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People & Profiles - page 2

Local people, notable figures, family histories and profiles.

Tom McClintock: Turlock’s Congressman

Official photograph of Tom McClintock beside his name and congressional office.
Tom McClintock’s official House portrait, January 2010. Photo: U.S. House of Representatives; public domain. Resized and paired with a name panel.

Tom McClintock was a familiar California conservative long before his congressional district reached Turlock. He ran in the 2003 election that made Arnold Schwarzenegger governor, then entered Congress in 2009. Today his territory connects part of town with the Sierra foothills and Yosemite, putting federal spending, immigration, forest management and water on his desk. Current office: Republican U.S. representative for California’s 5th District. His district includes part of Turlock; Adam Gray represents the current 13th… Keep Reading

Adam Gray: Turlock’s Congressman

Official photograph of Adam Gray beside his name and congressional office.
Adam Gray’s official House portrait, March 2025. Photo: Leah Herman / U.S. House Creative Services; public domain. Resized and paired with a name panel.

Adam Gray lost his first congressional race by 564 votes. Two years later, he won the rematch by 187. Those margins brought the Merced native to Washington after a decade in the California Assembly, where water storage and medical education had been recurring priorities. For part of Turlock, he is now the person to call when a federal agency will not answer. Current office: Democratic U.S. representative for California’s 13th District, serving since January 3,… Keep Reading

Adam Schiff: California’s U.S. Senator

Official photograph of U.S. Senator Adam Schiff beside his name and office.
Adam Schiff, official Senate portrait, December 2024. Photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio · public domain. Resized and paired with a name panel.

Adam Schiff spent years as one of Washington’s most recognizable faces in investigations of Donald Trump. His Senate job now includes a less televised assignment with a direct bearing on this area: the Agriculture Committee. In his first year he toured Valley farms and San Luis Reservoir. For Turlock residents, he is also an office to contact about a stalled Social Security claim, veterans’ benefit or immigration application. Office: U.S. senator for California; Democrat. Service:… Keep Reading

Alex Padilla: California’s U.S. Senator

Official photograph of U.S. Senator Alex Padilla beside his name and office.
Alex Padilla, official Senate portrait, January 2021. Photo: U.S. Senate Photographic Studio · public domain. Resized and paired with a name panel.

Turlock turns up in Alex Padilla’s federal spending paperwork in a place you might not expect: water meters. Another request concerns the irrigation district’s modernization plans. Those are quieter parts of a senator’s job than the immigration arguments that put him on national television, but they matter here. Padilla represents every Turlock resident in the U.S. Senate, alongside Adam Schiff. Office: U.S. senator for California; Democrat. Service: Joined the Senate in January 2021; elected in… Keep Reading

Gavin Newsom: California’s Governor

Gavin Newsom in his official California governor portrait from March 2026
Charles Ommanney / Office of the Governor of California, 2026-03-25. CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped, resized and placed on a plain background; derivative licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

A solar-panel canopy above a TID canal is one local example of Gavin Newsom’s governorship. The state helped pay for the experiment; Turlock Irrigation District and its partners built it to test a new use for existing canals. His administration also pressed Turlock over its housing plan. State government can bring investment to a community and demand changes from it at the same time. Newsom is California’s 40th governor, serving his second and final permitted… Keep Reading

Juan Alanis: Turlock’s Assemblymember, His Record and Local Work

Juan Alanis in his official California State Assembly portrait from 2023
California State Assembly / Office of Juan Alanis, 2023-01-03. Public domain (PD California). Cropped, resized and placed on a plain background.

Juan Alanis had already ordered shirts and flags for another run for Stanislaus County sheriff when a newly drawn Assembly district changed his plans. He took his law-enforcement background to Sacramento instead. Since 2022, Turlock’s Republican assemblymember has worked on youth-sports safety, financial-literacy lessons, agricultural concerns and the rules governing state agencies. Alanis represents Assembly District 22, including Turlock and communities in Stanislaus and Merced counties. He is the only candidate listed for this seat… Keep Reading

Marie Alvarado-Gil: Turlock’s State Senator and Her Four-Year Term

Marie Alvarado-Gil in her California State Senate portrait from 2022
California State Senate, 2022-11-16. Public domain (PD California). Cropped, resized and placed on a plain background.

Marie Alvarado-Gil entered the California Senate as a Democrat, became a Republican halfway through her term, and is leaving after voters chose two other candidates in the June 2026 primary. Her four years representing Turlock included a narrowly drawn change to California’s rape-sentencing law, advocacy for rural communities and a political break that attracted national attention. She remains Turlock’s current state senator during the 2026 transition. The November ballot is a contest between Democrat Jaron… Keep Reading

California’s Governor Race 2026: Becerra, Hilton & the Valley

Separate photographs of Xavier Becerra and Steve Hilton, the two candidates for California governor in November 2026.
Xavier Becerra (left), 2021 HHS portrait, and Steve Hilton at AmericaFest in Phoenix, December 2024. Photos: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (public domain) and Gage Skidmore (CC BY-SA 2.0). Cropped, resized and paired; composition CC BY-SA 2.0.

California voters are choosing a new governor on November 3. Gavin Newsom has reached the two-term limit, and the choice is between Democrat Xavier Becerra, a former attorney general and U.S. health secretary, and Republican Steve Hilton, a former British political adviser and Fox News host. They disagree about taxes, housing, health care and the state’s relationship with Washington. On water, one surprise: Hilton wants more storage but opposes the Delta tunnel. On this page:… Keep Reading

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The Soderquists of Turlock: Hatcheries, Downtown Shops and a Custom Mercury

A. Soderquist’s 1921 biography describes Rose Hill Hatchery’s incubators, chick production and family in Turlock.
A. Soderquist’s hatchery and family in George H. Tinkham’s History of Stanislaus County (1921), p. 1362. Internet Archive scan; public domain.

The Soderquist family’s businesses included beekeeping, a hatchery, downtown dress shops and antiques. Their Turlock history began with a Swedish immigrant buying farmland west of town. A later family connection was a 1954 Mercury restored by custom-car builder Gene Winfield. A Farm Family Arrives in 1902 George H. Tinkham’s 1921 history of Stanislaus County gives us an unusually detailed account of a man he identifies as A. Soderquist. Born in Sweden in 1863, Soderquist reached… Keep Reading

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