Johnathon Ervin, a United States Air Force veteran and aerospace engineer, announced his candidacy for the 36th Assembly District against incumbent Tom Lackey on Wednesday.

Ervin is vying for the district, which includes the Antelope Valley and parts of Santa Clarita, currently overseen by Lackey since 2014.

“We are ready to go,” Ervin said. “The district needs someone that is ready to fight for them.”

The Iraq War veteran noted one of his main priorities in office would be to expand the existing aerospace industry in the district and train residents to fill those jobs.

“Families in our district deserve an assemblymember whose experience has been battlefield-tested and will fight to ensure that we are expanding access to quality healthcare locally, fighting for clean air, investing in the infrastructure to end the traffic gridlock, increasing our investment in public education and creating local mortgage-paying jobs,” said Ervin.

The candidate previously ran against Scott Wilk for the 21st Senate District in 2016 and was defeated 52.8 percent to 47.1 percent.

Ervin noted he hopes the Democratic majority in voter registration for the Assembly district will give him a better chance in 2020.

“Democrats hold a registration advantage of 39 percent to 30.4 percent over Republicans, nearly 20,000 voters, a figure that will continue to expand before the 2020 election,” he said.

Ervin wants the district’s residents to have their “fair share” of representation in Sacramento, and someone who is going to fight for them.

“We can’t just sit around and wait for these things to magically happen,” Ervin said. “It’s time for swift and decisive action.”

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