Peace and Freedom Party member Kevin Martinez of Sacramento County is running for the California State Assembly to represent the 6th District. To contact the campaign via email, write to
My name is Kevin Olmar Martinez but I go by Olmar. I am a son of Salvadoran immigrants, union organizer, and a proud socialist. For the past four years living in District 6 we have seen the two-party system fail to meet the peoples needs crisis after crisis. That's why I’m running for AD 6 because we need a system that serves the needs of the people, not the greed of the rich. Vote socialist!
Kevin Martinez for State Assembly – The four-point program
• Housing is a human right
Seize the vacant homes, stop the evictions!
In the U.S. there are more empty homes than there are homeless individuals. The ruling class and corporations benefit from the exploitation of our labor. We reject this idea that housing exists for speculation and profit. We know that the resources necessary to meet the people’s needs already exist. However, these resources are being used to extract profits.
To immediately stop the increases in homelessness, we would first pass laws banning evictions. Second, we would repeal the anti-worker law Costa Hawkins and codify rent control in our state constitution. Lastly, housing should not be profitable nor hoarded by landlords; thus an immediate step is to seize all housing that is vacant for longer than one year and use it to house our communities.
• Healthcare for all
Eliminate for-profit healthcare!
The US is the richest country in history and yet the people do not have adequate healthcare because the current healthcare system is designed for profits and not positive health outcomes. A majority of Californians cannot afford a $1,000 emergency - this is a disgrace for the 5th largest economy in the world. The free market does not offer innovative solutions to make healthcare a human right. Any gains that we have won have been done by a militant mass movement demanding a more just system.
A majority of working people in California are in favor of a single-payer healthcare system; the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown how fragile and barbaric the current system is. During the crisis not a single hospital was built, healthcare workers did not have proper PPE and resorted to using trash bags. As the death toll rose the state flopped on a contact tracing program to protect our communities. This cannot happen again and we need to take immediate steps to eliminate the for-profit healthcare system and replace it with a system that is run by and for workers.
• Demilitarize the police
Fully fund our schools and communities!
In every struggle for human rights, whether it’s housing, unionizing, or to be respected as a human being, the first line of defense for the ruling class is the police. As I’ve grown into an adult, I’ve realized that the myth of “protect and serve” does not apply to our Black and Brown communities. Instead, the police consistently act as a barrier to the people’s demand for justice.
Our program aims to uplift the stories of impacted people who have lost their lives due to police terror. Although we fight for reforms to ease our conditions, the current police system cannot be reformed, but must be abolished for a new system to take place. Half of cities’ and counties’ budgets goes towards police that should be allocated towards services that address the root causes of poverty and crime.
• Free public transportation
Expand our transit system!
Working class communities should have effortless access to commercial and economic centers without relying on a car. The current system’s solution to the ever-growing climate crisis is to switch from gas vehicles to electric vehicles. Capitalism is proposing to eliminate one problem by creating another; the idea that cities need to be built around car infrastructure is a cycle that will dig our own grave.
The replacement of this system with free mass transit is imperative to secure our future. High-speed rail, light rail, and the expansion of bus infrastructure needs to be a top people’s priority. This immediate shift to cut down our dependance on car infrastructure will create livable cities by drastically decreasing emissions, transportation costs, noise pollution, and increasing overall air quality. Our socialist program will prioritize a people-centered city with public transportation as a driving force.
