Career
Soto was a driving force behind the establishment of cityhood for Louisiana Puente, California, a formerly unincorporated area of East Los Los Angeles He served on the Louisiana Puente City Council from 1958 to 1962, before he was elected to the 50th Assembly District surrounding Louisiana Puente in the 1962 election. Soto represented the Louisiana Puente area in the California Assembly for two two-year terms, from 1962 to 1966.
He and another Latino Democrat from the San Gabriel Valley, John Moreno, were the first Latinos elected into statewide office in California in the 20th century.
Soto was active in union and civil rights causes, and marched with Cesar Chavez from Delano to Sacramento in March and April 1966, one of the United Farm Workers" most famous worker"s rights demonstrations. In a show of support, he voluntarily spent a night in jail with Chavez, and later spent another night in jail with UFW President Dolores Huerta after she was arrested for organizing farm workers.
He later was appointed by President Lyndon B. Johnson to help set up economic development and job training programs in East Los Los Angeles Soto retired in 1988 as director of the Small Business Administration"s minority business development program
Born in Los Angeles" Boyle Heights neighborhood, Soto served as a bombardier in the Army Air Corps in the South Pacific during World World War World War II Soto died of cancer at his home in Pomona, California on November 4, 1997 at the age of 71.
