Jennifer Ann Oropeza (September 27, 1957 – October 20, 2010) was the California State Senator for the 28th district which included the cities of Carson, El Segundo, Hermosa Beach, Lomita, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, and Torrance; the Los Angeles communities of Cheviot Hills, Bel Air, Harbor City, Harbor Gateway, Lennox, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Palms, Playa del Rey, Rancho Park, San Pedro, West Los Angeles, Westchester, Wilmington and Venice; and part of the city of Long Beach. (In 2012, as part of an overall redrawing of California district lines, this jurisdiction was redistricted into portions of both Districts 26 and 33.) Oropeza was elected to her first term in the California State Senate in November 2006 and garnered 62 percent of the vote. She died less than two weeks before the November 2, 2010 election, in which she had been expected to easily win reelection. Her name remained on the ballot in the 28th Senate District. Oropeza posthumously won reelection on November 2, 2010. She served in the California State Assembly for the six years (2000–2006) prior to her time in the Senate. Education Oropeza graduated from Alhambra High School in 1975 and went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Business Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She began her career in public service as the first Latina student body president, and the first to serve two terms, at California State University, Long Beach. While still in college, she was appointed by then-governor Jerry Brown to the CSU system's Board of Trustees and served as the student member of the board. Early political career Oropeza was the first Latina to serve as a member of the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education and held office from 1988 to 1994. In 1994, she was elected the first Latina member of the Long Beach City Council and won re-election in 1998. As an MTA board member from 1996 through 2000, Oropeza represented the southeast cities of Los Angeles County and served on MTA's Planning and Programming and Construction committees. While with the MTA, she also chaired the Goods Movement Committee of the Southern California Association of Governments. Assembly Member Oropeza was a member of the California State Assembly from 2000 to 2006 for the 55th Assembly District. In January 2002, with barely a year's experience in the Assembly, Oropeza was named chair of the Assembly Budget Committee