Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Jacob Mejia

90. Jacob Mejia

Jacob Mejia is the public affairs director for the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, which is so influential in California that he’s not the only Pechanga Band leader on this list. (See tribal chairman Mark Macarro at No. 88.) Mejia was deeply involved in the ballot fight to keep sports betting out of California last year. The guy also wears several other hats, including serving as the executive director of the Tribal Alliance of Sovereign Indian Nations and (full disclosure) he’s a member of the Board of Directors of Open California, the nonprofit publisher of Capitol Weekly. Mejia is known for his deep knowledge of tribal issues and for being approachable, an attribute that’s served him well communicating on behalf of the tribes to the general California public. Mejia studied government at Claremont McKenna College.

Updated Aug. 15, 2023