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Though hers may not yet be a household name, Reyes has been working diligently to introduce herself to voters in this largely working-class district, sharing stories of her youth spent topping onions in the fields with her family, working her way through college to earn a law degree, and becoming one of the first Latinas to open her own law firm in San Bernardino and Riverside counties.Northwest of Eloise's district we find CA-33, where 18 candidates are vying in next month's jungle primary to replace Henry Waxman, who's retiring. Blue America has endorsed two for the two primary slots, state Senator Ted Lieu, the official Democratic Party candidate, and progressive independent Marianne Williamson. Today, one of America's great singer-songwriters, Alanis Morissette released a new song that was inspired by Marianne. I thought you might enjoy hearing it. I sure did!
Her pledge to fight for families has resonated with many, it would seem. A first-time candidate, Reyes has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from individual donors to help finance her campaign and she has won the endorsement of the influential Emily’s List, which supports Democratic women seeking higher office, as well as former Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, Rep. Xavier Becerra, chairman of the Democratic House Caucus, and dozens of federal, state and local officials and community leaders.
Reyes is a successful businesswoman with a long history of service in the Inland Empire. For more than 25 years, she has volunteered with the Legal Aid Society of San Bernardino County and two decades ago she opened her own firm, specializing in worker’s compensation and personal injury law.
Outside the courtroom, Reyes played a key role in the creation of the Inland Empire Community Health Center in Bloomington and has worked with several area boards and commissions, including the San Bernardino Valley College Foundation and the UCR medical school mission committee.
She means to take her community-first perspective with her to Washington, where she plans to make jobs for the Inland Empire her top priority, looking for ways to create incentives for companies in the logistics, warehousing and green technology industries.
At the national level, Reyes supports increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour and can be counted on to back efforts to eliminate the earnings gap between men and women, a disparity, she says, which affects an ever-increasing number of families whose mothers are the primary breadwinners.
Other priorities for Reyes: Eliminating delays in benefits and services for veterans; fully funding Social Security; keeping college loans affordable and reducing the federal government’s profits; supporting comprehensive immigration reform that secures the nation’s borders without ripping families apart, and partnering with the state to find resolutions to California’s water supply and storage inadequacies.
Reyes’ experience as a litigator will serve her well in negotiations at the federal level, as will her willingness to work across the aisle to make progress on those issues where agreement can be reached. She is dedicated to transparency in government and plans to create advisory committees to surround herself with local expertise and stay grounded in the needs of this community.
The Inland Empire was one of the regions hit hardest in the 2008 economic collapse. Reyes is the fresh voice in an area looking for a fresh start.
Vote Eloise Gomez Reyes on June 3.
