With promises of free ube shakes, Filipino merienda, music and vintage cars, Democratic primary candidate for Assembly member for the 52nd district of California Jessica Caloza sponsored a Get-Out-the-Vote event at The Oinkster on Colorado Boulevard March 3.
As classic ’90s hip hop played from the DJ’s speakers, Caloza took pictures with supporters and Paco, a local parrot celebrity. Teofilo Coffee Company served Filipino coffee to event attendees while Caloza’s team passed out fliers involving how to turn in primary ballots.
The 52nd District includes much of Northeast LA, including Eagle Rock and Highland Park. The current Assemblyperson, Wendy Carillo, is leaving a vacant seat in order to run against Kevin de León in the LA City Council District 14 election.
Caloza said that she, along with owner of The Oinkster Fred Guerrero, high-profile chef Alvin Cailan and owner of apparel brand Makina Drivers Club Nick Tolosa, came up with the idea for this event because voter turnout is extremely low, especially in the Filipino community.
“Only 1000 Filipinos out of the approximately 13,000 eligible voters have actually voted,” Caloza said.
Caloza said she immigrated to the U.S. from the Philippines with her parents and her five siblings when she was four, and they lived with her grandpa in Eagle Rock.
“This is a district that’s near and dear to my heart,” Caloza said. “It has such a beautiful immigrant community, has a lot of working class families and I think that, in my opinion, represents the heart of LA.”
According to Caloza, she, Cailan and Tolosa wanted to bring together different community leaders and members from all across the district to come meet each other, ask questions about their ballots and find out information about voting centers.
Tolosa said his brand is rooted in Northeast LA which has a growing presence of next-generation Filipino Americans who want their voices reflected in their community.
“Regardless of whether or not you vote for our campaign or not, we really just want you to vote,” Caloza said.
Cailan said he has known Caloza for a long time and that after watching her grow in her political career, he wanted to help push her foward
“Jessica is like the embodiment of the Filipino American, and we’re underrepresented in politics,” Calian said.
Cailan said she has always looked up to chef Andre Guerrero of The Oinkster and has come with his family to get ube shakes, burgers and pastrami sandwiches since they opened, he said. According to Cailan, if you’re in the 52nd district, you know The Oinkster.
Cailan said he is involved politically and has spent time with Vice President Kamala Harris to discuss Filipino American representation. According to Cailan, he was one of two Filipinos at Harris’s mansion for a Lunar New Year celebration.
“I don’t know how to be a politician. I do know people though,” Cailan said. “We need some things as Filipino Americans that aren’t necessarily reflected in the legislature here in California or on the federal level.”
According to Caloza, she became interested in politics during college after a hospital stay that would not have been possible without the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare.
“It was really a life or death experience for me,” Caloza said. “That really showed me how important public policy is, how important government is.”
Following that experience, Caloza said she went to work as a field organizer for the Obama campaign and eventually the administration in the US Department of Education. After a few years, Caloza said she missed home and returned to work in the LA Mayor’s office.
“From there, I worked my way up and was appointed to the Board of Public Works,” Caloza said. “In 2019, I became the first Filipino American commissioner.”
According to Caloza, she feels ready to take her federal, state and local experience to the State Assembly to deliver results for the neighborhoods of the 52nd District.
“One of the biggest lessons learned is that most people don’t know what their state representative does,” Caloza said. “We’ve been doing a lot of voter education, telling them that the [assemblymember] is a person who decides what to do with your taxpayer dollars.”
Some priority issues for Caloza, she said, pertain to reproductive rights, the cost of living and supporting community programs for children and senior citizens.
“I’m proud to have the most support from a lot of grassroots organizations, from labor, from business, especially small business and from students and young people,” Caloza said.
Caloza said her campaign has had multiple volunteers come from Occidental, such as Jack Sabee-Paulson (sophomore) who was promoted to campaign intern.
Sabee-Paulson said that it’s rare to see a grassroots campaign today in politics and that Caloza will come to every event and talk to her volunteers and interns.
“She canvasses out there with us, and it’s a really powerful thing,” Sabee-Paulson said.
There are currently no Filipino Americans in neither the State Assembly nor the State Senate, Caloza said.
“I am somebody who really wants to see more representation for communities that aren’t always heard at the state level,” Caloza said. “If elected, I would actually be the first Filipino woman in the state assembly.”
“We are the second largest Asian American group in California and one of the largest groups in LA County,” Caloza said. “We have the most Filipinos in LA County outside of the Philippines. So our community is really yearning for a seat at the table.”
Guerrero said he took over The Oinkster from his father about a year and a half ago after helping him open the restaurant 18 years ago. The idea for the event came to Guerrero through Cailan, one of Guererro’s family friends, he said.
“There’s a focused community of Filipino chefs. There’s not a lot of them here in LA, so we all tend to band together and Alvin just said ‘we’re doing this thing’ and they needed a place to host that would love to do it,” Guerrero said.
According to Guerro, the community aspect of Caloza’s campaign is important to him.
“I’m half Filipino, and my dad and our family immigrated to Glassell Park from the Philippines in the 50’s,” Guerrero said. “I think we’ve been here this long because of the support of the neighborhood, so we always want to do our part to give back.”
Caloza said she puts her personal cell phone number on the back of a lot of her campaign mail and has received over 4000 text messages with questions about voting.
“We share resources so [voters] can find out more information so they can make an informed decision,” Caloza said.
Caloza said the event at The Oinkster made her feel hopeful about the election.
“Even with the drizzle, hundreds of people have come out, a lot of them from our neighborhood,” Caloza said. “The turnout is great and it’s people who don’t always get involved in politics and elections because we’re intersecting and bridging so many different communities.”
This article went to press before the results of the March 5 election were announced.
Contact Ava LaLonde at lalonde@oxy.edu.
