Imperial County is a county located on the southeast border of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 179,702, making it the least populous county in Southern California. The county seat and largest city is El Centro. Imperial is the most recent California county to be established, as it was created in 1907 out of the eastern half of San Diego County.
Mecca is an unincorporated community located in Riverside County, California, United States. The desert community lies on the north shore of the Salton Sea in the Eastern Coachella Valley and is surrounded by agricultural land.
The Salton Sea is a shallow, landlocked, highly saline endorheic lake in Riverside and Imperial counties at the southern end of the U.S. state of California. It lies on the San Andreas Fault within the Salton Trough, which stretches to the Gulf of California in Mexico. The lake is about 15 by 35 miles at its widest and longest. A 2023 report puts the surface area at 318 square miles (823.6 km2). The Salton Sea became a resort destination in the 20th Century, but saw die-offs of fish and birds in the 1980s due to contamination from farm runoff, and clouds of toxic dust in the current century as evaporation exposed parts of the lake bed.
The Imperial Valley of Southern California lies in Imperial and Riverside counties, with an urban area centered on the city of El Centro. The Valley is bordered by the Colorado River to the east and, in part, the Salton Sea to the west. Farther west lies the San Diego and Imperial County border. To the north is the Coachella Valley region of Riverside County, which together with Imperial Valley form the Salton Trough, or the Cahuilla Basin, also the county line of Imperial and Riverside counties, and to the south the international boundary with Mexico.
State Route 111 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is the main north-south route and retail corridor through the Coachella Valley, a part of the Colorado Desert in the southeastern corner of the state and a famous resort destination. It also runs through the Imperial Valley, and along the eastern shore of the Salton Sea. Its southern terminus is at Imperial Avenue and 1st Street in Calexico, at the former entrance to the Calexico West Port of Entry. SR 111's northern terminus is at Interstate 10 at the northwestern corner of the Palm Springs city limits, near the unincorporated community of Whitewater.
Raul Ruiz is a physician and politician serving as the U.S. representative for California's 25th congressional district. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
California's 25th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. The district is currently represented by Democrat Raul Ruiz.
The Imperial Irrigation District (IID) is an irrigation district that serves the Imperial Valley and a large portion of the Coachella Valley in the Colorado Desert region of Southern California. Established under the State Water Code, the IID supplies roughly 500,000 acres (200,000 ha) of Imperial Valley farmland with raw Colorado River water to support irrigation. IID also supplies electrical energy to the Imperial and Coachella valleys.
California's State Assembly districts are numbered 1st through 80th, generally in north-to-south order.
James Franklin Battin is a former California State Senator for District 37, which includes much of Riverside County in the inland part of Southern California. Prior to serving in the State Senate, Battin served in the California State Assembly from 1994 until 2000. Battin was term limited from the Senate in 2008.
Brian Nestande was an American consultant and politician who was a Republican California State Assemblyman representing the 42nd district.
Riverside County is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 2,418,185, making it the fourth-most populous county in California and the 10th-most populous in the United States. The name was derived from the city of Riverside, which is the county seat.
Philip Yu-Li Ting is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2024. He is a Democrat who represented the 19th Assembly District, which encompasses western San Francisco and northwestern San Mateo County. Prior to being elected to the Assembly, he was the Assessor-Recorder of San Francisco.
Reginald Byron Jones-Sawyer Sr. is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly from 2012 to 2024. Representing the 59th district from 2012 to 2022 and the 57th district from 2022 to 2024, Jones-Sawyer was a member of the California Legislative Black Caucus and served as chair of the caucus from 2015 to 2016. In 2023, he announced his candidacy for the Los Angeles City Council for the 2024 Los Angeles elections, in which he placed 5th out of five candidates in the primary.
Anthony Rendon is an American politician who served as the 70th speaker of the California State Assembly from 2016 to 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, he is the second-longest serving speaker in California history and the longest-serving speaker to serve his first term after the adoption of California's term limits. From 2022 to 2024, he represented the 62nd district, located in the southeastern part of Los Angeles County, including the cities of South Gate, Lynwood, and Paramount. He previously represented the 63rd district from 2012 to 2022.
Chad Jeffrey Mayes is an American politician who served in the California State Assembly. He was an independent representing the 42nd district, encompassing parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Prior to being elected to the State Assembly, he was a Yucca Valley Town Councilman.
Ash Kalra is a Canadian-American politician who has served as a member of the California State Assembly since 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, Kalra previously served on the San Jose City Council from 2008 to 2016.
Sabrina Cervantes is an American politician who has served a member of the California State Senate since 2024, representing the 31st district. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as a member of the California State Assembly from 2016 to 2024, representing the 58th Assembly district, which encompasses the northwestern Riverside County city of Jurupa Valley and portions of the cities of Corona, Eastvale, and Riverside, as well as the San Bernardino County city of Grand Terrace.
Corey Jackson is an American politician currently serving in the California State Assembly. A member of the Democratic Party, he represents California's 60th State Assembly district, which includes the northwestern corner of Riverside County and is anchored by the city of Moreno Valley. He is the first openly gay black man in the history of the California Legislature, and the first black person to represent Riverside County.
Jeff Gonzalez is an American veteran, businessman, and politician who is a member of the California State Assembly from the 36th District. A Republican, he flipped the majority Latino district in 2024 which includes eastern Riverside County and Imperial County in the High Desert.
