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POLITICS - One of the reasons openly LGBTQ leaders gain credit and credibility from voters when we run for office, especially in California, is that we are viewed as having firsthand experience with bigotry and bullying — and reliably fighting back.
Who better to stand up against bad guys and abusers of the public interest than those who have braved intolerance and been the underdog ourselves?
But this commonplace assumption of being an ally of the oppressed breaks down and can get turned on its head when an openly LGBTQ+ candidate takes the side of the privileged and powerful against ordinary people.
Take Juan Camacho, the openly gay candidate for state Senate in Eastside and Northeast Los Angeles. Camacho is a longtime business executive at Fox Corporation, the parent company of Fox News, and at American Beverage, a corporate umbrella of soda companies. He has cited his nonprofit service in LGBTQ+ organizations to rebrand himself as a “civil rights leader.”
Camacho’s rebranding effort has gone into overdrive as he runs as a Democrat and competes for an open seat to represent a largely progressive-leaning constituency that favored Bernie Sanders for President twice in the past decade.
Dogging Camacho is his long entanglement in corporations that cater to billionaires and Trump and take a dim view of workers’ unions. Fox Corporation, for instance, is a maximum contributor of $5,900 directly to Camacho’s current campaign.
State senate districts in California serve one million residents, more people than Members of Congress (who represent just over 700,000). The widely perceived front-runner for Senate District 26 is Sara Hernandez, president of the L.A. Community College District Board, a longtime housing attorney, a former teacher, and daughter of farmworker advocates.
Nurtured in the practice and power of labor solidarity, Hernandez has worked hard to build a mighty coalition of endorsements that now include Dolores Huerta and L.A. County Supervisor and former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis along with unions ranging from the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) and the California Teachers Association (CTA) to Electrical Workers locals (IBEW) and Operating Engineers (IUOE) to Teamsters and Autoworkers (UAW).
Hernandez has built such respect among progressive Democrats that, at the endorsement meeting of the largest Democratic club in the district, East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), in October 2025, she garnered 76 percent of the vote to zero votes for Camacho. EAPD’s endorsement helped open even more doors at the grassroots as Hernandez organized more than 26 community gatherings throughout the 26th District, concluding in Glassell Park in December.
Her support across the spectrum of the Democratic Party is so strong that in the pre-endorsement conference of party delegates in January she bested all rivals in the fierce competition by a 2-to-1 margin.
This preeminent position that Sara Hernandez has built stems from stellar credentials, a compelling story of service, clear and popular progressive goals, and unrelenting teamwork and high-quality, person-to-person outreach in the community.
That may explain why Juan Camacho has stooped to sending mass text messages aimed at voters instead of more textured, face-to-face engagement. It may also explain why he got caught recently voicing resentment to voters via text about two of the sources of Hernandez’ progressive support.
In a text exchange with 26th District voters, which was confirmed as authentic, Camacho appears to look down on teachers and the California Teachers Association in particular. Sara Hernandez, he states with disparagement, “is endorsed by groups like CTA.”
In the text message to voters, Camacho also treats Bernie Sanders-style progressives as a bogeyman and pronounces he is “not aligned with socialist groups or the DSA.”
Treating workers’ organizations and progressive voters pejoratively is not a winning strategy in the pro-union, progressive-leaning 26th Senate District. Camacho’s seeming antipathy in this regard appears to be reciprocated. He shows not a single labor union endorsement for his campaign. Zero.
Trash-talking teachers is also an odd and incongruous gaffe by an openly LGBTQ+ candidate. Educators in California stand on the front lines daily, equipped with skill, training, and empathy, to protect the dignity of LGBTQ+ students, including nonbinary and trans kids, anxious about outing to unaccepting and potentially rejecting parents and family members. Remarks that degrade teachers unions, stalwart advocates for students’ and educators’ safety, dignity, and equality, are insulting and disqualifying.
In the communities of Northeast L.A., few endorsements equal or surpass in value that of LGBTQ+ trailblazer, teacher, and recent L.A. school board president Jackie Goldberg. She has chosen sides. Her pick is Sara Hernandez. “At a time when too many are willing to accept the status quo, Sara has consistently stood with working people — not corporate interests — and fought for strong public schools, economic justice, a healthier environment, and dignity for every family.” Even Juan Camacho might have a hard time talking his way around that.
(Hans Johnson is a longtime advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, environmental justice, and public education. His columns have appeared in USA Today and leading newspapers across more than 20 states. Based in Eagle Rock, he serves as president of East Area Progressive Democrats (EAPD), California’s largest grassroots Democratic club with over 1,100 members. Hans brings decades of organizing and policy experience to his work, advancing equity and accountability in local and national politics.)
