Chuy Garcia, 52, sits behind the cash register at a neighborhood market in Jurupa Valley. Garcia, who describes himself as a “common sense” Republican, is concerned about kitchen table issues like the cost of living, parental choice in schools and higher taxes.
Garcia’s market sits in California’s 58th Assembly District, which includes Jurupa Valley and stretches from Grand Terrace and Riverside to the east and Corona to the west.
Voters like Garcia are deciding whether to keep incumbent Republican Assembly woman Leticia Castillo or support her opponent, Democrat Clarissa Cervantes. This isn’t the first time the two have faced off: Castillo narrowly defeated Cervantes by close to 600 votes in 2024.
The 58th Assembly District traditionally votes with a Democratic sway and is about 60% Latino, but in 2024 President Donald Trump and Republicans carried the election. Castillo benefited from this political shift.
Now, Cervantes is aiming to regain the seat back for Democrats in this rematch that could offer insights into whether the party can regain ground with Latino voters who support Trump.
But some believe both parties are struggling to reach voters like Garcia, who said he isn’t paying attention to the race between Castillo and Cervantes because he doesn’t see the point.
“Everybody just wants to say what you want to hear to get votes,” said Garcia. “Nobody wants to address the facts, you know, what is common sense, basically.”
Cervantes positions herself as ‘Anti-MAGA’ candidate and slams opponent for silence on ICE raids, cost of living impacts
Cervantes, 37, has been on the Riverside City Council for five years. She has positioned herself as an alternative to Castillo, who is a strong Trump supporter, by tying the incumbent to the president’s immigration policies and broader concerns about the cost of living.
Cervantes has also used her opposition to Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco as a central part of her campaign. Bianco, himself a MAGA supporter, seized hundreds of thousands of ballots following the Prop. 50 election last year over voter fraud allegations.
“When we went before the California Supreme Court, I was getting [text] messages, ‘Were you scared? Are you nervous?’” Cervantes said at a rally alongside Democratic Gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra in Riverside earlier this month. “I said, ‘No, I'm not afraid of people who want to undermine democracy.’”
In March, Cervantes, Becerra and Indio City Councilman Oscar Ortiz sued Bianco over the ballot seizure. The lawmakers eventually prevailed, and a court ordered the sheriff to return the ballots.
Cervantes has also drawn attention to ICE’s repeated enforcement operations in the 58th Assembly District and the economic impact it has on working families in the area. She said Castillo has not been vocal about immigration raids in her district.
“I do feel that the silence that we're seeing from the current Assembly member is unacceptable because every city in [Assembly District] 58 has at one point had someone taken,” said Cervantes. “We deserve someone who's going to speak up to protect our residents, to assure that we are following state and federal laws. People shouldn't have to live in fear, and that's what we're at right now.”
Cervantes argues that federal spending priorities are contributing to economic pressures that are hitting Riverside County constituents hard.
“One of the biggest things that we're hearing is the cost of these wars that are taking place, the cost of investing over $1 billion into ICE,” said Cervantes. “These are all on taxpayer dollars.”
October surprise may damage Castillo’s ‘Faith, Family and Values’ message
Castillo, 55, is a psychotherapist from the unincorporated town Home Gardens, which sits between Riverside and Corona. In campaign messaging, Castillo says that she is a first-generation Mexican-American. Castillo is also the daughter of a bracero, or Mexican worker authorized to work in the U.S. during and after World War II.
Castillo declined KVCR’s multiple requests for interviews, but her campaign slogan is “Faith, Family, Freedom.” She criticizes Sacramento Democrats for increasing taxes, which she says have raised the cost of living for working class families. She’s campaigning on eliminating the state’s gas tax and protecting families.
Castillo is trying to appeal to a segment of the electorate, mostly Latino men, who are frustrated with Democrats. Political experts say that like Castillo, conservative Latino men claim the party doesn’t focus on kitchen-table issues and criticize them for supporting transgender minors and their participation in sports.
“I felt like if I wasn’t being represented correctly in Sacramento because of these stupid laws, I knew that my community wasn’t either, because I know our values are similar; regardless [of] party affiliation,” Castillo said of why she chose to run for state Assembly on conservative podcast “Latino Free Minds” last week.
She’s also been hitting hard on Cervantes’ past DUI charges in campaign ads.
But an October surprise could scramble Castillo’s campaign strategy. Earlier this month, the California Post reported that Castillo operated an adult entertainment website in the 2000s. Castillo told the Post she is not the same person she was then, and has since found God.
Experts say California’s Latinos are “de-aligned” from both Democrats and Republicans
Mike Madrid is a longtime Republican political strategist who has worked on election campaigns for both parties. He focuses on Latino voter trends across California and spent time polling the Inland Empire during this election cycle.
Madrid, who is also an anti-Trump Republican, said Cervantes’ strategy of tying Castillo to the unpopular president is the right political move.
“Look, she's a Trumper, and that's what matters at this moment,” said Madrid. “Nobody cares about anything else. That's why Cervantes is running the race that she is.”
But Madrid says if Cervantes is elected, it would be a mistake for her to continue focusing on Trump and immigration politics in Sacramento. He says like most Americans, Latino voters are focused on the economy.
“When no party has any solutions, they're going to resort to these old caricatures of what is driving Latinos, which, in this case is immigration,” Madrid said.
Madrid added that if Cervantes doesn’t come up with economic solutions that speak to Latinos, the vote will swing again. He said many Inland Empire Latino voters consider the economy, by “wide measure”, to be the most important election issue.
Madrid also says many Latinos are “de-aligned” from both parties.
“By dealignment, what I mean is extraordinary loss of confidence and trust in both parties,” said Madrid.
Chuy Garcia considers himself to be one of those people. He expressed frustration by the lack of free speech and debate tolerated by both sides of the political spectrum. Garcia is also concerned about ICE’s enforcement, which he said has gone too far.
“You do have your felons and people that did bad things,” said Garcia. “What if he's the bread provider? He's got a family of five, and you take him out. How are these people gonna eat? How are they gonna pay the rent?”
But Garcia still blames the Democrats for the state’s affordability issues.
“I don't understand why they can't see what is bad for business,” he said.
And Garcia votes on cultural issues, especially when it comes to transgender girls in sports.
“I think there's sports for boys and there's sports for girls, and that's it,” said Garcia. “I don't think they should be crossing over, especially a boy dominating women's track and field, or a boy dominating women's boxing.”
This story was edited with support from The California Newsroom, a collaboration of public media outlets throughout the state.
