Avelino Valencia
Avelino Valencia has represented Anaheim, Santa Ana, and Orange in the State Assembly since 2022. He serves as Chair of the Assembly's Banking and Finance Committee. He served on the Anaheim City Council from 2020 to 2022. He grew up in Orange County, the son of immigrant parents who built a local small business, and he played college football before getting into public service. His priorities are fully funding public schools, lowering everyday costs, expanding housing production and first-time homeowner programs, and increasing government transparency.
Why We Endorsed: Avelino Valencia is a sitting Assemblymember with four years of legislative production on government accountability, housing, and consumer protection, and a willingness to take on entrenched political corruption in Orange County.
Alignment With NCC Priorities: Avelino's housing platform centers on expanded production and first-time homeowner programs, which is the demand side of NCC's Build Baby Build agenda. As Chair of Banking and Finance, he has direct jurisdiction over the financial tools that lower the cost of building and owning a home. His anti-corruption legislative record, including AB 2803 to stop politicians who commit fraud from using campaign funds for legal defense and AB 34 to create an independent redistricting commission for the Orange County Board of Supervisors, fits the clean-government work NCC's regulatory reform task force prioritizes. His emergency audit of Anaheim spending under the previous mayor and his vote against the below-market sale of Angel Stadium demonstrate a real willingness to take on the local establishment.
Learn More: avelinovalencia.com
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Senate District
34
The Race
The Race: District 34 covers central Orange County. The seat is open because Senator Tom Umberg is termed out and running for the State Board of Equalization. Valencia faces Republican Rhonda Shader, the former Mayor of Placentia. The district leans Democratic and Valencia enters as the favored candidate, though the race will draw Republican investment as part of the broader effort to chip away at the Democratic supermajority in the State Senate.
A New California Starts With This Slate
Together, these fourteen candidates are the slate NCC believes can move California forward in 2026. They come from cities and counties up and down the state, from different backgrounds and different parties, and from different chapters of California's story. What they share is a commitment to getting things done: finding solutions to homelessness, building the housing, securing the water and energy, and growing the middle class jobs that working Californians need now. NCC stands behind each of them, and we are asking voters in their districts to join us. The California Dream is worth fighting for, and these are the leaders who will help us bring it back within reach.
June 2026 NCC Races: the map highlights Senate Districts 12, 14, 22, 26, and 34, and Assembly Districts 12, 31, 34, 35, 47, 65, 66, 67, and 68