Bob Archuleta

For Senate District 30, Bob Archuleta’s public life includes service with the Pico Rivera City Council, the Los Angeles County Library Commission and the Montebello Police Department. His record also includes service as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne Division, involvement with the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Army Advisory Board for Military Recruitment, and military-related Senate work. He reached Sacramento after the 2018 elections, when he lost the special election for the seat and won the regularly scheduled election. Voters returned him to the Senate in 2022 with 61% of the vote. As of July 2024, he chairs the chamber’s committee handling military and veterans affairs.

LOCAL AND MILITARY POSTS

Bob Jerry Archuleta was born on June 1, 1945. His military-related record includes service with the 82nd Airborne Division and involvement with the United States Military Academy at West Point and the United States Army Advisory Board for Military Recruitment.

His local résumé crosses municipal, county and law-enforcement institutions. Archuleta served on the Pico Rivera City Council before being elected to the State Senate. He also served on the Los Angeles County Library Commission and with the Montebello Police Department.

Together, the documented record includes a city council, a county commission, a police department, military service, military-related organizations and the Legislature. Military work appears repeatedly in his service, affiliations and work in Sacramento.

THE 2018 RACE

Archuleta entered the 2018 Senate contest after incumbent Tony Mendoza resigned. Mendoza stepped down to avoid a possible expulsion vote from the State Senate after being accused of sexual harassment. The vacancy produced a special election, but the regularly scheduled election for the seat was also held that year. Archuleta ran in both.

The two races delivered different results. He narrowly lost the special election to Montebello Mayor Vanessa Delgado. He then won the regularly scheduled election in 2018, a result considered a major upset. Delgado had the support of much of the state Democratic Party’s leadership.

The sequence was a narrow defeat followed by victory in the regularly scheduled contest against a candidate backed by much of the party leadership. In 2022, he ran for reelection and won with 61% of the vote.

THE SENATE WORK

One clearly defined Senate responsibility reflects the military focus in Archuleta’s record. As of July 2024, he chairs the Senate Committee on Military & Veterans Affairs. That chairmanship places military and veterans policy within his formal legislative duties. His record also includes service with the 82nd Airborne Division and involvement with West Point and the Army Advisory Board for Military Recruitment.

The available record identifies one specific 2024 proposal. Archuleta introduced a bill that would require all males in California to register for selective service before receiving a new driver’s license or renewing one. The proposal links selective-service registration to receiving or renewing a California driver’s license. The documented action is introduction of the bill; the record here does not establish its enactment.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Much of Archuleta’s work focuses on the military. His record includes service in the 82nd Airborne Division, involvement with West Point and the Army Advisory Board for Military Recruitment, and the chairmanship of the Senate committee devoted to military and veterans affairs.

His 2024 selective-service registration bill gives that focus a specific mechanism. It would make registration a condition for California males seeking a new or renewed driver’s license. Archuleta’s record includes military service, military-related affiliations, the committee chairmanship and the selective-service proposal. His local service ranges more broadly—from libraries and policing to the Pico Rivera City Council—but his Senate work includes both the military and veterans committee and the 2024 bill.