Pro-housing Campbell Councilman Lopez jumps into race for Assembly seat

The race to replace Assemblyman Marc Berman, D-Menlo Park, has started early with Campbell Councilman Sergio Lopez throwing his hat in the ring.

Lopez, 31, said he’s starting his 2028 campaign now because the Assembly district is large, and he wants to win by meeting with constituents rather than taking money from special interests.

Mountain View Councilwoman Ellen Kamei and Palo Alto Mayor Vicki Veenker have also been rumored to run for Berman’s seat. Kamei didn’t return a request for comment, and Veenker said she doesn’t have plans to run.

Berman was elected over Veenker in 2016 and will reach his term limit in 2028.

The district spans from Campbell to Pacifica, with the bulk of the population from Mountain View to Menlo Park. Berman’s office is in Midtown Palo Alto.

Pragmatism 

Lopez describes himself as the first pro-housing mayor of Campbell. He said he supports Sacramento’s push to build housing but wants to be more pragmatic with smaller cities.

For example, Lopez said the California Department of Housing and Community Development gave cities inconsistent feedback on their 2023-2031 Housing Element.

Cities would turn in their housing plans, get a checklist of things to change and then turn in a revised plan. But the state would just come back with another checklist that caused delays, Lopez said.

Lopez said Atherton spent around $1.5 million getting its Housing Element approved. He wants the state to offer more technical support and grants for smaller cities to do their next plan.

Lopez said he would’ve voted for Senate Bill 79, which allowed buildings up to 95 feet near Caltrain stations. He said he successfully advocated for SB79 to offer flexibility to cities on where the taller buildings could go.

Favors transit-oriented housing

Lopez said homeowners are facing an insurance affordability crisis, and he wants the state to take the lead on preparing for floods and wildfires because all cities are impacted.

Lopez said the state should set aside more money each year, like Governor Jerry Brown did, so the budget doesn’t fluctuate so much each year. 

Lopez is opposed to Prop. 40, a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of billionaires to fund health care. Lopez said it’s a short-term approach to a long-term problem.

Lopez is in favor of schools offering advanced, honors and AP courses. As the son of two immigrants, Lopez said honors courses allowed him to go to Yale with a scholarship and get advanced degrees.

Chairs VTA board

Lopez is an advocate for public transit and is chairman of the VTA board.

Lopez has worked on past campaigns for Hillary Clinton and Gavin Newsom, according to his social media. He’s currently director of government and corporate relations at The Tech Interactive, a museum in San Jose.