More liberal than 76% of 2024 California Senate candidates
State Senator · District 28
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
● DemocratIn office since 2022
As a legislator, Lola uses the knowledge she gained as a longtime educator, labor organizer, and community advocate to shape laws that give working people a fighting chance.
Quick facts 4 on file
Party● Democrat
OfficeState Senator
District28
In office since2022
Office & contact
1021 O St. Suite 6530, Sacramento, CA 95814
916-651-4028senator.smallwood-cuevas@senate.ca.govCampaign website ↗Directions ↗Data sources 2 on file
- State legislature roll calls
- News coverage, outlet lean labeled
Every claim links to its primary source.
- Votes with the Democratic majority 99% of the time - the 1 recent party breaks are the clearest signal of where she actually stands. official roll calls
- Co-sponsored 14 on record; most recently SCR 167 “Relative to Mother's Day” (Apr 23, 2026). bill records
- Latest coverage: “SEIU Local 1000 and state of California will continue to negotiate” (Our Weekly (Black LA), Oct 29, 2026). coverage, lean labeled ↗
What we don’t cover yet 1 gaps
What we don’t cover yet
Campaign finance filings for this office aren’t wired in yet - when they’re sourced, they’ll appear here.
The record
official roll calls · every vote links to the bill
99%
Votes with the Democratic majority.
Where both parties recorded a position on the same roll call, Smallwood-Cuevas’s vote matched the Democratic position 99% of the time. That makes the 1 recent break the clearest signal of where Smallwood-Cuevas actually stands - they’re first, below. official roll calls · Oct 19, 2026
4,826 votes · 4,677 yes · 136 not voting · 13 no
Where Smallwood-Cuevas broke from the party - the high-signal votes
VOTED NOroll call
Surveillance pricing.
Democrats voted yes, 19–4; Smallwood-Cuevas was one of the 4 against · AB 2564 · Aug 31, 2026
Votes by topic: top topics first, the rest behind filters
legislation45 votes · yes on 45, no on 0
regulation29 votes · yes on 29, no on 0
healthcare27 votes · yes on 27, no on 0
appropriations13 votes · yes on 13, no on 0
education13 votes · yes on 13, no on 0
One vote can touch several topics.
LATEST: YESElections: voter registration.AB 1116 · Oct 19, 2026
Personal finances
official financial-disclosure filings - originals one click away
Official personal financial-disclosure records are available in the comparison experience, with each figure linked to its filing.
Political placement
third-party academic estimates - never our verdict
Left–right estimates (academic)
About these scores
Coverage
reporting about them · outlet lean labeled · we don’t pick sides
All from left-rated outlets so far - we show the left/right spread only when there’s a spread to show.
Background
candidate-provided campaign biography
As a legislator, Lola uses the knowledge she gained as a longtime educator, labor organizer, and community advocate to shape laws that give working people a fighting chance.
Raised by a single mother who served as a military veteran and a registered nurse, Lola’s family moved to California in search of better schools, good union jobs, and a pathway to self-sufficiency.
After graduating from California State University at Hayward, Lola started her career as a journalist, reporting on the lives of working families—an experience that introduced her to the labor movement and her first union role with the Newspaper Guild. In later years, she grew into a political and community organizer with SEIU Local 1877. In this role, and as the working mother of two children, Lola committed herself to improving the lives of fellow union members and her South Los Angeles community. Organizing taught her a simple truth: when workers do well, communities do well.
Connections
people, money, orgs as one graph - every chip is a portal
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