Santa Ana City Councilman Hernandez launches his reelection campaign

Santa Ana, CA – Today, Santa Ana City Councilmember Johnathan Ryan Hernandez announced his re-election campaign to represent Ward 5, which includes Santa Ana college, city hall, the Willowick Golf Square, and the neighborhoods of Artesia Pilar, Flower Park, Santa Anita, Casa Bonita Neighborhood, Mar Les, Sullivan, Willard, and Washington Square.

Elected in 2020, Johnathan has stood up for Santa Ana’s diverse cultural history and prioritized investing in parks, community programs and events, and public safety. As councilman, Johnathan helped lead the effort for Santa Ana to become the first city in the nation to recognize Chicano Heritage Month during August, and he worked to ensure the city began honoring Juneteenth and Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Johnathan has also ensured funding for vital community resources, including the construction of the new Ed Caruthers and the 10th/Flower parks, protected bike lanes to ensure pedestrians are safe, and retaining street crossing guards to protect SAUSD students.

He has consistently worked to bring open space and improve quality of life for Santa Ana residents, successfully developing a teen center and a preschool program at El Salvador Park, a new environmentally sustainable soccer field at Cesar Chavez Campesino Park in Santa Anita, Friendship Park to the Casa Bonita neighborhood, and the King Street Pocket Park located in Artesia Pilar.

“Hope. Compassion. Equity. These are the values that have guided my life in public service. It’s an honor to serve the residents of Ward 5 and the city that raised me,” stated Councilman Johnathan Ryan Hernandez.

Hernandez continued, “My commitment has always been to the people of Santa Ana. There is much more work to be done, and I believe we can continue delivering real change for our communities when we come together. I would be honored to earn the support of Ward 5 to keep Santa Ana moving towards a path of progress and empowerment for all, and I look forward to meeting with residents on the campaign trail.”

Johnathan is a lifelong resident of Santa Ana, born and raised in the Artesia Pilar neighborhood. As a grandson of Mexican immigrants who came to the United States in the late 1950s, Johnathan was raised by a hard working single mom and his grandparents. His grandfather, Enrique, was an upstanding member of the Laborers International Union Local 652 for over 43 years. Johnathan is proud that his humble upbringing allowed him to learn the importance of resilience, determination, and compassion for others.

A product of Santa Ana Unified School District, Johnathan attended Fremont Elementary, Spurgeon Intermediate, and Santa Ana High School. At 23, Johnathan founded a community non-profit that aims to use arts, education, boxing, and advocacy as a social change model to disrupt the system of mass incarceration.

He has devoted his career to service, including roles in organized labor and as a Community Health Worker, where he supported families and children in foster care by connecting them to resources and promoting community-based treatment services. Before working with children, he worked in the field of Re-Entry and Gang Prevention, where he served youth ages 13-24 throughout Orange County and the city of Watts. Johnathan believes that people deserve a second chance and takes pride in helping others re-write their story.

Johnathan understands that Santa Ana is a diverse community with rich cultural history. Most notably, he has made great efforts in bringing the Black and Brown communities together to have a unified message of peace and hope.

On the Santa Ana City Council, Johnathan worked with the Black community to create the Juneteenth Festival, collaborated with Latinx leaders to establish the Chicano Heritage Festival, and also supported the work of Chinese leaders from Santa Ana to ensure that the city apologized for its role in burning Santa Ana’s Chinatown over a century ago. He has also used his voice on the dais at city hall to advocate for Indigenous Peoples’ Day and Native American Heritage Month. He is committed to standing up for the formerly incarcerated and advocating for more infrastructure to keep children away from the prison system. He believes that investment in education, childcare, funding for the arts, job training, and ensuring our parks are clean and well funded, creates communities where residents have access to opportunity.

Johnathan is passionate about investing in our youth and funding that supports community spaces, Early Childhood Education programs, sports, and the arts. Growing up, Johnathan boxed and trained in mixed martial arts, and has over 10 years of training in MMA under his belt. Johnathan advocated for MMA fighters with the Mixed Martial Arts Fighters Association. His advocacy included fighting for the Muhammad Ali Act to be amended from the sport of Boxing to the sport of MMA.

Johnathan is a proud single father to his 14-year old daughter, Evoni, who is a talented multi-disciplinary artist and recently had the honor of working with world-renowned Santa Ana raised “La Artista” Marina Aguilera on the El Salvador Park Mural.

Johnathan has a strong appreciation for the arts and music as a listener of hip-hop, oldies, souldies, funk and jazz, and as a musician with experience playing the guitar, piano, and bass. He lives with his family in the Artesia Pilar neighborhood where he humbly grew up as one of us. To learn more about Johnathan’s campaign, visit Hernandez4SantaAna.org.