');

the priorities

1. AFFORDABILITY

Reduce overregulation and eliminating excessive government fees and costly mandates that drive up price increases on everyday goods and services.

Oppose wasteful new taxes and advocating for a Middle-Class Tax Cut, ensuring families can afford their mortgages, utilities, and savings for their children’s education or retirement

Work to eliminate the gas tax, lowering the cost of fuel, groceries, and housing.

District 34 families know what it costs to live here. Long desert commutes, rising grocery bills, and utilities that never seem to go down, every expense is made heavier by decisions made in Sacramento. California now carries the highest gas tax in the country at 70.9 cents per gallon, a rate that rises automatically every year, and overregulation quietly inflates the price of nearly everything else. Charles Hughes has lived and worked in this community. As your Assemblyman, he will fight to:







2. Public Safety

Reinstating the death penalty, ensuring accountability for the most heinous crimes, including the murder of law enforcement officers and crimes against children.

Ending early release policies, keeping dangerous criminals off our streets. Overcrowding is no excuse for reckless policies - if necessary, I will push for expanding prison capacity to ensure public safety.

Standing against efforts to “Defund the Police” and protecting the Peace Officer’s Bill of Rights, ensuring law enforcement has the resources and protections needed to do their jobs effectively.

Residents across District 34 consistently report that early-release policies, enforcement gaps, and years of legislation that tied the hands of police have made their streets feel less safe than they should be. Charles Hughes spent his career in law enforcement protecting communities like this one. He understands what effective public safety looks like from the inside, and he understands what happens when policy gets in the way of it. Public safety is not abstract to him: it is the work he did every day. These are the issues he is focused on:





3. education

Investing in vocational and trade programs, preparing students with real-world skills for mortgage-paying careers in fields like construction, mechanics, technology, and healthcare.

Refocusing classroom instruction on core subjects, prioritizing reading, writing, math, and job-ready skills over divisive politics.

Expanding school choice, so parents, not government officials, decide where their children are educated.

The numbers from District 34 schools are hard to ignore. Behind those numbers are real kids whose options narrow with every year the system fails them. Charles Hughes has seen this up close as a parent, and as a former president of his local school district board. Parents here deserve more than a school assigned by a zip code and a curriculum shaped by politics. And for students whose path leads to the trades, aerospace, healthcare, or construction, the backbone of this region's economy, vocational programs remain critically underfunded. These are the issues he is focused on:




4. Veterans

Creating hiring incentives for veterans, offering a $30,000 state tax exemption to businesses employing veterans in permanent, mortgage-paying jobs.

Providing property tax relief, extending a $150,000 tax-free exemption on home values for veterans.

Ending California’s tax on military pensions, allowing veterans to keep more of what they have earned.

District 34 is home to military installations that represent generations of service and sacrifice. Yet too often, the policies coming out of Sacramento fail the very men and women who defended this nation. Charles Hughes knows this firsthand as a U.S. Navy veteran; he has lived the consequences of a state that talks about honoring its veterans while falling short in action. He believes that real respect for those who served is measured not in parades and proclamations, but in the policies we fight for and the promises we keep. California's veterans deserve a voice in Sacramento that understands their sacrifice from the inside out. This is what he'll focus on:



5. small business

Investing in infrastructure, improving roads, transportation, and broadband access to make California more competitive for business growth.

Supporting tax relief for small businesses, allowing entrepreneurs to hire more workers and grow local economies.

Cutting red tape and reducing government regulations, making it easier for small businesses to thrive.

California ranks 49th in the nation for business tax climate, only New Jersey scores worse. In 2025 alone, In-N-Out Burger, Chevron, and John Paul Mitchell Systems announced they were leaving the state. More than 200,000 residents followed. The state now faces a projected $50 to $70 billion budget deficit, a stunning reversal from a $97 billion surplus just three years ago. These are not abstract economic indicators; they are jobs, neighbors, and tax dollars leaving the area along with everyone else. As a small business owner, Charles Hughes has navigated these conditions firsthand. These are the issues he is focused on:


break3groupchattingCamelbackjulesheadshoteventspacesession

follow along

@charleshughesforassembly

Follow along for news, updates, and
behind-the-scenes happenings.