Lola Smallwood-Cuevas
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (Democratic Party) is a member of the California State Senate, representing District 28. She assumed office on December 5, 2022. Her current term ends on December 7, 2026.
Smallwood-Cuevas (Democratic Party) is running for re-election to the California State Senate to represent District 28. She declared candidacy for the 2026 election.[source]
Biography
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas earned a bachelor's degree from California State University, Hayward. Her career experience includes working as a journalist, researcher and political and community organizer with SEIU Local 1877, and as project director at the UCLA Labor Center. Smallwood-Cuevas co-founded the Los Angeles Black Worker Center. She volunteered as the treasurer of the Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board.[1]
Committee assignments
Note: This membership information was last updated in September 2023. Ballotpedia completes biannual updates of committee membership. If you would like to send us an update, email us at: editor@ballotpedia.org.
2023-2024
Smallwood-Cuevas was assigned to the following committees:
- Budget and Fiscal Review Committee
- Business, Professions and Economic Development Committee
- Senate Education Committee
- Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee
- Senate Rules Committee
- Rules Committee
Sponsored legislation
The following table lists bills this person sponsored as a legislator, according to BillTrack50 and sorted by action history. Bills are sorted by the date of their last action. The following list may not be comprehensive. To see all bills this legislator sponsored, click on the legislator's name in the title of the table.
Elections
2026
See also: California State Senate elections, 2026
General election
The general election will occur on November 3, 2026.
General election for California State Senate District 28
Incumbent Lola Smallwood-Cuevas is running in the general election for California State Senate District 28 on November 3, 2026.
Candidate | ||
 | Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
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2022
See also: California State Senate elections, 2022
General election
General election for California State Senate District 28
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas defeated Cheryl Turner in the general election for California State Senate District 28 on November 8, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D) | 59.9 | 117,315 |
 | Cheryl Turner (D) | 40.1 | 78,453 | |
| Total votes: 195,768 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for California State Senate District 28
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas and Cheryl Turner defeated Joe Lisuzzo, Kamilah Moore, and Jamaal Gulledge in the primary for California State Senate District 28 on June 7, 2022.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D) | 44.8 | 63,211 |
| ✔ | | Cheryl Turner (D) | 30.3 | 42,728 |
 | Joe Lisuzzo (R) | 14.7 | 20,785 | |
| Kamilah Moore (D) | 6.5 | 9,162 | ||
 | Jamaal Gulledge (D) | 3.7 | 5,267 | |
| Total votes: 141,153 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Lisa Middleton (D)
Campaign finance
Campaign themes
2026
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
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2022
Lola Smallwood-Cuevas did not complete Ballotpedia's 2022 Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of California scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
2024
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2024, click [show]. |
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In 2024, the California State Legislature was in session from January 3 to August 31. A special session in the Assembly was from August 31, 2024 to October 14, 2024 and another special session started on December 2, 2024.
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2023
| To view all the scorecards we found for this legislator in 2023, click [show]. |
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In 2023, the California State Legislature was in session from January 1 to September 14.
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See also
2026 Elections
External links
Footnotes
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Melissa Melendez (R) |
California State Senate District 28 2022-Present |
Succeeded by - |
