we also have to work together, and that’s what I’ve been able to do, work with others, and that I think is something that we oftentimes get lost on,” Solis said.
If she attains the new seat, Solis said her priorities include ensuring the state has bolstered firefighting resources, leaning on what works, and not cutting costs at the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
“We need FEMA,” she said. “We don’t need to be pushing back and cutting out the role that FEMA plays because we have disasters all the time. There are disasters everywhere.”
She wants to make sure there’s affordable housing for people rebuilding in the Palisades and Altadena, providing legislative relief through expedited permitting, loans for small businesses and fire insurance reform.
“There’s still a lot to fight for,” she said.
Facing a challenger for the seat remains a possibility for the veteran politician, said Democratic strategist Michael Trujillo, even as he acknowledged Solis is “a force of nature that will definitely be the frontrunner for this seat.”
Solis, a Democrat, said she’s not too concerned about new or younger challengers.
“I think my real work is going to be sharing what my experience has been, what opportunities that are going to be made available and how to work with other people and deliver on that, to build coalitions,” she said. “I don’t want to be a part of the divisiveness.”
Solis said she hopes the voters in the new district, including ones in Orange County who may not be as familiar with her record, would vote yes in November, if only so she can prove to them that the American pursuit of happiness is still within reach.
“Government could work for us if you have the right leadership, and I do, I do strongly believe that today,” she said.
Solis is a long way away from the young politician who knocked on doors and was told, “We don’t vote for your kind.”
“I was told many, many years ago that I wouldn’t amount to much,” Solis said. “But I’ve always stepped up when there’s a challenge. All I can say is that judge me not by the color of my skin or my last name. Judge me by my work and what I’ve been able to do.”