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Sonja Diaz in SF Gate: “Judge is first Latina nominated to California’s high court”

Despite the growing influence of Latinos, who make up the largest racial or ethnic group of California’s nearly 40 million residents, no Latina has served in a statewide constitutional office or as U.S. senator, said Sonja Diaz, founding director of UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute.

THE FIRST LATINA TO THE CALIFORNIA SUPREME COURT

Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced the appointment of Judge Patricia Guerrero to the California Supreme Court, making it the first time that a Latina has sat on the state bench. UCLA LPPI joined a group of Latino advocates and legal experts to urge Gov. Newsom to appoint a Latina to the vacancy in a Sept. 24, 2021 letter. UCLA LPPI founding director Sonja Diaz issued the following statement in response to the appointment.

Sonja Diaz in Los Angeles Times: “Rick Caruso has entered the mayor’s race. Will L.A. elect a billionaire?”

Still, Sonja Diaz, director of the UCLA Latino Policy and Politics Institute, cautioned that the Los Angeles of today is starkly different from the city that elected Riordan.

San Juan County, New Mexico Board of Commissioners Redistricting Plan Violates the Voting Rights of Navajo Nation Citizens

The Board of Commissioners of San Juan County, New Mexico adopted a redistricting plan that denies San Juan County’s Navajo Nation citizens and other Indigenous voters an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, according to a lawsuit filed Thursday by civil rights advocates against the county.

Matt Barreto in NBC Right Now: “Redistricting lawsuit filed against three Washington leaders for lack of Voting Rights Act compliant district in Yakima Valley”

Furthermore, the compliant said district 15 has a concentration of white voters with a history of racially polarized voting. This was discovered through a study done on voting patterns in the valley by the Director of the UCLA Voting Rights Project Matt Barreto.

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