page_title: Jenny Oropeza
section_title: Legacy
hierarchical_section_title: Jenny Oropeza / Legacy
caption_attribution_description: English: Plaque located near the entrance to the building, Jenny Oropeza Community Center at Cesar E. Chavez Park, Long Beach California
context_page_description: Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Oropeza 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.
  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 prior to her time in the Senate.
  Oropeza and Tom Mullins married in August 1977.
context_section_description: Since her death, Oropeza has been honored by the Democratic Women's Study Club in Long Beach (the oldest continually meeting chartered Democratic club in America), which posthumously awarded her the Political Leadership Award, which is now named the Jenny Oropeza Political Leadership Award. Centro CHA in Long Beach posthumously awarded Oropeza the Create Change Community Service Excellence Award, now known as the Create Change: Jenny Oropeza Community Service Excellence Award.  The Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club created the Jenny Oropeza Ally of the Year Award, which like the other two awards, was first given in 2011.
  As a tribute to Oropeza's dedication to fostering protections for key California-state public health programs, the Los Angeles County Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, in joint collaboration with the six other California-based Komen Affiliates ("the California Collaborative"), established the Senator Jenny Oropeza Public Policy Internship position.
  The Senator Jenny Oropeza Memorial Scholarship was established after her death, and is awarded annually at California State University, Long Beach to a student who is committed to a career in public service.
  On March 31, 2011 (birthday of Cesar E. Chavez), the City of Long Beach renamed the community center in Cesar E. Chavez Park the Jenny Oropeza Community Center. During her time in the Assembly, Jenny fought hard to develop and name the park in honor of labor leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.
  On December 8, 2011 the Los Angeles Unified School District dedicated the Jenny Oropeza Global Studies Academy. The Academy is one of four academies at the Rancho Dominguez Preparatory School.
   In August 2012, in recognition of Oropeza's work to find the necessary funds to finance completion of a critical section of the Alameda Corridor project that had run out of money, the California Legislature approved the naming of the Honorable Jenny Oropeza Memorial Overcrossing for the section of Pacific Coast Highway in Wilmington that created the bridge that spans the Alameda Corridor. Oropeza successfully worked with Federal, State and local government entities, as well as the railroads and Metropolitan Transportation Authority to find the funds to construct this last and critical portion of the project.
  On April 21, 2014, State Senator Ricardo Lara introduced Senate Concurrent Resolution 115 that would designate the portion of Interstate 710 Highway (known as the Long Beach Freeway) that runs between Pico Avenue and West Wardlow Road in the City of Long Beach as the Senator Jenny Oropeza Memorial Freeway. This legislation has yet to be completed.
   In 2016, the Long Beach Unified School District Board of Education unanimously approved name changes for three schools, including International Elementary to be renamed Jenny Oropeza Elementary School, in honor of the former Long Beach Unified School District board member, Long Beach city councilwoman, state assemblywoman and state senator. The dedication ceremony took place on November 28, 2016. Oropeza, who died in 2010 at age 53, was the first Latina to serve on the Long Beach USD school board and the city council.
caption: Dedication Plaque at Jenny Oropeza Community Center, Long Beach CA, 2011
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