Sharon Quirk-Silva

For voters in Assembly District 67, Sharon Quirk-Silva’s public life is closely tied to Fullerton: she was raised there, attended Fullerton College, earned her teaching credential at Cal State Fullerton and later served as the city’s mayor. Before Sacramento, there was the elementary school classroom and City Hall. Her Assembly career has not been one uninterrupted ascent: she won the seat in 2012, lost it in 2014 and returned after a rematch in 2016. She then won elections in 2018, 2020 and 2022.

HOME GROUND

Quirk-Silva was born in Los Angeles on September 17, 1962, and was raised in Fullerton. Her education took her through institutions both close to home and elsewhere in Southern California.

She went on to work as an elementary school teacher.

Quirk-Silva has four children. She was married to Shawn Quirk from 1985 to 2006. Her current husband is Jesus Silva, who was elected mayor of Fullerton in 2018.

THE JOBS BEFORE SACRAMENTO

Before joining the Assembly, Quirk-Silva held two jobs that put her in different parts of public life: she was an elementary school teacher and mayor of Fullerton.

Teaching put her in an elementary school classroom. The mayor’s office placed her in Fullerton’s municipal government. Both preceded her service in the Legislature.

Her educational career was not merely a degree on a résumé. She obtained a teaching credential and worked as a teacher before beginning her Assembly career. Her municipal experience likewise went beyond seeking state office from outside government: she had already served as the mayor of the city where she was raised and educated.

That local history remained present in her family as well. In 2018, while Quirk-Silva was seeking another Assembly term, Jesus Silva was elected mayor of Fullerton.

A SEAT WON, LOST AND WON BACK

Quirk-Silva first won election to the California State Assembly in 2012. She defeated Republican Assemblyman Chris Norby, taking a seat that had been held by an incumbent.

She sought a second term in 2014. This time, Republican Young Kim defeated her.

The loss divided Quirk-Silva’s Assembly career into two periods. She did not hold the seat continuously from her first election. Instead, she returned in 2016 and faced Kim again.

The rematch reversed the result from two years earlier. Quirk-Silva defeated Kim and recaptured her former Assembly seat.

Kim’s place in that history is more than that of a single opponent. The two competed in multiple elections, with Kim winning in 2014 and Quirk-Silva winning the 2016 rematch.

FOUR STRAIGHT TERMS

After returning to the Assembly in 2016, Quirk-Silva won the next three elections listed in her career.

In 2018, she defeated Alexandria Coronado. In 2020, she was re-elected over Cynthia Thacker. In 2022, she won re-election against Soo Yoo.

Together with her 2016 return, those victories account for four consecutive Assembly terms.

- A 2016 rematch against Young Kim returned Quirk-Silva to the Assembly. - A 2018 election against Alexandria Coronado kept her there. - A 2020 contest against Cynthia Thacker produced another term. - A 2022 election against Soo Yoo extended the run.

The names change after 2016, but the result does not. Quirk-Silva followed the interruption of her early Assembly service with four consecutive victories.

Her electoral history therefore contains both turnover and continuity. Chris Norby lost the seat to her in 2012. Quirk-Silva then lost to Young Kim in 2014. Kim lost the rematch in 2016. From that point through 2022, Quirk-Silva retained the office against three additional opponents.

Her first term did not guarantee a second. Losing the seat did not end her Assembly career. The 2016 rematch restored her to office, and the elections that followed made the second period of her legislative service longer and more continuous than the first.

FULLERTON AND THE ASSEMBLY

The institutions that recur in Quirk-Silva’s biography are concentrated in Fullerton. She was raised in the city. She attended Fullerton College. She received her teaching credential from California State University, Fullerton. She worked in elementary education and served as mayor before entering the Assembly.

Her current public office is at the state level, representing Assembly District 67.

Her teaching credential and elementary school employment establish an education background. Her tenure as mayor establishes municipal experience.

Those are separate kinds of experience, and the chronology does not require them to be treated as a single political program. What can be said is that Quirk-Silva entered state office after working in education and serving in Fullerton government, then survived an electoral defeat and assembled a four-term run after regaining the seat.

THE POLICY SIGNATURE

Quirk-Silva’s biography clearly establishes the public constituencies and institutions she has known firsthand: elementary education, Fullerton municipal government and the electorate of Assembly District 67. She moved from teaching and the mayor’s office to the Assembly, returned after losing the seat, and then won four consecutive terms beginning in 2016.

What it does not establish is a particular legislative program. No named bill, vote, committee assignment, appointment or policy campaign is identified here. Without that information, it would be speculation to call education, city government or any other subject her signature policy area simply because it appears in her personal and professional history.

What District 67 voters can identify from the established record is a different through line: Quirk-Silva is a former elementary school teacher and Fullerton mayor whose Assembly service was interrupted by defeat, restored through a rematch and sustained through repeated elections.