Capitol Weekly’s Top 100: Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher

24. Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher

Personally, this has been a tough year for Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, the head of the California Labor Federation and a former state lawmaker. Her husband, Nathan Fletcher, announced he was seeking treatment for stress and alcohol abuse after a government employee filed a lawsuit against him for sexual harassment and assault. Days later he resigned as a San Diego supervisor and dropped out of a state Senate race that had looked like his to lose. Professionally, Gonzalez Fletcher – perhaps the most visible labor advocate in California – appears to be doing just fine. The Cal Labor Fed is thriving: It is affiliated with 120 unions that have a combined membership of 2.1 million workers, including the United Farm Workers, which Gonzalez Fletcher brought with her when she took over as head of Cal Labor Fed last year. The daughter of an immigrant farm worker and a nurse, Gonzalez Fletcher has degrees from Stanford, Georgetown and the UCLA law school. Before the Assembly, she was the CEO and secretary-treasurer of the San Diego and Imperial County Labor Council.

Updated Aug. 15, 2023