Frances Audrey Florez is an American politician from

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and a member of the Democratic Party.

Biography

Florez began work at

Bank of America The Bank of America Corporation (Bank of America) (often abbreviated BofA or BoA) is an American multinational investment banking, investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered at the Bank of America Corporate Center in ...

in 1964, became the first female loan officer in the Shafter branch in 1973, and became the branch manager in 1990. She later worked as a consultant for the PG&E corporate contributions program. She is also a past president of the Chamber of Commerce of Shafter, California. Florez won election to the Shafter City Council in 1996 and served there through 2008; she served as mayor (a council position) for four years, and was the first Hispanic mayor of Shafter. While serving as mayor, she decided to run for the 30th District seat in the state Assembly. Beginning in 2002, she served as a member of the

California High-Speed Rail Authority The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) is a California state agency established in 1996 pursuant to the California High-Speed Rail Act to develop and implement high-speed intercity rail service, namely the California High-Speed Rail pro ...

, serving as chairman in 2005. In 2008, she was the Democratic nominee for the 30th District in the state Assembly. The outgoing incumbent, Democrat Nicole Parra, endorsed Fran Florez's Republican opponent, former Assistant

California Highway Patrol The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is the principal state police agency for the U.S. state of California. The CHP has primary jurisdiction, including patrol and Criminal investigation, investigations, over all California Controlled-access highw ...

Chief Danny Gilmore. Florez narrowly lost to Gilmore. In June 2010, Florez won the Democratic primary in the 30th Assembly District by 13 percent of the vote against Nicole Parra's father, Pete Parra. She faced Republican farmer David Valadao in the November general election. Nicole Parra endorsed Valadao in a televised advertisement. Valadao won by a 61% to 39% margin. In March 2013, she announced her candidacy for the 16th Senate District of the California state Senate, and soon after ended her campaign to help support candidate Leticia Perez and the prospects of the Democratic party by avoiding a contested primary.

Personal life

She is the mother of Dean Florez, who represented the area (which includes

Fresno Fresno (; ) is a city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County, California, Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley region. It covers a ...

, Tulare, Kern and Kings counties) in the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

from 1998 to 2002 and in the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature (the lower house being the California State Assembly). The state senate convenes, along with the state assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. ...

from 2002 to 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Florez, Fran Living people Women mayors of places in California Mayors of places in California Politicians from Bakersfield, California 1943 births 21st-century American women