Caroline Menjivar

Caroline Menjivar’s path through public life includes Encino Charter Elementary School, Reseda High School, California State University, Northridge, and work as the East Valley representative for former Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. She worked as a restaurant cashier at 14, served in the Marines, became an EMT and held jobs in city government before seeking office herself. Voters elected her to the California State Senate in 2022, and she was sworn in on December 5 of that year. She is the first LGBTQ legislator to represent the San Fernando Valley. In Sacramento, her committee assignments focus on health, human services and veterans affairs.

ROOTS AND FORMATION

Menjivar’s parents came to the United States from El Salvador during the country’s civil war and met at MacArthur Park. Her mother worked as a house cleaner, and her father waited tables at a country club in Studio City. The family later opened a car dealership.

Menjivar was raised in the San Fernando Valley and graduated from Reseda High School. When she was 18, her family was evicted from its home because of the 2008 financial crisis. She later applied to the Los Angeles Fire Department and was rejected. Instead, she joined the U.S. Marine Corps, serving from 2009 to 2016, during the period when “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was in operation.

After the Marines, she worked as an EMT while earning a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Cal State Northridge. She went on to serve as a David Bohnett Fellow in the Los Angeles Mayor’s Gender Equity Office and received a master’s degree in social welfare from UCLA. Her experience included emergency response, military service, two universities and municipal government.

THE PATH TO OFFICE

Before running for the Senate, Menjivar worked for former Los Angeles Councilwoman Nury Martinez as a field deputy. She later worked for former Mayor Eric Garcetti as the East Valley representative and organized the first LGBTQ+ Pride Car Parade in the San Fernando Valley.

In 2022, she entered the race for the 20th Senate District against Daniel Hertzberg, the son of the area’s previous senator, Robert Hertzberg. The Legislature’s LGBTQ caucus endorsed Hertzberg. Menjivar was endorsed by state Sen. Henry Stern, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the San Fernando Valley Young Democrats and California Environmental Voters. She also faced criticism after a recording of her former boss making racist statements was leaked.

In the June 7 primary, Hertzberg finished first with 30.82%, while Menjivar advanced with 29.76%. Menjivar won the general election with 58.46% of the vote. She entered the Senate as a Marine veteran, former EMT and former East Valley representative.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Menjivar’s documented Senate record includes committee assignments focused on health, human services and veterans affairs. She was appointed to Budget Subcommittee No. 3 on Health and Human Services. Her other committee assignments focus on health, human services and veterans affairs.

Her record also includes a district-specific position on housing policy. In 2025, amid California’s housing shortage, Menjivar voted against SB 79, which would allow apartment construction near major public transportation hubs. She said housing should not be built near transit lines in her district that “are not going to be utilized by working class individuals.”

The documented account includes both that vote and her family’s eviction during the 2008 financial crisis, but it does not connect them. It also documents her committee work in health, human services and veterans affairs; her organization of the first LGBTQ+ Pride Car Parade in the San Fernando Valley; and her service as the first LGBTQ legislator to represent the San Fernando Valley.