Ahead of the June primary election, the Southern California News Group compiled a list of questions to pose to the candidates who wish to represent you. You can find the full questionnaire below. Questionnaires may have been edited for spelling, grammar, length and, in some instances, to remove hate speech and offensive language.
Name: Juan Camacho
Current job title: President, Equality California Institute
Political party affiliation: Democratic
Incumbent: No
Other political positions held: Former City of LA Tourism Commissioner (2023-2024)
City where you reside: Los Angeles
Campaign website or social media: camachoforsenate.com
Do you believe balancing the state budget should rely more on spending cuts, new revenue streams or a combination? Tell us how you would propose tackling California’s projected budget deficit. (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe balancing the state budget requires a responsible, balanced approach, but it should begin with strengthening our revenues so we can protect essential services and continue investing in California’s future.
Throughout my career, I’ve worked with both labor and business to grow our economy and create good-paying jobs. That experience has shown me that economic growth and public investment go hand in hand. When we invest in education, infrastructure, and workforce development, we expand opportunity and grow the tax base over time.
To address the projected budget deficit, I would prioritize targeted revenue solutions, including closing outdated tax loopholes that allow the biggest corporations and wealthiest Californians to pay less than small businesses and working families. At the same time, we must maintain a stable and predictable environment so small businesses can grow and create local jobs.
I do not support balancing the budget through deep cuts that undermine public safety, education, or support for working families. Instead, we should focus on growing our economy in a way that generates sustainable, long-term revenue.We should also make prudent use of reserve funds during downturns to maintain stability and avoid disruptive cuts.
Ultimately, the goal is to strengthen California’s economy so we can meet our obligations, support working families, and continue making the investments that keep our state competitive and moving forward.
For you, what’s a non-starter when talking about budget cuts? Why? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Working families are already stretched thin. Groceries cost more. Rent has skyrocketed, and the housing shortage means too many people are one bad month away from losing stability. Healthcare premiums and out-of-pocket costs keep climbing.
The people who have already been squeezed by the cost of living shouldn’t be the ones asked to sacrifice more. That’s why I will not support cuts to Medi-Cal, community clinics, public education, services for seniors and people with disabilities, or behavioral health programs. These are the lifelines holding things together for thousands of families in my district and the last thing California should do is ask working people to do even more with less.
What are the top three most pressing issues facing the state, and what would you propose, as a state legislator, to address them? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Expanding Healthcare Access: Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege. My priority is to expand coverage for every Californian — regardless of immigration status — and make sure no family has to choose between paying rent or seeing a doctor. I will invest in culturally competent clinics, bilingual outreach, and preventive care so Latino, Black, API, and immigrant families can access the services they need. As a senator, I’ll push for sustained funding and accountability to build a healthcare system rooted in equity and dignity for all.
Cost of Living and Economic Opportunity: Working families are being priced out of their own neighborhoods, and we need to act with urgency. I will fight for affordable housing and rental assistance programs so families can stay in their communities. I’ll expand investment in union apprenticeship programs and workforce development pipelines that create pathways to good-paying jobs, particularly in the clean energy and construction sectors. At the same time, I’ll champion access to capital and procurement opportunities for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and further expand California’s Film & TV Tax Credit to keep production here in LA.
Immigrant Justice & Civil Rights: My own experience as a formerly undocumented immigrant shapes my commitment to ensuring that every Californian can live and work with dignity, safety, and opportunity. I will protect immigrant families through strong sanctuary policies, legal defense funding, and access to state programs regardless of immigration status. I’ll fight discrimination in all forms and continue my work from Equality California to ensure that LGBTQ+ Californians are protected and represented in every policy conversation.
What specific policy would you champion in the statehouse to improve the cost of living for residents? Would you see this having an immediate impact on Californians or would it take some time? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
We need to build significantly more housing through streamlined approvals and accountability measures that ensure projects get built. Housing is the biggest driver of California’s cost-of-living crisis, and we cannot address affordability without tackling this head-on.
I know this struggle personally. Growing up in a working-class immigrant household in a small apartment in the San Gabriel Valley, I watched my parents stretch every dollar to raise five kids. Sometimes all seven of us had to share one bedroom so that other families could stay with us when times were tough. Housing costs pushed families like mine to the brink, and that experience drives my commitment to ensuring every family has the security to stay in their homes and a pathway to homeownership that is simply out of reach for most Angelenos today.
