Meet Fil-Am candidate for California state senator Christopher Cabaldon

SAN FRANCISCO – As the March 5 primary election approaches, Filipino American candidate for California Senate District 3 Christopher Cabaldon has revealed his plans to support the Fil-Am community if elected as state senator.

Cabaldon – who traces his Filipino roots to Vigan, Ilocos Sur and Legaspi, Albay – is running for Senate District 3, which stretches from Sonoma and Napa wine country, through cities like Vallejo and Concord, to the farmland of Yolo County and the Delta.

Christopher Cabaldon helped lead the groundbreaking White House celebration of Filipino American Heritage Month. CONTRIBUTED

Cabaldon has an impressive background: He was West Sacramento’s mayor for 22 years, worked in the Assembly for eight years as chief of staff to the Appropriations Committee chairperson and staff director for the Committee on Higher Education. He also served as a California Community Colleges vice chancellor and, as president and CEO of EdVoice, led an education advocacy group aimed at reshaping public education to better serve low-income groups.

As mayor, Cabaldon transformed West Sacramento from a neglected industrial town into an entrepreneurial city that is now celebrated as “America’s most Livable City” and one of the world’s “21 Smart Cities to Watch.”

Cabaldon helped lead the groundbreaking White House celebration of Filipino American Heritage Month and mobilized an unprecedented nationwide bipartisan coalition of mayors to fight for the passage of the Filipino Veterans Fairness Act.

For these efforts, the Filipino American National Historical Society honored him with its award for Outstanding Historical Contribution.

Cabaldon said he was inspired to run for a state senate seat as “no Filipino has ever served in the California State Senate and as the dean of America’s Filipino mayors, I worked with close friends like Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye and acting Lieutenant Governor Mona Pasquil to cultivate leaders from our community.”

“After mentoring Rob Bonta and Todd Gloria, I was thrilled when they finally broke the barrier as the first Filipinos elected to the Legislature,” Cabaldon said. “They’ve made all of us even prouder as Attorney General and Mayor of San Diego, but now Filipinos are invisible again under the Capitol dome. That’s why Filipino community leaders from throughout the district and state encouraged me to run.”

Cabaldon said his district is home to more than 75,000 Filipinos, and is California’s only Senate district where Filipinos are the third largest group (after Whites and Latinos).

He plans to address the following issues to support the Fil-Am community:

Anti-Asian hate – from street violence and transit assaults to political attacks on the loyalty of AAPIs and weaponized legal discrimination scapegoating like property ownership bans. Not only from the direct discrimination, danger and destruction, but also because these threats induce AAPI social isolation, disempowerment, invisibility, insecurity and mental health challenges.

Challenges faced by Filipino entrepreneurs – Filipino entrepreneurs and small businesses are key drivers of economic opportunity and inclusive regional economies, but face unique challenges in access to capital, discrimination, access to procurement and contracts and language access. Nearly all new net jobs among the AAPI population are created by entrepreneurs, but the pandemic devastated many Filipino small business and revealed systemic vulnerabilities and gaps in state policy.

Fil-Am heritage – Filipino American history and heritage are at risk in too many communities, as rising housing prices and commercial rents price out iconic community shops, restaurants and nonprofits. Bulldozers finish the job. We’ve seen this before, with the erasure of Little Manila (and my family’s old soda fountain and pool hall there) and I-House in San Francisco, and now it threatens more and more Filipino cultural spots in my district and beyond.

Cabaldon also has big plans for education, housing and the environment.

Education: Cabaldon cited the need to protect funding for California’s public schools and “increase our investment to ensure every California child has access to the best quality public education.” He said California owes its success to its world-class education system, promising universal access to learning and economic mobility, a vibrant citizenry, and ideas and innovation. “Today, every Californian knows that some education beyond high school – whether a degree, certificate, or apprenticeship – is as essential as high school itself had become by 1900,” Cabaldon added.

Housing: Too many Californians cannot afford safe, secure housing in the communities where they work, according to Cabaldon. “As the mayor of one of California’s first seven ProHousing-designated cities, I know that it is both urgent and possible to dramatically increase the supply of housing across all of the state – not just downtown San Francisco or Los Angeles,” he said.

Environment: “Senate District 3 is comprised of diverse communities – rural, urban, with rivers, the Delta and families across the socioeconomic spectrum – and we pride ourselves on our relationship to the land,” he said. “The policies we pass must preserve our region’s agricultural identity, safeguard water supplies and ensure clean air.”   

You might also like: March 5 primary election: Here’s what you need to know