AD-38: The Suzette Martinez Valladares campaign is pleased to announce the endorsement from another prominent local leader, Santa Clarita Councilmember Bob Kellar. Kellar has served nearly two decades on the Santa Clarita City Council, including four terms as Mayor.
Councilmember Kellar wrote, \”Suzette has been an active leader in our Santa Clarita community for years, and a tireless advocate for our local families, children, and businesses. I first met Suzette in 2010 when she was honored as an SCV 40 Under Forty. I knew then how committed she was to working to help our community thrive. Today, she is someone who we can count on to be a strong voice for all of us and to stand up against the failed policies of Sacramento.\”
Since announcing her candidacy, early childhood advocate and philanthropist Suzette Valladares has received the enthusiastic support from several other notable local leaders, including Assembly Republican Leader Marie Waldron, Senator Scott Wilk, and former Congressmen Steve Knight and Buck McKeon.
Background: An unlikely Republican story, Suzette grew up in the San Fernando Valley, the granddaughter of a farmworker who worked alongside Cesar Chavez in the vineyards near Bakersfield. She was blessed with loving parents who valued education, family and community responsibility. In 2012, Suzette became Executive Director of Southern California Autism Speaks. Her career is based on serving others, with a passion for early childhood education and advocacy.
After her mother’s passing in 2018, Suzette was asked to assume her mother’s role as CEO of Little Steps of Faith, a faith-based non-profit preschool that provides quality childcare to underserved families in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita Valleys.
Suzette and her husband Shane were blessed with their first child, daughter Charlotte, in April 2017.
(California\’s 38th Assembly District includes the Santa Clarita and Simi Valleys as well as a portion of the San Fernando Valley.)