Sade ElhawaryIncumbent
Candidate for Assembly District 57
Sade Elhawary was born and raised in Los Angeles. She is the oldest daughter of two immigrants. Her mother came from Guatemala. Her father came from Egypt. She earned a bachelor's degree from UCLA in 2010. She earned a graduate degree in 2011. It came from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In 2011 she began work as an organizer. This work was with a South L.A. group. It is called the Community Coalition. She helped start a new school. It was the Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice. There she taught high school history. She also acted as a youth mentor. She also worked as a college counselor. She later ran youth outreach for a mayor's race. This was Karen Bass's 2022 run for L.A. mayor. Elhawary took her Assembly seat on December 2, 2024. Her seat is the 57th district. She now seeks a full term. The vote is set for November 3, 2026. Her foe is Republican Constance Menzies. She received 40,160 votes (85.7%) in the June 2, 2026 primary, to Menzies's 6,701 (14.3%). Home: Los Angeles, California. Occupation: state lawmaker; once an organizer and a high school teacher. Prior office: incumbent since December 2, 2024, District 57; no office held before this seat.
On the issues
- Housing & Homelessness
Supports strong tenant protections, including expanding rent control to all rental units and regulating rents between tenancies, alongside efforts to streamline housing permitting and address root causes of homelessness.
Source → - Criminal Justice & Courts
Supports criminal legal reform framed around youth success and system accountability, though without detailed positions on sentencing, bail, prosecution, or drug policy specifics.
Source → - Health & Health Care
Prioritizes universal health care for California, including comprehensive reproductive care, mental health services, and substance use treatment, and says she intends to redesign and reintroduce the state's Guaranteed Health Care for All Act.
Source → - Reproductive & Social Issues
Supports comprehensive reproductive health care access as part of a universal health care framework; has been endorsed by Equality California on LGBTQ issues but has no specific quoted LGBTQ policy position.
Source → - Education & Schools
Supports substantial increases in K-12 public education funding and debt-free access to higher education, along with youth workforce development programs.
Source → - Government, Elections & Democracy
Supports case-by-case legislative oversight of gubernatorial/executive emergency powers during extraordinary events, rather than blanket restriction or expansion.
Source →
Profiles are compiled from the candidate’s own statements and public records. We never tell you how to vote.