Lisa Calderon

Lisa Calderon is a Democratic member of the California State Assembly representing the 56th District, which encompasses the Gateway Cities and portions of the San Gabriel Valley in southeastern Los Angeles County, including the communities of Whittier, South El Monte, and Hacienda Heights. ^[1,2] A daughter of Central Valley farmworkers who grew up in Section 8 housing, Calderon worked her way through California State University, Sacramento as a waitress before launching a career that took her from the Capitol to the corporate world. ^[2,5] She served as one of the state's first Latina legislative aides under Assembly Speaker Willie Brown and later spent more than two decades as a government affairs director at Edison International. ^[1,2,5] First elected in 2020 to succeed her stepson, former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, she is part of one of California's most prominent political families. ^[1,3] With a 17% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, Calderon's voting record has consistently diverged from the California Family Council's priorities on the sanctity of life, parental authority in education, and religious liberty — though her personal story of family resilience and hard work reflects values that CFC's framework affirms at a foundational level.

Calderon was first elected to the Assembly in November 2020, representing what was then the 57th District, and following redistricting won election in the redrawn 56th District in 2022 and again in 2024. ^[1] In the legislature, she chairs the Committee on Insurance and serves on the Committees on Appropriations, Emergency Management, Human Services, and Utilities and Energy. ^[1,2] She also holds a role as Commissioner on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. ^[2] Governor Newsom signed four of her bills into law in 2023 and six more in 2024, spanning topics from multilingual insurance licensing exams and doula coverage mandates to wildfire insurance accountability and school greening grants. ^[4] She co-authored the FAIR Plan Stabilization Act (AB 226), which passed the Assembly unanimously at 72-0. ^[4]

Her 13.9% Biblical Values Scorecard rating across 104 scored floor votes reflects consistent divergence from CFC's worldview framework. Her voting record has supported abortion access expansion over the sanctity of human life, government-directed education over parental authority and school choice, and progressive social mandates over religious liberty protections.

Calderon is married to former Assemblymember and State Senator Charles Calderon, and is the stepmother of former Assembly Majority Leader Ian Calderon, making her part of a political dynasty that has placed four family members in the state legislature. ^[1,3] She has resided in the City of Whittier for over 30 years and raised three sons in local schools. ^[2,5] Her multi-generational family commitment to public service in the same community reflects the principle of local rootedness that CFC values, even as her policy positions differ from CFC's vision of family-centered governance.