Your guide to California’s 31st Congressional District race: Cisneros vs. Martinez

For the first time in a generation, voters in the San Gabriel Valley will be choosing a new candidate to represent them in Congress, after longtime Democratic Rep. Grace F. Napolitano announced her retirement last summer. The district is a safe Democratic district, a predominantly Latino community that also has deep roots in the Asian American community.

The crowded primary race drew 11 candidates, who came from all over the district. Now, the battle is between Gil Cisneros, a Democrat who served one term in Congress in another district and received the most votes in the primary, and Daniel Martinez, a Republican who placed second in the primary.

Cisneros is a Democrat and philanthropist. He was elected in 2018 to a single term in Congress for the 39th District, which mostly encompasses Orange County along with a portion of San Bernardino County and parts of Los Angeles County. Cisneros lost reelection to Young Kim, a Republican. Among the legislation he supported in Congress was a failed assault weapons ban, which he said he hopes to reintroduce. After his defeat, Cisneros was appointed in 2021 as undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness in the Biden administration. He left that position in September before announcing his bid for Congress.

Cisneros, who told The Times he was raised in a family of veterans, briefly served in the Navy after high school. He became a millionaire after winning a lottery jackpot in 2010. With more than $250 million in earnings, he went from working as a shipping and distribution manager for Frito-Lay to entering the political and philanthropic world. He has put $6 million into his current campaign, according to the most recent campaign filings.

Martinez is an attorney and former high school teacher from Monrovia who ran unsuccessfully against Napolitano in 2022. He described himself as a “weird politician” and said he is running because “America is dead” and can only rise again by “returning to the biblical values we have strayed from.” Martinez told The Times that his main interest in joining Congress is to support post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide mitigation for veterans, which was motivated by his father’s suicide in 2015.

He said he also believes in redirecting the billions spent in Ukraine toward improving education and healthcare services in local communities. He also has expressed concerns about the rising homeless population and the need for rapid expansion of live-in mental health facilities.

The district encompasses the San Gabriel Valley and includes the cities of Azusa, Baldwin Park, Bradbury, Covina, Duarte, El Monte, Irwindale, La Puente, La Verne, San Dimas, South El Monte and West Covina and portions of Glendora, Industry and Monrovia.

Cisneros said that for those who suffer from addiction or mental health issues, the treatment process cannot begin “until we can put a roof over their head. Once they have shelter we can provide access to mental health and addiction treatment services.”

Martinez said a large percentage of the homeless in the country have mental health issues. He said that “too many of our country’s citizens live destitute lives” on the street and that any solution must address their mental health needs and bring services to people before they become unhoused.

Both candidates would vote for nationwide abortion rights “so that states can’t outlaw abortion.”

Both candidates believe the federal minimum age to purchase a firearm should be raised from 18 to 21, there should be universal background checks and a waiting period for all gun purchases, and civilian purchase of assault weapons should be prohibited.

Cisneros and Martinez both agreed to increase security along the U.S.-Mexico border, to establish ways for immigrants who came here illegally to stay legally, and to make it easier for people escaping war and violence to apply for asylum.