Lena Gonzalez, Councilmember and State Senate Candidate, sat down with PalacioMagazine.com to discuss a wide range of topics: from the women who have helped shape her dedication to public service to the challenging issues that she will face in Sacramento. That list includes affordable housing, climate change, and the future of education in California.

Lena Gonzalez is the Long Beach First District Councilmember and a State Senate Candidate in a special election scheduled for Tuesday, June 4th. At stake is who will represent State Senate District 33 which includes parts of Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Paramount, and Southeast Los Angeles. After a crowded March primary, Lena Gonzalez, a Democrat, will face off against Cudahy Councilman Jack M. Guerrero, a Republican, in a heavily-leaning Democratic district.

First District Councilmember and State Senate Candidate Lena Gonzalez







Gonzalez was first elected to her Long Beach Council seat in June 2014 and re-elected in 2018. A little more than a year into her second term, she decided to tackle a big step to Sacramento and the State Senate. The Long Beach Councilmember says her nearly decade in public service has prepared her for this next step.

“In that decade, I’ve pushed and championed a lot of great policies relative to support for working families and equity for programs along the west side of the city, better cleaner air, and environments.”

That advocacy has taken her regionally and to Sacramento on behalf of the city. Gonzalez has served for the past 5 years as the Vice Chair of the State Legislative Committee lobbying for Long Beach’s priorities. The experience along with her belief that she’s done much to impact families and lives and businesses is part of the drive for her election effort. Raised in North Long Beach, Councilmember Lena Gonzalez believes she can make the most impact, not only for the City of Long Beach but also all of State Senate District 33.

“I think there’s something about a Long Beach representative going to Sacramento continuing that work but only on a different level.”

State Senate Candidate Lena Gonzalez in her campaign office







June 4, 2019 Runoff

May 20 is the last day to transfer or register to vote in the election. Vote by mail began May 6th and May 28 is the last day to apply. Processing of vote by mail ballots begins on May 21, but the results of the tally will not be revealed until after the polls close.

Between May 29 and June 4, any voter may apply for a Vote by Mail ballot if “conditions require his or her absence from the precinct on election day. The voter may designate an authorized representative to pick-up and return the ballot.”

On Election Day June 4, polls open 7:00 a.m. and close 8:00 p.m. It’s also the last day for Vote By Mail ballots to be “received or turned in personally by the voter at any polling place in the district. An authorized representative may return the voted ballot under specified conditions.”

For more information on the June 4th special election, visit the Los Angeles County Clerk’s website HERE.

Interviewing the Candidate

Lena Gonzalez Biography

“Councilwoman Lena Gonzalez was elected in June of 2014 and re-elected in 2018 to represent the First Council District in the City of Long Beach. Growing up in a working-class family where her father was a truck driver and her mother worked in aerospace, Lena grew up learning the value of hard work and dedication.

Lena is one of the most active members of the City Council where she chairs the Harbor and Tidelands Committee which oversees a $100 million Tidelands Fund, the Long Beach Unified Joint Use Committee, and the I-710 Project Committee. Additionally, she serves as the Vice Chair of both the Federal and State Legislative Committees and is the City’s representative on the Independent Cities Association and the Southern California Association of Government.

As an advocate for her residents, Gonzalez has sponsored over 110 items before the City Council tackling issues such as banning the use of expanded polystyrene (Styrofoam) in local restaurants, creating over 200 new parking spaces throughout the District, protecting local businesses through increased access to contracts and bids, and ensuring the City of Long Beach is taking proactive steps to combat and treat homelessness.

Councilwoman Gonzalez lives in downtown Long Beach with her partner Adam and their three sons Zorion, Ethan and Luca. Gonzalez graduated with her B.A. in Political Science from California State University Long Beach and MBA from Loyola Marymount University.”

To find out more about the candidacy of Councilmember Lena Gonzalez, visit HERE.