Esmeralda Soria wins law enforcement backing over ex-sheriff Mark Pazin in Fresno-area race
Fresno City Councilmember Esmeralda Soria captured two big law enforcement endorsements this week in her campaign for the newly drawn state Assembly District 27.
Soria, a Democrat, announced endorsements from the California College and University Police Chiefs Association and the California Correctional Peace Officers Association. Previously, the California Coalition of Law Enforcement Associations endorsed Soria.
Soria’s stance on school shootings convinced the college and university police chiefs she was the best choice in the race, the association president said.
“We made our endorsement after carefully evaluating both of the candidates, and Councilmember Soria was the only candidate who shared our commitment to protecting schools from active shooter assaults. She received our overwhelming endorsement,” said retired Chief Joel Justice, president of the association.
The endorsements matter because her challenger is former Merced County Sheriff Mark Pazin, a Republican, who has touted law enforcement and first-responder support during his campaign. Pazin also previously served as the law enforcement chief for California’s Office of Emergency Services.
Pazin also secured endorsements from key law enforcement figures, such as Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke, Madera County Sheriff Tyson Pogue, and Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims. Pazin also is endorsed by the Fresno County Deputy Sheriff’s Association, Merced City Firefighters Local 1479 and the California State Sheriff’s Association.
Pazin’s campaign said Soria’s recent law enforcement endorsements show the outgoing Fresno City Councilmember and Fresno City College adjunct professor is trying to “reinvent herself.”
“I’m always amazed at the hypocrisy of Esmeralda Soria and the lengths she goes to reinvent herself,” said Jordan Dennison, Pazin’s campaign manager. “Two years ago she ran for Congress to the left of Jim Costa and made a pilgrimage to Washington, D.C., to visit far-left extremist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who supported defunding the police. Mark has dedicated over 40 years to law enforcement and voters can trust him to hold the line on public safety. Also, our invitation for Soria to debate this is still on the table.”
Dennison was referring to a 2019 trip Soria and Fresno City Councilmember Miguel Arias took to the nation’s Capitol. While there, they met, took a photo with, and gifted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, with Fresno Grizzlies merchandise after the baseball team sparked national outrage for accidentally showing a video on Memorial Day that included a comparison of Ocasio-Cortez to dictators Fidel Castro and Kim Jong-un.
While Dennison compared Soria to AOC and tried to tie her to the “defund the police” movement, Soria’s record on the Fresno City Council shows she’s long supported law enforcement.
Soria pushed Fresno police to place bicycle patrols in certain neighborhoods in her district; she’s voted in favor of hiring additional Fresno police officers and giving them raises; she worked with her Republican colleague to direct city funding to hire additional Fresno police dispatchers; and she’s pushed to hire more Fresno firefighters.
In response to Dennison, Soria’s campaign consultant Josh Pulliam called Pazin a hypocrite.
“The fact that Mark Pazin is running for office on public safety, despite his failed record of quitting the job as sheriff when crime rates spiked, is the very definition of hypocrisy,” Pulliam said.
Homicide rates in Merced County skyrocketed in 2013 and remained high through 2015. Pazin stepped down as sheriff just before Christmas in 2013 after then-Gov. Jerry Brown appointed him to serve as chief of the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services Law Enforcement Branch.
Merced County in 2013 reported 29 total homicides, the most in the county in more than two decades, according to Merced Sun-Star archives. A majority of those homicides, 19, occurred within the Merced sheriff’s jurisdiction before Pazin abruptly left office.
