Cristina Garcia is often referred to as a “Force of Nature,” first as a dynamic community organizer and civic activist and now as a new generation of leader in the California State Legislature.

Born and raised in the community of Bell Gardens, Garcia was a middle school, high school and collegiate math and statistics teacher for thirteen years.  She got her start as an activist for higher ethical standards in government in 2010 when her city was faced with a massive corruption scandal. She organized a coalition of concerned citizens, formed the Bell Association to Stop Abuse (BASTA), and they successfully ousted the corrupt officials and established accountability and transparency in her local government.

She then ran for the 58th Assembly District in the fall of 2012 on a platform of ethics reform and good governance. She saw the problems in Sacramento and wanted to put the State Legislature back to work for the people of California. When she was elected, she went to Sacramento and did just that.

In the Capitol, she crashed the good old boy’s network and is now leading the way to empower women to take their seat at the table. She insisted on parity in the tax code by introducing a bill to repeal the sales on pads, tampons and other menstrual items and led the charge to update the definition of rape in light of Brock Turner verdict, starting a national dialogue on both issues.  As the Chair of the Legislative Women’s Caucus, she made gender equity a priority and has been pivotal in ensuring that the Women’s Caucus plays an important role in budget and policy discussions.

Reflective of the cultural change as a state and the new realities of a diverse population of color, Cristina Garcia embraces her own communities with a message of hope and inclusion.

She demanded accountability in man-made environmental disasters, like the Exide battery plant, and pushes to make all levels of government more transparent and accountable to voters. As the Chair of the Natural Resources Committee, Cristina Garcia is fighting to make sure communities like hers aren’t left behind any longer. In 2017, she passed a first-of-its-kind air quality bill to address her district’s unique environmental justice issues and proceeded to tout this environmental achievement at the UN Climate Change Conference COP23 in Bonn, Germany. 

 She is on a constant mission to educate, empower and engage, whether that is for constituents of the 58th Assembly District, for women or for disadvantaged communities.  She fights for change with a passion to improve the lives of working people and to brighten the path to the future for our next generation.  As a vibrant new leader of promise, Cristina Garcia hasn’t forgotten where she came from, but with purpose, she also knows where California should be going.

When I was first elected to the assembly, I promised to represent our community- not the special interest. After all, I was not a politician - I was a math teacher and community activist interested in stopping corruption. 

My time in our state capitol hasn't been easy. The special interest didn't like me when I first arrived and still don't. But I'm not afraid of them. I continue to believe we must always put the people's interest above the special interest. 

Here are some of my laws putting people's interest first:

Cleaning up our local Central Basin Water Board, so there would be more accountability and sweetheart contracts would stop.

Auditing the Montebello Unified School District to bring more transparency on how they spend our tax dollars. 

Forcing toxic polluters to shut down immediately after a local air board recognizes that they're putting our health at risk.

Giving educators the authority to intervene when students are being cyberbullied. 

Placing free menstrual products in bathrooms of our low-income schools to improve school attendance. 

Creating a funding stream to cleanup man-made environmental disasters like Exide. 

Prohibiting the sale of vaping devices or liquids to people under the age of 18. 

I am also proud of my role in the national #metoo movement. I tell everyone - that YES, #metoo is about women's rights but more importantly it's about treating each other with respect and dignity. I can't think of a greater reform that that. 

I will continue to put my community’s needs first.