Candidate for
State Senator; District 12

A strong advocate for agriculture, water, working families, public safety, affordable housing, quality health care and education, Assemblymember Anna M. Caballero was elected to serve the 28th Assembly District in November of 2006, representing San Benito and parts of Santa Clara Counties, Watsonville and the Salinas Valley.

Now in her second term, Caballero has been re-appointed as chair of the Committee on Local Government, and as a member of the following committees: Accountability and Administrative Review; Budget; Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Resources; Water, Parks and Wildlife; and, the Select Committee on Renewable Energy. In recognition of her extensive work to prevent youth violence and gang membership, Caballero has also been re-appointed as chair of the Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention.

Anna Caballero has been a leader in gang and youth violence prevention for decades, beginning with her work as Executive Director of Partners for Peace in Salinas. Because of her extensive background in this area, she was appointed as Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Youth Violence Prevention. As Chair, she has worked tirelessly statewide, to address recent trends in gang-related shootings and other violence. At the beginning of 2009, she brought together local and state law enforcement representatives and elected officials in Salinas to explore options and resources available to help suppress the violence. She remains committed to using every resource possible to restore safety to our streets.

In her three years in the State Legislature, Assemblymember Caballero has also been a strong voice for agriculture. She has worked to educate the legislature on the importance of agriculture, and to bring them up to speed on food safety, production, harvesting, and value added production and the critical role it plays in our State's economy. She has participated in agriculture tours for years, broadening her understanding of all facets of the industry, and recently sponsored a tour where she brought legislators and growers together to share first-hand knowledge of the issues.

As California faced its third year of drought, farmers in San Benito County contacted the Assemblymember, devastated by the lack of water in the San Luis Reservoir. Farmers and farm workers from the Central Valley made the same plea. In response to this critical issue, Assemblymember Caballero led the way by becoming one of the chief negotiators for Speaker Bass on the recent water package. She authored a water bond bill and was a co-author of the water bond that successfully passed the legislature that not only funds important water infrastructure, but will provide much-needed jobs in California. She authored several key water bills to safeguard both the environment and the economy. These include: The Safe Drinking Water and Water Supply Reliability Act of 2010 which protects supplies of safe, clean drinking water to our homes, farms and businesses; The Groundwater Reliability Taskforce Act, which protects and enhances the State's critically important groundwater resources; and AB 300, which promotes greater water-use efficiencies in new homes.

Among the many accolades she has received, Assemblymember Caballero has been given awards from The Coalition for Adequate School Housing, which advocates for school infrastructure, and the League of United Latin American Citizens, a political advocacy group for latinos in the U.S. She is the recipient of the coveted Legislator of the Year Award from the California League of Cities for her support for local government on a variety of issues, as well as from the American Society of Civil Engineers and The California Water Agencies, for her endless efforts on the water bond. She also proudly accepted the Crime Fighter Award from Fight Crime: Invest in Kids California, a bipartisan, non-profit, anti-crime organization, and the California State Sheriffs' Association Legislator of the Year Award for 2009.

Born to a family of copper miners, Assemblymember Caballero successfully obtained a bachelor's degree from UC San Diego and a law degree from UCLA. She moved to the Salinas Valley over 30 years ago to work for California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA). As an attorney, she represented striking farm workers and fought side by side with unions to prevent plant closures. Seeing the need for legal representation at a price working families could afford, in 1982 she and two colleagues founded a law firm, Caballero, Matcham & McCarthy. The business received many awards, and she was personally recognized with the Athena Award for entrepreneurial excellence. In addition, Assemblymember Caballero served as the Executive Director of Partners for Peace, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the community together to prevent gang violence and focus on literacy, early childhood education, and strengthening families and neighborhoods.

Moving from law to public service, Assemblymember Caballero was appointed to the City of Salinas Planning Commission and later elected to the City Council in 1991. She was then elected Mayor of the City of Salinas in 1998 where she served until her election to the Assembly.

Assemblymember Caballero is also a wife, mother and grandmother. Her husband, Juan Uranga, is the Director of the Center for Community Advocacy in Salinas.