Kelly Seyarto

Senator Kelly Seyarto (R-Murrieta) is a retired 35-year veteran of the fire service and a devoted husband and father of three daughters who brings a strong public safety and family-centered perspective to the California State Senate ^[1,2]. Serving as Republican Caucus Chair and Vice-Chair of the Public Safety Committee, Seyarto has been a leading voice for protecting children from sex trafficking, combating the fentanyl crisis, defending parental rights in education, and supporting military families -- priorities that closely align with the California Family Council's mission ^[3,4,5]. With a 83% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, Seyarto has been one of the Legislature's most consistent champions of the values the California Family Council defends — the sanctity of life (Chapter 6), parental authority in education (Chapter 8), religious liberty (Chapter 9), and limited, family-centered governance (Chapter 11).

Dennis Kelly Seyarto was born on October 28, 1962, in La Puente, California, and was raised in Baldwin Park and La Verne. He earned an Associate of Science in Fire Science from Mt. San Antonio College, a Bachelor of Science in Fire Administration and Technology from California State University, Los Angeles, and a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. In 1983, Seyarto joined the Inglewood Fire Department as a Firefighter/Paramedic, rising to the rank of Captain before fire services were contracted to the Los Angeles County Fire Department in 2000.

Seyarto's commitment to public service extended to local government. After moving to Murrieta in 1991 with his wife Denise, he served as a Public Safety Commissioner before being elected to the Murrieta City Council in 1997. Over 13 years of council service, he was selected as Mayor four times -- in 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2019. He also served as President of the Mayors and Councils department for the League of California Cities and received the Outstanding Public Servant Award from the Riverside Division in 2019 ^[1,2,6].

Seyarto was elected to the California State Assembly representing the 67th District in 2020. In 2022, he ran for the State Senate to succeed term-limited Senator Melissa Melendez in District 32, encompassing southwestern Riverside County communities including Temecula, Murrieta, Menifee, and Lake Elsinore, as well as Yorba Linda and Chino Hills. He was selected by Senate Minority Leader Brian Jones to serve as Republican Caucus Chair ^[1,2,3].

His 87.7% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 69 scored floor votes demonstrates strong alignment with CFC's worldview framework, reflecting consistent support for the sanctity of human life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty protections.

From the perspective of CFC's mission, Senator Seyarto's record demonstrates strong alignment on protecting children and families. He co-authored SB 14, the landmark 2023 law making child sex trafficking a serious felony. In 2024, he introduced SB 1219, the Shield Victims of Human Trafficking Act, which sought to recriminalize loitering with intent to solicit prostitution to help law enforcement separate trafficking victims from their abusers. Though blocked by Democrats, Seyarto stated: "Neglecting victims for the sake of not inconveniencing criminals is bad public policy" ^[4,5,8].