Sarmiento, a Filipino American public health nurse and operations manager, entered the race for governor of California, positioning herself as an independent candidate focused on affordability, accountability, and community health. Running with no party affiliation, the El Monte–based nurse argues that California’s most urgent challenges are “too important to be filtered through party politics.” Born and raised in poverty in Cavite, a province in the Philippines, Sarmiento was 12 when her mother died. At 18, she immigrated to the United States and settled in Los Angeles, where she has lived for 25 years. After three and a half years, Sarmiento accepted a permanent position as a public health nurse with the department, serving downtown Los Angeles, where she continues to work.