Political Party:
Democrat
Ballot Designation:
State Senator
Law Enforcement Contributions:
None as of 4/13/26
Background:
Senator Smallwood-Cuevas has served in the Senate since 2022 and was endorsed by IJ Action for that election. She is a former educator, labor organizer, and community advocate. She is the co-founder of the LA Black Worker Center.
During her four years in the Senate, Smallwood-Cuevas has been a strong supporter of justice reform, earning perfect scores on our Legislative Scorecard in 2023, 2024, and 2025 – being the only Senator to do so. She has also authored several bills aimed at serving those who are currently and formerly incarcerated, including SB 749, which extended the deadline for incarcerated people to file for resentencing under Prop 47; SB 809, which failed to pass but would have made it easier for formerly incarcerated people to gain employment; and SB 1282, which also failed to pass but would have greatly expanded drug diversion opportunities.
Public Safety Platform:
On her campaign website, Smallwood-Cuevas emphasizes community care as a public safety strategy, stating: “As I look across our District, I know the number of police on the street alone does not make our neighborhoods safer. Safety comes from services, opportunity, and combatting the root causes of poverty and inequity instead of leading with a surveillance and incarceration approach. Our justice system should be centered around diversion, rehabilitation, fairness, de-escalation, crisis intervention, and law enforcement accountability.”
She also highlights her justice reform record in the Senate, stating: “I’ve been working to address sentencing disparities, improve integrated reentry, and make parole more accessible…This year, I’ve authored the Reentry Pilot Project (SB 75) to provide workforce training in the skilled trades and transitional support to formerly incarcerated individuals, and I wrote the bill (SB 423) to create a firefighter training pipeline for incarcerated individuals and a post-release hiring program to reduce recidivism and create stable career paths.”
Overall, she has been a very vocal supporter of system-impacted people and communities of color in general and IJ Action strongly recommends that voters re-elect Senator Smallwood-Cuevas.
Website:
Political Party:
Republican
Ballot Designation:
LA Neighborhood Councilmember
Law Enforcement Contributions: Candidate has not raised any campaign funds as of 4/16/26
Background:
Joe Lisuzzo worked for 32 years in the food manufacturing industry. He is an LA neighborhood councilmember.
Public Safety Platform:
On his website, he lists his public safety platform as: “When elected to the state senate, I promise to promote laws that Increase Public Safety funding + support the rule of law for ALL the People of California. Lawlessness must end and be held accountable. I promise to never forget the Victims of crime. I will work to end Waste, Fraud and Abuse.”
Website:
Political Party:
No Party Preference
Ballot Designation:
Educator/Business Owner
Law Enforcement Contributions: Candidate has not raised any campaign funds as of 4/16/26
Background:
Although Daphne Bradford has previously run for LA County Supervisor and for President of the US, she currently has no campaign website and no information about her policy platforms are readily available online.
Public Safety Platform:
Website:
No Website