My policy goals to address this crisis include both short-term and long-term solutions. I will work to expand rental assistance programs so families can stay in their homes and aren’t forced out onto our streets or out of their communities. I will work to continue streamlining approvals – especially near transit corridors and for infill housing – with real accountability to get housing built faster than our current broken system allows. And I will lead efforts to invest in programs to help create pathways to home ownership for first-time buyers and working families.
There have been numerous efforts made in the state legislature to curtail federal immigration enforcement in California, from prohibitions on agents wearing masks to banning federal officers from future employment in a public agency. Do you see any area where the state could better protect its residents from the federal government’s widespread immigration crackdown? Would you prefer the state work more hand-in-hand with the federal government on immigration? Where does the role as a state legislator fall into your beliefs here? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As a formerly undocumented immigrant, I understand firsthand the fear and instability that federal immigration enforcement creates in our communities. California has led the nation in sanctuary protections, but we must do more to shield our neighbors, our workers, our friends and family, from Trump’s escalating attacks.
The state should strengthen protections wherever federal enforcement threatens the safety and well-being of California families. We’ve seen ICE terrorize immigrant communities in workplaces, schools, and hospitals – places that should remain safe, stable environments where families feel protected, not targeted. California must continue to uphold strong sanctuary protections and ensure clear guidance that keeps local law enforcement out of federal immigration operations and limits cooperation with ICE.
We also must pursue every possible legal avenue to stop these raids, get ICE out of Los Angeles and California, and ensure the people responsible for these unconstitutional, unethical, and un-American attacks are held accountable. I support legislation, like the bill introduced by my friend Assemblymember Mark Gonzalez and Speaker Robert Rivas, to ban ICE agents from future hiring as public employees in California. I strongly support legislation to restrict access to public and private property for the purposes of civil immigration enforcement. And I believe that any federal agent who violates state law must be arrested, prosecuted, and held accountable.
I absolutely do not support the state working hand-in-hand with the Trump administration on immigration enforcement. When agencies assist with immigration-related operations, it erodes trust, discourages victims and witnesses from seeking help, and makes everyone less safe. Federal immigration enforcement has already created fear and mistrust in immigrant communities, and we cannot allow state resources to contribute to that harm.
Health care costs — like in many other areas — are continuing to rise. What policies, specifically, would you support or like to champion that could lower premiums or out-of-pocket expenses? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
Healthcare is a human right, and for me, this fight is deeply personal. Growing up, we didn’t always have access to reliable care – relying on free clinics, emergency rooms, and even a makeshift clinic in a neighbor’s garage – because it was all we could afford until my dad got a stable job in manufacturing that came with health insurance. Today, my husband Justin is a nurse, and I see firsthand how understaffing, burnout, and system inefficiencies drive up costs and limit access for patients.
I will focus on stabilizing and strengthening Medi-Cal by increasing reimbursement rates so providers can afford to serve patients and expanding eligibility so more families can access coverage. Coverage alone is not enough if patients cannot actually get timely care.
I will work to restore the Covered California subsidies that help working families afford care.
To lower out-of-pocket costs, I support leveraging California’s ability to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies, increasing pricing transparency, and protecting consumers from unfair billing practices.
We must also address the healthcare workforce shortage, a key driver of rising costs. I will invest in residency programs, loan repayment, and workforce pipelines to expand access to doctors, nurses, and mental health providers, especially in underserved communities.
Finally, I will protect and expand employer-based benefits and create good union jobs that provide quality healthcare coverage for working families.
Would you support expanding state health care programs to ensure more residents — including those who are not citizens — are covered? How would you propose the state fund such an expansion? Or, how would you propose the people who cannot afford health care still get the necessary care they need without expanding state programs? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As I said in response to the last question, this issue is deeply personal to me. I know firsthand how important access to care is, especially for communities like the one I’m running in, where many residents already face long waits, a shortage of Medi-Cal providers, and language barriers that make navigating care harder, especially in Latino and immigrant communities.
I know what it’s like to rely on free clinics, emergency rooms, and even a neighbor’s garage, being treated by a family friend who was a doctor back in their home country, because we had nowhere else to turn.
Every person in California deserves access to comprehensive, affordable, and high quality healthcare, regardless of who they are or where they were born. No one should be forced to delay care, ration medication, or risk their life because they cannot afford coverage.
I strongly support expanding state health care programs to cover more residents, including undocumented Californians.
Expanding access and protecting coverage are both a moral obligation and a public health necessity. When people can see a doctor early, manage chronic conditions, and receive preventive care, our communities are healthier and our healthcare system is stronger and more cost-effective.
