RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CNS) — An engineer and former federal prosecutor are vying in Tuesday’s election to represent constituents of a newly reconfigured assembly district in western Riverside County, with one advocating enhanced homeless relief and community investment programs, and the other standing on an anti-tax, tough-on-crime platform.
Bill Essayli, a Republican, and Fauzia Rizvi, a Democrat, are each contending for the 63rd Assembly District seat that was previously in Los Angeles and Downey. Following the state redistricting process based on the 2020 census, the district was redrawn to cover parts of Corona, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Norco, Riverside and neighboring unincorporated communities.
Essayli, who tried unsuccessfully to oust Assemblywoman Sabrina Cervantes, D-Corona, from her 60th Assembly District seat in 2018, worked as a U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecutor and Riverside County deputy district attorney prior to going into private practice.
He has been among the voices calling for suspension of the state gas tax amid escalating pump prices and has said that, if elected, he would do whatever he could to “stop reckless spending that is fueling inflation.”
“I believe we should take advantage of American resources, rather than beg other countries to produce more,” Essayli said in a campaign statement.
According to the candidate, tax increases should be halted by the Legislature “because we have a spending problem, not a revenue problem.”
Essayli has taken a tough-on-crime stance that earned him several weighty endorsements, including from the Riverside Sheriffs’ Association, representing deputies, District Attorney’s Office investigators and some Department of Probation agents.
“I have a record of holding people accountable, working to protect our community and defending your liberties,” he said. “Soft-on-crime policies have failed, and I will work to reverse them.”
Rizvi, an engineer serving on the Western Municipal Water District Board of Directors, said her problem-solving skills would be beneficial to the district and in the Legislature, and her work in the Corona area over the last 20 years has positioned her to intimately understand constituents’ needs.
“I understand the issues that matter to our community,” the mother of three said in a campaign statement. “There are too many politicians in Sacramento who put themselves or their political parties ahead of the people. I’m not a partisan politician. I’m an engineer ... who will work with anyone to get things done.”
Some of her leading priorities include expanding housing options to relieve homelessness and ensure lower income families can access the real estate market, improving veterans’ services and “investing in small businesses and restoring lost jobs.”
“My priorities will be the people ... not partisan politics,” she said. “We deserve a representative who ... understands our communities and who will focus on getting results for us, not themselves. I’ll put people first.”