Jesse Arreguín
Elected to represent the 7th Senate District in November 2024, State Senator Jesse Arreguín is a lifelong advocate for economic and social justice. He brings twenty years of local and regional government experience: as a Berkeley City Councilmember, the Mayor of Berkeley, and as President of the Association of Bay Area Governments.
The son and grandson of migrant farm workers, Senator Arreguín was born in Fresno and grew up in San Francisco. He was raised in a working-class household, where his parents instilled the values of hard work, public service, and giving back to others. A lifelong renter, he faced housing insecurity growing up in San Francisco’s expensive and scarce housing market.
Senator Arreguín began his activism at the age of nine years old, marching with Dolores Huerta for farmworkers’ rights. For over thirty years he has been a passionate advocate for workers’ rights, immigrant rights, housing justice, the environment, and democracy.
He moved across the San Francisco Bay to get his degree at UC Berkeley, and served the Berkeley community as an elected official on the Rent Stabilization Board, City Council and as the first Latino elected Mayor of Berkeley.
During his time as Berkeley’s Mayor, he passed a housing bond and oversaw zoning reforms that resulted in the largest housing construction boom Berkeley had seen in decades, including 1,000 units of affordable housing. His successful efforts to rehouse the homeless led to a 45% decrease in unsheltered homelessness. He led Berkeley during the first Trump Presidency, strengthening the city’s sanctuary policy and standing up to hate groups. He also authored legislation to strengthen civilian oversight of police, while advancing reforms to shift mental health calls from police to trained social workers.
Senator Arreguín began his activism at the age of nine years old, marching with Dolores Huerta for farmworkers’ rights.
During his first year in the Senate, he successfully passed legislation to support the needs of all Californians. He authored bills to speed up the process of building new housing and increasing accountability. He also passed legislation to protect hospitals and clinics from ICE enforcement, ban law enforcement from wearing masks to conceal identity, and establish guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence in police reports.
Senator Arreguín is the chair of both the Senate Committee on Housing and the Committee on Public Safety. He also serves on the following committees: Business, Professions and Economic Development; Energy, Utilities and Communications; Local Government; Transportation.
Senator Arreguín lives in Oakland with his partner, Peralta Community College District Trustee Dyana Delfín Polk.
Changes Senator Arreguín Advocates For
As someone who has experienced housing displacement and as a current renter, Senator Arreguin has a long history of championing policies to build more housing and prevent homelessness. As Berkeley’s Mayor, Arreguin led the largest increase in affordable housing production in decades that coincided with a 45% decrease in homelessness. As Chair of the Senate Housing Committee, he supports zoning reform, streamlining permitting, and increasing production of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). He is a strong proponent of tenant protections and a Housing First solution to homelessness, and is advancing policies to raise revenue to support California’s housing needs.
Senator Arreguin has been leading efforts to address the root causes of crime, overseeing the lowest crime rate the East Bay has seen in over 60 years. He is a strong proponent of violence prevention programs, with programs in Oakland and Richmond helping reduce homicide rates to historic lows. He has advanced legislation to promote gun safety and is holding those who harm communities accountable by going after illegal dumpers and those who assault utility workers. He supports mental health response teams, providing safe and humane solutions to help those in distress.
Senator Arreguin has been leading efforts for more safe and reliable public transit that is essential to the state’s economy, climate goals, and quality of life. He has fought for funding to prevent cuts to service while ensuring such funds are spent responsibly, improved regional transit coordination, and called for safer street infrastructure, including for pedestrians and cyclists. He is a strong proponent of transit-oriented development, helping promote ridership that reduces traffic congestion.
Senator Arreguín is advancing the East Bay’s leadership on climate action and environmental justice. Helping the City of Berkeley switch to 100% renewable energy as Mayor, as Senator he is supporting efforts to end dependence on fossil fuels through a just transition. He is leading efforts to fully fund the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a key component of the state’s landmark cap-and-invest policy that supports public transit, affordable housing, climate resilience, and clean drinking water. Senator Arreguin has also advanced policies to expand conservation of pristine lands, preserve natural resources, and resiliency efforts on sea level rise and wildfires.
Senator Arreguin recognizes that immigrants are deeply interwoven into California’s society, with around 1 in 4 Californians being born in a foreign country. At a time when the federal administration has been instilling fear and terror in immigrant communities, Senator Arreguin is leading the charge to support and protect immigrants. This includes advancing legislation to protect patient privacy and stop immigration enforcement at healthcare facilities, coauthoring the No Secret Police Act to unmask ICE agents attempting to conceal their identity, supporting funding to provide immigration legal defense, and shining a light on ICE activities in the state.