Vicente Sarmiento

Vicente Sarmiento was born on May 11, 1964, in Quime in the Inquisivi province of La Paz, Bolivia to Vicente Sr. and his wife Irma. When he was a year old, his family emigrated to California, settling in Santa Ana where his father worked as a hotel waiter while his mother provided cleaning services.^[1]

He studied at the University of California, Berkeley, where he met his wife Eva Cazas, an attorney of Mexican descent.^[1] He graduated from Berkeley with a Bachelor of Science Economics before continuing his studies at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Law where he received his Juris Doctor. After that, he completed a Certificate Program for Senior Executives in State and Local Government at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.^[2]

In 1994, Sarmiento's father introduced him to Miguel A. Pulido, whose Santa Ana mayoral campaign he worked to support. After successfully being elected, Pulido appointed Sarmiento as the city's housing development commissioner.^[1] In January 2007, he was appointed to the Santa Ana City Council representing Ward 1 in order to complete the term of Jose Solorio who had been elected to the California State Assembly. The following year, he ran for a full term and was elected with 62.7% of the vote. He was reelected in 2012 and 2016.^[2]

Sarmiento launched his mayoral bid in 2020, running amongst a field of five other candidates seeking to replace term-limited Mayor Pulido. His campaign ran on housing affordability and ending the city's contract with ICE.^[3] In the November 3 vote, Sarmiento was elected mayor with 33% of the vote, beating out second-place Claudia Alvarez by 10,000 votes. Sarmiento's bid was largely supported by younger voters whom he credited as the reason for his electoral success. On December 8, 2020, he was inaugurated as the first new mayor of Santa Ana in 26 years.^[4]