The Bee endorses a Sacramento leader for California’s 7th Assembly District | Opinion

When Josh Hoover was first elected to California’s 7th Assembly District in 2022, it was only after the Folsom Republican prevailed in a nail-biter race against longtime Democrat Ken Cooley. The Bee endorsed Hoover in a race he won by less than one percentage point.

Hoover had an easier time defeating Citrus Heights City Councilmember Porsche Middleton by more than 6% of total votes in 2024.

And now in 2026, we endorse Hoover again over his third Democratic challenger, Amy Slavensky, an educator and most recently the interim deputy superintendent of the San Juan Unified School District.

When Hoover took office in 2022, he was the first Republican elected to represent the district in 20 years, after a string of Democratic Assembly members that included current Sacramento City Councilmember Roger Dickinson and current Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, before redistricting shifted the 7th District further away from the central city in 2020.

The district now includes northeast Sacramento County. That includes the cities of Folsom, Rancho Cordova and Citrus Heights, and the unincorporated communities of Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Foothill Farms, North Highlands, Orangevale and Rosemont.

Perhaps because of the district’s bipartisan history, Hoover has stayed close to the center, avoiding the pitfalls that seem to distract his colleagues in the GOP caucus. He is a member of the California Problem Solvers Caucus, a non-party-affiliated caucus in the Legislature that was formed to put public policy before partisan politics.

“As a member of the minority party in Sacramento, I cannot get anything done if I don’t work with the other side of the aisle,” Hoover told the board. “So I’ve really made it a priority to do that.”

Hoover has used his time in the state legislature to advance common-sense bills.

During his first term, he authored and passed the AB 3216, also known as the Phone-Free Schools Act, which requires all California school districts to adopt policies limiting or prohibiting student smartphone use by this summer.

Hoover also serves as the vice chair of the Assembly education and communications committees, and as the father of a special-needs child, is proud to serve on the Assembly Select Committee on Serving Students with Disabilities.

Recently, Hoover has advanced legislation that brings accountability and transparency to the state’s homelessness crisis by auditing and tracking spending and outcomes across all programs that receive state funding. He has also proposed public safety measures that deserve consideration, raising the minimum age for release of older parolees from 50 to 65.

Upcoming legislation from Hoover includes AB 2508, which recently passed through the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee with bipartisan support. The bill proposes to reduce electricity rates for California residents by shifting certain costs off the ratepayers and onto the state’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund.

“A lot of these programs, while important and well-intentioned,” Hoover said, “should not be funded on the backs of ratepayers who are currently paying the highest energy rates in the contiguous United States.”

Hoover’s push for more accountability on homelessness, alongside state Sen. Roger Niello and some Democrats, is a worthwhile check on Democrats who have struggled to move more people off the streets. Hoover is one of several local Republican legislators doing good work for the region.

Slavensky is a fine candidate who spoke about innovative ideas on how to bring more affordable housing to the district — she suggested building apartments on top of warehouses, like Costco. Yet she was unable to demonstrate why she should unseat Hoover.

While we don’t agree with Hoover on everything — his eager support for voter ID laws is an example — we believe that thoughtful opposition in the Legislature is valuable for the health of the state. It’s why Hoover remains the right choice for the 7th District.