A practical guide to the saints Gustavo Arellano invokes for the 2026 election

# Why saints in a modern election

# Saints Arellano recommends and why Arellano assigns each saint a narrow civic problem and suggests the virtue or action they represent.

• St. Homobonus: Invoked as a model for wealthy people and tech-industry defenders of Prop. 40. Arellano notes that Homobonus ran a clothing business and gave most earnings to the poor, and suggests that billionaires would better rebut a one-time tax proposal by following his example rather than spending huge sums on ads and threatening to leave the state.

• Archangel Gabriel: Named for the battle over mail-in voting. Gabriel's role as messenger is used to argue for protecting mail-in voting against efforts to ban or limit it and against a Postal Service leadership that might comply with such political interventions.

• St. Peter Claver: Held up as a guide for incoming Latino leaders in South L.A. Arellano invokes Claver's lifelong advocacy for Black people in Colombia to urge any new representative in District 9 to maintain strong representation for Black Angelenos, who are now 8% of the city's population.

• St. Augustine: Presented as the patron of converts who preached against the haughty. Arellano quotes Augustine on pride and implies that political figures who uplift themselves will see their flaws exposed.

• St. Stephen and St. Francis Xavier: Placed in the context of the California governor's race between Steve Hilton and Xavier Becerra. Arellano compares Becerra's long public service to missionary work in support of liberal causes, while warning that Hilton risks sacrificing his political future in service of Trump-aligned national strategies.

• Our Lady of Refuge and other figures: The column begins to evoke other Marian and regional saints as touchpoints for local civic life, though the excerpt ends mid-discussion of Junípero Serra and related themes.

# Local races and concrete connections Arellano ties saintly lessons to specific political dynamics: Prop. 40 (a proposed one-time billionaire tax), postal voting threats, southeast L.A. civic corruption, and the City Council shift in South L.A. as Curren Price terms out and Latino immigrants (Jose Ugarte or Estuardo Mazariegos) vie for District 9. He frames these as practical arenas where moral examples could influence behavior and expectations.

# Tone and intended reader action The column blends moral reflection with practical civic prompts: vet candidates and measures, challenge wealthy opposition with demonstrated charitable models, protect mail-in voting mechanisms, push for accountable local government, and press incoming officials to champion representation for Black residents. Arellano uses saints as touchstones to encourage focused, values-driven civic engagement over spectacle or partisan theater.

# Bottom line