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As Election Day nears, State Assembly District 20 representative Liz Ortega continues to highlight her legislative track record as she seeks a third term, while her challenger, Dublin resident Patricia Muga, says Ortega has failed East Bay residents.
The two seek to represent residents in western portions of Pleasanton and Dublin as well as residents of Hayward, San Leandro, Union City and unincorporated Castro Valley, Ashland, Cherryland, Fairview and San Lorenzo. Ortega received overwhelming support during the primary election. In California, the two candidates in the primary advance to the general election regardless of political party.
Ortega, a San Leandro resident, is a Democrat who was elected to the seat in 2022 and in 2024. She said she has been working hard to support legislation that has direct ties to the Tri-Valley.
“I’m focused on practical results for Tri-Valley families: safer roads, better access to transit and an economy where small businesses can compete and working families aren’t left behind,” Ortega said in a statement to the Weekly. “I’ve backed bills that deliver on each of those, and I’m asking for another term to keep that work going.”
Originally raised in Oakland, Ortega describes herself as a longtime labor and community leader. She has served on the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment and on committees including budget; insurance; and privacy and consumer protection. According to her website, she was also the first Latina to be elected as the executive secretary-treasurer of the Alameda Labor Council.
Some of the bills Ortega said she has supported that directly affect Tri-Valley residents include Assembly Bill 2168, which she said can help fund better connections to public transit, and Senate Bill 78, which she said can accelerate highway safety improvements like those on Interstate 580.Â
She highlighted several other public-safety bills that she supported, which focus on addressing issues related to sideshows and impaired driving, and ones she co-authored that help small businesses and working families.
“Going forward, I’ll keep supporting bills that make our roads safer, improve transit access and help small businesses compete,” Ortega said.
Muga is a Republican and a real estate appraiser who said it’s time for a change in what she said action must be taken to counter the “devastating ‘one party'” super-majority rule in Sacramento.
“I will bring common sense to an otherwise severed legislature, which is completely out of touch with the people of Assembly District 20,” she said in a statement to the Weekly.
According to her campaign website, Muga is a lifelong California resident who moved to the Bay Area in 2014 after growing up in the Inland Empire and graduating from the University of California at Los Angeles.
Aside from being a real estate appraiser, she has worked in telecommunications, sales and administrative management.Â
If elected, she said, she will fight for stronger consequences for repeat or violent offenders and fully fund law enforcement; advocate for mental health and addiction diversion; address the state’s outdated water and transportation infrastructure; cut back red tape and taxes for small businesses; streamline permitting to accelerate housing construction; and ensure Californians are not priced out of their state.
“I will be the transparent, accessible and independent voice for District 20,” Muga said. “I will oppose any bills which do not place the survivability of all ‘working class’ Assembly District 20 constituents and all working-class Californians first.”
