Candidate for
Member of the State Assembly; District 48

Lucilla Esguerra is running for California State Assembly, District 48. She is seeking the Peace and Freedom Party nomination and is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation.

Lucilla is an anti-war activist with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism). She has helped bring tens of thousands of people to the streets in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., to stop the criminal Iraq war. On March 15, 2008, she led a protest of 10,000 people on the 5th anniversary of the war. Her speech to the youthful crowd emphasized the necessity of stopping the war to direct much needed funds for social programs in the 48th district. "We should have job training for all unemployed people. We should have free, high-quality healthcare on demand. This racist war of aggression must end now. No more racist immigration raids; no more police brutality. We need money for people's needs, not oppression and war!" Her rousing call drew great excitement and applause.

Lucilla also has organized resistance against the racist, anti-immigrant Minuteman Project and mobilized support for the May 1, 2006 boycott demanding immigrant rights. She currently is working on building support for pro-immigrant actions on May 1, 2008.

In her student work, Lucilla has mobilized for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights, leading student actions for same-sex marriage at the high school and college levels. She is a former leader of the Gay Straight Alliance at the Sherman Oaks Center for Enriched Studies and currently coaches the school's junior varsity women's softball team.

Lucilla's central campaign demand is "Jobs, education, housing, healthcare--not war!" She is for full employment--decent jobs for all, including job training for youth and the unemployed; free, quality healthcare for everyone; free, high-quality education from pre-school through college; and the immediate end to all foreclosures and evictions in the 48th district and across the United States.

Lucilla also seeks to make California's 48th district a sanctuary for undocumented immigrants. She believes in full equality and legalization for all.

The problem of police brutality and criminalization of Black and Latino youth is a major concern of Lucilla's. She calls for an end to racist police violence and for community control over the police. Lucilla believes that money should go to schools, not prisons.