I support raising revenue by asking those at the top to pay their fair share, including higher state income taxes on the ultra-wealthy, closing corporate loopholes, and fixing a tax system that lets corporations skate by while communities are asked to accept cuts. I will also work to ensure our money is being spent efficiently and effectively — so that our tax dollars are actually improving people’s lives.
Right now, one of the most urgent challenges we face is the threat to Medi-Cal due to federal funding cuts. I will fight tooth and nail to fully fund Medi-Cal, so no one loses their insurance. We cannot let millions of Californians lose access to their healthcare.
As part of combating homelessness, elected officials often talk about the need to prevent people from losing their homes in the first place. What policies or programs should the state adopt to make housing more affordable for renters and homeowners? What do you propose the state do to incentivize housing development and expedite such projects? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
California’s housing crisis is fundamentally about affordability, access, and fairness, and we need to address both preventing displacement and building more housing at all income levels.
To prevent people from losing their homes, I will prioritize expanding rental assistance, strengthening tenant protections, and increasing the supply of deeply affordable housing for low- and middle-income families. No one working full-time should be at risk of homelessness because housing costs are out of reach. We also need to reduce overall cost-of-living pressures that push families to the brink.
At the same time, we must significantly increase housing production. I support streamlining housing development, especially near transit and job centers, but it must be done responsibly. That means pairing faster approvals with anti-displacement protections and focusing on areas with the infrastructure to support greater density.
We can incentivize development by providing funding and tax credits for affordable housing, supporting infill and transit-oriented projects, and ensuring certainty in the approval process so projects can move forward more quickly.
I also believe strongly that housing policy must create good-paying union jobs. Any effort to accelerate development should include prevailing wage standards, apprenticeship opportunities, and strong labor protections.
Solving this crisis requires shared accountability to build more housing, protect tenants, and ensure every community does its part.
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law in 2023 authorizing state energy regulators to penalize oil companies making excessive profits. But the California Energy Commission put off imposing the penalties last year after two oil refineries, which represent nearly a fifth of California’s refining capacity, said they would shut down operations. Those announcements prompted many to be concerned about soaring gas prices. What do you think of the commission’s decision? And how would you, as a state legislator, propose balancing California’s climate goals with protecting consumers from high gas prices at the pump? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
The California Energy Commission was navigating a complex and high-stakes situation, and I understand the concern about maintaining a stable fuel supply and avoiding sudden price spikes for consumers. At the same time, we need to ensure transparency and accountability in the market so Californians are not paying more than they should at the pump.
Donald Trump’s reckless war with Iran is making this worse. Gas prices are soaring past the post-pandemic highs we saw during the inflation surge, and working families are paying for it at the pump. Let’s be clear: when you’re spending an extra $75-$150 a month just to get to work, that’s directly caused by Trump’s actions.
I support transitioning away from fossil fuels, but this must be done responsibly, with a just transition for workers in the industry and with consideration for working families who can’t afford to upgrade every appliance and purchase an electric vehicle on their own. Californians in these jobs deserve good union opportunities and retraining programs so they can thrive in the emerging clean energy economy. And we must invest in helping working families make the transition. Climate action, worker protections, and economic justice must all go hand in hand.
We must accelerate investment in clean energy alternatives – including solar, wind, offshore wind, battery storage, and transmission infrastructure – while creating good-paying union jobs that reduce our dependence on volatile oil markets. We also need robust investment in public transportation, electrification incentives, and infrastructure that gives working families real alternatives to gas-powered vehicles, prioritizing low-income communities and communities of color hit hardest by both high prices and pollution.
In 2024, voters approved Proposition 36 to increase penalties for certain drug and retail theft crimes and make available a drug treatment option for some who plead guilty to felony drug possession. Would you, as a legislator, demand that more funding for behavioral health treatments be included in the budget? How would you ensure that money is used properly? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I support robust funding for behavioral health treatments because we cannot arrest our way out of addiction and mental health crises. When people are released without adequate services, it puts working families at risk and strains local budgets.
To break the cycle of recidivism, we need to invest in mental health services and addiction treatment — not simply punish people without providing the support they need to succeed. I will fight to ensure Sacramento gives local governments the tools and full funding to implement effective treatment programs, with those dollars going directly to patient care and staffing — not administrative overhead or private profits.
To ensure proper use of these funds, I support statewide standards that tie public funding to accountability and transparency, with clear metrics for treatment outcomes and recovery success.
What role should the state play in ensuring hospitals and doctors are providing gender-affirming care to LGBTQ+ residents? Similarly, what role do you believe the state could play should other states adopt policies that restrict that care? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As president of Equality California Institute, I have spent my career fighting to advance the rights, safety, and well-being of LGBTQ+ Californians — and I’ve seen firsthand how critical access to life-saving gender-affirming care is. My husband is also a nurse on the front lines of our healthcare system, and together we see every day how broken and inaccessible care still is for too many Californians.
