Nicole M. Parra (born February 3, 1970) is an American attorney and politician who served as a member of 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 2002 to 2008. A

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

, she represented the 30th Assembly district, which includes a portion of California's Central Valley.

Early life and education

Parra was born in

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in and the county seat of Kern County, California, United States. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, which is located in the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's population as of th ...

, and raised in

Hanford, California Hanford is the most populous city and the county seat of Kings County, California, located in the San Joaquin Valley region of the greater Central Valley (California), Central Valley. The population was 57,990 at the 2020 United States census, ...

. Her father, Pete, served on the

Kern County Board of Supervisors The Kern County Board of Supervisors is the legislative and executive body that governs Kern County, California. Modern As of December 2024, the members were: * 1st District, Phillip Peters. * 2nd District, Chris Parlier. * 3rd District, J ...

and her mother works for the Bakersfield Adult School. After attending Highland High School, she graduated from the

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 ...

in 1992 with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

. In 1998, she earned a

Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...

from the Catholic University School of Law in

Washington D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Career

Parra served as

Congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

Cal Dooley Calvin M. Dooley (born January 11, 1954), American politician, was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from 1991 to 2005, representing the 17th and 20th districts of California. Early life and education Born in ...

's campaign manager in 2000 and as his District Director from 1998 to 2002.

California Assembly

Parra was elected to the Assembly in 2002 by a margin of 266 votes. She served as Chair of the Agriculture Committee. She also served on the Banking & Finance, Insurance, and Water Parks and Wildlife Committees. Parra's 2004 re-election campaign was endorsed by the California Farm Bureau. In 2008 Parra was not eligible to seek a fourth term because of term limits. She chose to endorse her opponent from the 2006 campaign to replace her, Republican Danny Gilmore, over the Democratic party nominee, Shafter Mayor

Fran Florez Frances Audrey Florez is an American politician from California and a member of the Democratic Party. Biography Florez began work at Bank of America in 1964, became the first female loan officer in the Shafter branch in 1973, and became the br ...

. During her final months in office, Parra was kicked out of her Capitol office by then-Assembly Speaker

Karen Bass Karen Ruth Bass (; born October 3, 1953) is an American politician who has served as the 43rd mayor of Los Angeles since 2022. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Bass previously served in the United States House ...

after refusing to vote on a state spending bill.

Later career

In late January 2009, Parra accepted an appointment from

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

to be Director of the Governor's Regional Development Initiatives under the Business, Transportation and Housing Agency. On July 16, 2009, Parra announced that she would resign from the agency. In 2010, Parra supported the candidacy of

Carly Fiorina Cara Carleton "Carly" Fiorina (; ; born September 6, 1954) is an American businesswoman and politician, known primarily for her tenure as chief executive officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP) from 1999 to 2005. Fiorina was the first woman to le ...

, a Republican, to the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

. In 2014 she started serving as an adjunct professor at

Cal State Bakersfield California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB, Cal State Bakersfield, or CSU Bakersfield) is a public university in Bakersfield, California. It was established in 1965 as Kern State College and officially in 1968 as California State College Ba ...

, teaching political science. She also served as campaign manager for a local bond measure to benefit the Kern Community College District. In December 2020, Parra filed to run for Congress in the 21st district against incumbent Representative

David Valadao David Goncalves Valadao ( ; born April 14, 1977) is an American politician and dairy farmer serving as the U.S. representative for California's 22nd congressional district since 2023. His district comprises part of the San Joaquin Valley. A m ...

, a Republican, in the 2022 election cycle. The 21st district was redrawn in 2021 by the state's independent redistricting commission and then renumbered as the 22nd district. On December 30, 2021, Parra ended her congressional campaign and filed to run for district 16 in the state senate. She was eliminated during the primary, finishing in 3rd place with 12% of the vote.

References

External links

Campaign website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parra, Nicole 1970 births Living people Democratic Party members of the California State Assembly University of California, Berkeley alumni Politicians from Bakersfield, California Women state legislators in California Columbus School of Law alumni Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in California Hispanic and Latino American women in politics 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the California State Legislature