Gloria Romero

Gloria Romero is a former state senator who served in the California Legislature from 1998 to 2010.¹ She was the Senate Majority Leader, a position she held for three years as the first woman to do so.² She taught as an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University and California State University, Los Angeles.³ In 2010, she wrote the state's "Parent Trigger" law, which allows parents to petition for change at poor-performing schools.⁴ She was a lifelong Democrat but registered as a Republican in 2024, saying the party had abandoned working families.²

Romero supports school vouchers that let parents use public money for private school tuition, and she proposes cutting remedial coursework to help students finish degrees faster.⁵ She said she would push to cut administrative spending in higher education and proposed a policy requiring universities to offer the courses students need to graduate on time.⁶ She also supports restoring the SAT requirement for college admissions and Title IX protections for women in sports.⁷ Romero lists fighting antisemitism on college campuses among her top priorities and has criticized the Democratic Party's response to the issue.⁸

She said she would work to reduce housing regulations to improve affordability.⁶ She proposes cutting the number of state commissions in half.³ She has said she wants the state to open public lands to new oil production.⁹ She has also said she wants to review the political leanings of faculty at state public universities.⁹