Monique Limón (born October 30, 1979) is an American politician serving as a member of 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. ...

. She is a member of the Democratic Party representing the 21st Senate District, which encompasses all of

Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara County, officially the County of Santa Barbara (), is a county located in Southern California. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 448,229. The county seat is Santa Barbara, and the largest city is Santa M ...

and over half of

Ventura County Ventura County () is a county located in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura. Ventura County comprises ...

Early life and education

Limón was born and raised in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara (, meaning ) is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States excepting A ...

, the daughter of immigrants from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

and a Master of Arts from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

Career

She served six years on the

Santa Barbara Unified School District The Santa Barbara Unified School District () is the main public school district that serves Santa Barbara and Goleta, California. On January 12, 2011, the board of education unanimously approved a resolution to reorganize the Santa Barbara Ele ...

Board of Education. Additionally, she served in the capacity of Assistant Director for the McNair Scholars Program at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

prior to serving in the Assembly. She is a former member of the Santa Barbara County Commission for Women.

California State Legislature

California State Assembly

In 2016, Limón was elected to 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 ...

to succeed Das Williams, who ran for the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors. In 2017,

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic P ...

signed Limón's bill to develop a model

Native American studies Native American studies (also known as American Indian, Indigenous American, Aboriginal, Native, or First Nations studies) is an interdisciplinary academic field that examines the history, culture, politics, issues, spirituality, sociology and co ...

curriculum to be integrated in California high schools.

California State Senate

In 2020, Limón ran for the

's 19th district to succeed

Hannah-Beth Jackson Hannah-Beth Jackson (born May 19, 1950) is an American politician who served in the California State Senate from 2012 to 2020. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, she represented the California's 19th State Senate district, 19th Senate D ...

, who was ineligible to run due to term limits. In 2023, she introduced a bill to expand prescribed grazing as a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

prevention measure. The next year, she introduced a bill to expand the approval process for prescribed burning. Limón sponsored a bill to make

voter registration In electoral systems, voter registration (or enrollment) is the requirement that a person otherwise Suffrage, eligible to Voting, vote must register (or enroll) on an electoral roll, which is usually a prerequisite for being entitled or permitted ...

automatic at California DMVs, however

Gavin Newsom Gavin Christopher Newsom ( ; born October 10, 1967) is an American politician and businessman serving since 2019 as the 40th governor of California. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served from 2011 to 201 ...

vetoed the bill in 2024, citing the additional costs it would entail. On June 9, 2025, the Senate Democratic caucus unanimously voted to promote Limón as president pro tem, succeeding Mike McGuire. She would be the first woman of color to hold the position and will take office in early 2026.

Personal life

Limón lives in

Goleta, California Goleta ( ; ; Spanish for "schooner") is a city in southern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was incorporated as a city in 2002, after a long period as the largest unincorporated populated area in the county. As of the 200 ...

with her husband, Michael Medel.

Electoral history

2024

2020

2018

2016

References

External links

* *
Campaign website

Join California Monique Limón
{{DEFAULTSORT:Limón, Monique 1979 births 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the California State Legislature American politicians of Mexican descent Columbia University alumni Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics Living people Politicians from Santa Barbara, California Presidents pro tempore of the California State Senate University of California, Berkeley alumni Women state legislators in California