Joshua Hoover

Assemblyman Josh Hoover represents California's 7th Assembly District, a sprawling stretch of Sacramento County that takes in the cities of Citrus Heights, Folsom, and Rancho Cordova along with suburban communities such as Carmichael, Fair Oaks, and Orangevale. ^[1,2] A Republican who first won office in 2022 by unseating four-term Democratic incumbent Ken Cooley in one of the cycle's closest races, ^[1,3] Hoover has quickly established himself as one of the California Legislature's most effective advocates for the values the California Family Council champions. A former school board member who fought to reopen classrooms during the pandemic, ^[2,4] Hoover embodies CFC's conviction that parents are the primary educators and moral guardians of their children (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) and that government's role is to support — not supplant — parental authority. With a 71% CFC Biblical Values Scorecard rating, his legislative record on education freedom, child protection, public safety, and limited government closely mirrors CFC's core framework priorities. He was reelected to a second term in November 2024. ^[1]

Before entering the Legislature, Hoover spent more than a decade in Sacramento's policy world. He served eleven years as a legislative aide, rising to Chief of Staff for Assemblymember Kevin Kiley, where he shaped the annual legislative agenda. ^[3,7] Concurrently, he won a seat on the Folsom Cordova Unified School District Board in 2018 and spearheaded the push to bring students back to in-person instruction during COVID-19, making FCUSD the first district in Sacramento County to do so, earning recognition as Folsom's Young Professional of the Year in 2020. ^[2,4] When Kiley departed for a congressional bid, Hoover launched his own campaign and narrowly flipped the seat red with 50.4 percent of the vote. ^[1,3]

Hoover holds a bachelor's in political science and public policy from UCLA and a master's in public administration from USC. ^[2,4] In the Assembly, he serves as Vice Chair of the Education, Appropriations, and Communications and Conveyance committees, and sits on the Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities. ^[2,8]

Hoover's legislative agenda aligns with CFC's worldview framework across multiple issue areas. On education, he champions parental empowerment, school choice, and restoring local control. ^[5,6] His signature achievement, the Phone-Free Schools Act (AB 3216), is a bipartisan measure signed by Governor Newsom in September 2024 requiring every school district to adopt policies limiting student smartphone use during the school day ^[9,10] -- protecting children from documented harms of excessive screen time, consistent with CFC's child protection priorities. He also authored Ryla's Law (AB 1011), preventing individuals convicted of child abuse from earning enhanced sentence credits through inmate firefighter programs. ^[11]

On public safety, Hoover has earned endorsements from PORAC and the California Police Chiefs Association and has worked to close loopholes allowing violent offenders early release. ^[5,6] He supports fiscal discipline, opposing new tax increases and earning a 100 percent rating from the California Chamber of Commerce. ^[5] His consistent conservative voting record on the CFC Biblical Values Scorecard reflects principled, family-centered governance: limited government that protects the vulnerable, respects parental authority, and defends religious liberty. ^[12,13]

Hoover lives in Folsom with his wife Nicole and their three children, Ayden, Addison, and Austin. ^[2,4] As the father of a child on the autism spectrum, he brings personal experience to his work on the Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities. ^[2,4]