I strongly support California playing an active role in ensuring hospitals and doctors can provide gender-affirming care to LGBTQ+ residents, along with abortion care, contraception, and other life-saving essential care. The state should protect healthcare providers who provide gender-affirming care in California, where the care is legal, including to patients from states where these services are restricted and/or criminalized.
I also support policies to make California a “safe haven” for gender-affirming care, ensuring that transgender people and their families from other states can safely access care here without fear of prosecution elsewhere.
Additionally, I support policies to ensure that patients, medical providers, and student trainees are not subject to religious restrictions and can provide and receive the full scope of healthcare at religiously affiliated institutions — including gender-affirming care and reproductive healthcare.
In the State Senate, I’ll fight for policies that expand access, lower costs, and put patients first to achieve health care for all.
Governments around the world are increasingly considering an age ban or other restrictions on social media use among young people, citing mental health and other concerns. Do you believe it’s the state’s responsibility to regulate social media use? Why or why not? And what specific restrictions or safeguards would you propose as a state lawmaker? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe we need to take a balanced approach to protecting our young people from the documented harms of social media while preserving the fundamental values of free expression and parental authority. The state has a responsibility to step in when private companies fail to protect children from harm, but we must do so thoughtfully.
I support targeted safeguards that focus on the most harmful practices. This includes requiring social media platforms to implement stronger age verification systems, limiting algorithmic targeting of minors with harmful content, and mandating clearer disclosure of data collection practices for users under 18.
We should also require platforms to provide robust parental controls and transparency tools, while investing in digital literacy education that empowers both young people and families to make informed decisions about social media use.
Artificial intelligence has become a ubiquitous part of our lives. Yet public concerns remain that there aren’t enough regulations governing when or how AI should be used, and that the technology would replace jobs and leave too many Californians unemployed. How specifically would you balance such concerns with the desire to foster innovation and have California remain a leader in this space? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
I believe artificial intelligence and emerging technologies must serve working families and communities. When developed responsibly, AI has real potential to improve lives — accelerating medical diagnoses, expanding access to education, making public services more efficient, and creating new industries with good jobs. But we need guardrails to ensure it is not used to eliminate jobs or replace human judgment in critical decisions affecting people’s health, safety, and well-being.
As someone who has worked closely with unions throughout my career — from my time at Fox Studios working with IATSE, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, and DGA, to my current work advocating for working families — I know that technological change must come with worker protections. Deployment of AI in California should require transparency, collective bargaining where workers are represented, and meaningful input from employees and their unions before implementation. Employers should not be allowed to use AI as a backdoor to eliminate positions without accountability.
We need clear guardrails that prioritize safety, equity, and human oversight. AI systems must be proven safe and effective before deployment, with licensed professionals retaining final authority in healthcare, education, and public safety. Algorithms should never be used for surveillance, discipline, or staffing decisions without transparency and due process.
California can and must lead on innovation while protecting working families through retraining programs, apprenticeships, and career pathways that help workers adapt rather than be displaced.
Statistically, violent crime rates in California is on the decline, but still, residents are not feeling safe or at ease in their communities. How do you see your role in the state legislature in addressing the underlying issues that make Californians feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
As a bridge-builder and someone who has worked at Equality California Institute to ensure all communities are protected, supported, and seen in public policy, I believe my role is to address both the real safety challenges and the underlying issues that make people feel unsafe in their neighborhoods.
While statistics show violent crime rates declining, people’s lived experiences and perceptions of safety matter just as much. We need to tackle the root causes that contribute to both crime and the feeling of being unsafe — inadequate mental health services and addiction treatment, lack of economic opportunity, and insufficient community resources.
In the Senate, I’ll make sure we provide local governments and law enforcement with the tools they need to keep neighborhoods safe, while also investing in the resources that actually help people get back on their feet — from job training and education to mental health and addiction treatment. These investments reduce repeat offenses, save taxpayer money, and ultimately make our communities safer.
What’s a hidden talent you have? (Please answer in 250 words or less.)
One of my hidden talents is cooking. I don’t get as much time for it these days, but when I do, it’s a great way to unwind and take care of the people I love. I’ve been told I make pretty great enchiladas, salsa, and guacamole.
I grew up in a household where food was a big part of how we spent time together, so it’s always stuck with me. These days, I like cooking for my husband, our family, and friends.