MEET DANIEL
"I’m running for the State Senate to fight day and night on behalf of working families and local neighborhoods across the Valley.
Public service has been deeply ingrained in my DNA since I was a kid. Growing up, I witnessed my Dad, Bob Hertzberg, serve as Speaker of the California State Assembly where he did big things like bring the Orange Line to the Valley and start the first clean energy solar panel manufacturing facility in the City of Los Angeles. Then, as Senate Majority Leader, he’s fought to combat climate change, invest in public education, create jobs and so much more.
I know I’ve got big shoes to fill, but I know that together, we can continue the Hertzberg tradition of fighting for the Valley’s fair share — and we can also fight for change in Sacramento.
COVID-19 has exposed the giant gaps in our healthcare system. Homelessness and our housing crisis are at their worst in my lifetime. Climate change is moving at an exponential speed.
Far too many children in our public schools have fallen behind and college is still out-of-reach for countless Californians. And today, our economy rewards too few, while too many still struggle just to make ends meet.
Our state has made tremendous strides, but we can do better.
As a businessman, an activist, a progressive, & an organizer, I believe in the promise of California. Together, we'll build a grassroots coalition so that we can win this race and meet the urgency of this moment for the people of the Valley in the State Senate."
- Daniel
A product of local Valley schools, Daniel Hertzberg comes from a family whose roots in the San Fernando Valley go back three generations. The son of California State Senator Robert “Bob” Hertzberg, Daniel has had a firsthand view of what fighting for the Valley’s fair share looks like.
As a businessman, activist, organizer and someone who is deeply committed to the progressive values embodied by the Democratic Party, Daniel Hertzberg’s grassroots efforts started when he was young. In high school, he volunteered as an activist on Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for President. Thereafter, while still in college, Daniel continued his activism, and in 2012 volunteered for the Virginia Democratic Party to help keep the state blue while volunteering for Barack Obama in the President’s re-election campaign.
Beyond the campaign trail, Hertzberg served as an intern for then-California Senate President Pro Tempore Darrell Steinberg, for then-U.S. Congressman Dennis Cardoza in the United States House of Representatives, and finally in the Los Angeles City Council. While different in each role, his scope of work ranged from policy and issue-related items to constituent services and dealing with various government departments.
After working in government at the local, state and federal levels where he strived to create positive change on behalf of the people, the daily dysfunction of our political system left Hertzberg disillusioned. As a result, he later began a career in the private sector.
Starting as a minimum wage worker where he cleaned hotel rooms, scrubbed toilets and worked the front desk, Hertzberg learned about the dignity of work outside of government, and what it’s like to worry about paying off student loans while living paycheck-to-paycheck. Slowly, Hertzberg worked his way up in the hospitality industry, becoming a successful business manager at a local hotel. That was, until the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Shortly thereafter, he was furloughed and went on unemployment. As challenging as this experience had been for him, Hertzberg saw how much worse it was for other essential workers who had families to take care of. Seeing his co-workers struggling to get by while the government was at a standstill was deeply infuriating for Hertzberg, and it began to sow the seeds of a desire for him to do something about it.
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Today, Hertzberg is back working as a business manager, but it is these experiences that helped shape his understanding of how working people struggle to make ends meet, pay their rent or mortgage, and still put food on the table for their families. It’s also precisely why Hertzberg has decided to run for the State Senate — because he is deeply committed to fighting tirelessly for the working families of the San Fernando Valley, to create more family-sustaining jobs, ensure livable wages, build a strong and growing middle-class economy, fully fund public schools, combat the climate crisis, and guarantee healthcare for all.
A member of the LGBTQ community, Daniel is proud to have the support of the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus and numerous organizations representing California’s working families.