Tony Nuñez is a Watsonville High School graduate who became a reporter and then editor of The Pajaronian and Good Times, and moved on to work with the nonprofit Community Bridges.
He later became an inaugural member of the Pajaro Valley Health Care District (PVHCD), which oversees Watsonville Community Hospital. Nuñez currently serves as board chair.
Now, Nuñez, 33, is vying for the 4th District seat on the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors to represent the community where he grew up.
He filed paperwork Friday morning to challenge incumbent Felipe Hernandez in the June 2 primary.
The 4th District encompases Watsonville, Pajaro and the surrounding communities.
Elias Gonzales has also entered the race. The top two vote-getters will advance to the November general election.
Nuñez said his platform focuses on expanding access to essential services such as health care, transportation, parks and community spaces.
He immigrated from Cuerámaro, Guanajuato, Mexico, at age 8. He is the grandson of a campesino and the son of blue-collar workers.
As a child, he said, he watched his parents work to afford a home and support him and his sister.
“There are thousands of incredible parents like that in our community who are doing the same thing my mom and dad did — living in multigenerational housing, trying to save money and give their kids a better life,” he said.
After graduating from Watsonville High School in 2010, Nuñez attended Cabrillo College and San José State University.
He said his progression from journalist to nonprofit leader to public servant reflects a consistent goal of building and supporting the systems residents rely on.
The core tenets of journalism—asking tough questions and gathering and explaining complex information—align with the role of supervisor, he said.
That approach continued in his work with Community Bridges and the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, both of which provide essential services.
“I’ve gotten more adept at not only asking the right questions and looking over the data and understanding it from a high-level strategic viewpoint, but also coming up with a plan for a solution and measuring how well that plan is doing,” he said.
He described the Pajaro Valley as a “sleeping giant” with untapped potential—not only as an agricultural center for the Bay Area, but also as home to workers employed across county industries.
“The heart that we have as a community is in the way that we continue to show up for one another every single day,” he said. “There’s really something special about this community.”
Still, that potential often goes unrecognized, he said.
“We’ve been defined by things that we don’t have,” he said. “I want to flip that on its head. I want to stop emphasizing our weaknesses. Instead, I want to lead with the strengths that we have as a community. And I think that we have a lot of them.”
Nuñez lives in Watsonville with his wife and young son.
He said he understands how difficult it is for families to build a stable life amid rising costs.
Nuñez said his campaign will focus on “Access, Opportunity and Accountability.”
He said “access” means protecting and strengthening essential services such as health and mental health care, transportation, child care, parks and other community spaces, and ensuring families and seniors can rely on public systems that keep neighborhoods safe and connected.
“Opportunity,” he said, centers on helping families afford to remain in the community by addressing rising housing, child care and daily living costs, safeguarding anti-poverty programs, and expanding workforce training and small-business support.
Under “accountability,” Nuñez called for transparent leadership that clearly explains decisions, tracks results and responds when public systems fall short.
“I think it is really the baseline that the person in the highest elected seat in this region is working just as hard—if not harder—than those who are working their tails off just to make ends meet,” he said.
