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California State Assembly elections, 2024

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2024 California
House Elections
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PrimaryMarch 5, 2024
GeneralNovember 5, 2024
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Elections for the California State Assembly took place in 2024. The general election was on November 5, 2024. The primary was March 5, 2024. The filing deadline was December 8, 2023.

All 80 seats in the California State Assembly were up for election in 2024. Democrats lost two seats in the election, giving Democrats a 60 seat majority to Republicans’ 19 seats. Before the election, Democrats controlled 62 seats to Republicans' 17.

The California State Assembly was one of 85 state legislative chambers with elections in 2024. There are 99 chambers throughout the country.

Party control

See also: Partisan composition of state houses and State government trifectas
California State Assembly
Party As of November 5, 2024 After November 6, 2024
     Democratic Party 62 60
     Republican Party 17 19
     Vacancy 1 1
Total 80 80

Candidates

General election

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Primary




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Voting information
See also: Voting in California

Election information in California: Nov. 5, 2024, election.

What was the voter registration deadline?

  • In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by Oct. 21, 2024
  • Online: Oct. 21, 2024

Was absentee/mail-in voting available to all voters?

Yes

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot request deadline?

  • In-person: N/A
  • By mail: N/A by N/A
  • Online: N/A

What was the absentee/mail-in ballot return deadline?

  • In-person: Nov. 5, 2024
  • By mail: Postmarked by Nov. 5, 2024

Was early voting available to all voters?

Yes

What were the early voting start and end dates?

Varies to Nov. 4, 2024

Were all voters required to present ID at the polls? If so, was a photo or non-photo ID required?

N/A

When were polls open on Election Day?

7:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. (PST)


General election race ratings

The table below displays race ratings for each race in this chamber from CNalysis.

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance

The section and tables below contain data from financial reports submitted to state agencies. Districts and elections are grouped in sections of 10. To view data for a district, click on the appropriate bar below to expand it. The data is gathered and made available by Transparency USA.

Incumbents who were not re-elected

See also: Annual State Legislative Competitiveness Report: Vol. 14, 2024

Incumbents defeated in general elections

See also: Incumbents defeated in state legislative elections, 2024

No incumbents lost in general elections. This was less than the average of 2.9 incumbent defeats per cycle from 2010 to 2022.

Incumbents defeated in primaries

No incumbents lost in primaries. This was less than the average of 0.3 incumbent defeats per cycle from 2010 to 2022.

Retiring incumbents

See also: Impact of term limits on state legislative elections in 2024

Twenty-three incumbents did not file for re-election in 2024.[1] This was above the average of 19 retirements between 2010 and 2022. Those incumbents were:

Name Party Office
Megan Dahle Ends.png Republican House District 1
Jim Wood Electiondot.png Democratic House District 2
Kevin McCarty Electiondot.png Democratic House District 6
Jim Patterson Ends.png Republican House District 8
Carlos Villapudua Electiondot.png Democratic House District 13
Tim Grayson Electiondot.png Democratic House District 15
Phil Ting Electiondot.png Democratic House District 19
Evan Low Electiondot.png Democratic House District 26
Devon Mathis Ends.png Republican House District 33
Eduardo Garcia Electiondot.png Democratic House District 36
Chris Holden Electiondot.png Democratic House District 41
Luz Maria Rivas Electiondot.png Democratic House District 43
Laura Friedman Electiondot.png Democratic House District 44
Eloise Gomez Reyes Electiondot.png Democratic House District 50
Wendy Carrillo Electiondot.png Democratic House District 52
Freddie Rodriguez Electiondot.png Democratic House District 53
Miguel Santiago Electiondot.png Democratic House District 54
Reginald Jones-Sawyer Electiondot.png Democratic House District 57
Sabrina Cervantes Electiondot.png Democratic House District 58
Anthony Rendon Electiondot.png Democratic House District 62
Marie Waldron Ends.png Republican House District 75
Brian Maienschein Electiondot.png Democratic House District 76
Akilah Weber Electiondot.png Democratic House District 79

Primary election competitiveness

See also: Primary election competitiveness in state and federal government, 2024

This section contains data on state legislative primary election competitiveness in California. These totals include data from all regularly-scheduled House and Senate elections. For more information about Ballotpedia's competitiveness analysis of state legislative elections, please click here.

Post-filing deadline analysis

The following analysis covers all state legislative districts up for election in California in 2024. Information below was calculated on Feb. 28, 2024, and may differ from information shown in the table above due to candidate replacements and withdrawals after that time.

California had 58 contested state legislative primaries in 2024. This was the second-highest number and percentage of contested primaries since 2014. 

All 58 contested primaries were top-two primaries where the top-two vote getters, regardless of party, advanced to the general election. This number was down from 60 in 2022.

Twenty-seven incumbents faced primary challenges, representing 41% of all incumbents running for re-election. This was lower than in 2022, 2020, and 2018 but higher than the 2016 and 2014 election cycles. 

Of the 27 incumbents in contested primaries, 22 were Democrats and five were Republicans.

Overall, 328 candidates — 191 Democrats, 123 Republicans, and 14 from minor parties — filed to run. All 80 House and 20 of 40 Senate seats were up for election.

Thirty-four of those seats were open, meaning no incumbents filed. This guaranteed that at least 34% of seats up for election would be represented by newcomers in 2025.


Open seats

The table below shows the number and percentage of open seats in the California State Assembly from 2010 to 2024.[2]

Open Seats in California State Assembly elections: 2010 - 2024
Year Total seats Open seats Seats with incumbents running for re-election
2024 80 23 (29 percent) 57 (71 percent)
2022 80 24 (30 percent) 56 (70 percent)
2020 80 8 (10 percent) 72 (90 percent)
2018 80 5 (6 percent) 75 (94 percent)
2016 80 17 (21 percent) 63 (79 percent)
2014 80 23 (29 percent) 57 (71 percent)
2012 80 35 (44 percent) 45 (56 percent)
2010 80 28 (35 percent) 52 (65 percent)

Legislative referrals

See also: Legislative referral

A legislative referral, or legislatively referred ballot measure, is a ballot measure that appears on the ballot due to a vote of the state legislature. A legislative referral can be a constitutional amendment, state statute, or bond issue.

As of the 2024 election, a two-thirds majority vote was required during one legislative session for the California State Legislature to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot. That amounted to a minimum of 54 votes in the California State Assembly and 27 votes in the California State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Amendments did not require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

At the time of the 2024 election, Democrats held a 32-8 majority in the Senate and a 62-17 majority in the House. Democrats had the minimum votes necessary to put a legislative referral on the ballot without any Republican votes. They would have to lose 6 seats in the Senate and 9 seats in the Assembly to lose that ability. Republicans needed to win 19 Senate seats and 37 House seats to be able to pass legislative referrals without Democratic votes.

Process to become a candidate

See also: Ballot access requirements for political candidates in California

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: 8020-8028 and Section 8100-8107 of the California Elections Code

Before accepting or spending money related to campaigning for office, a candidate for state office must file a candidate intention statement with the California Secretary of State. Note that this requirement does not apply to candidates for congressional office; federal campaign finance requirements apply to candidates for federal office. Candidates may qualify to run for office either by paying a filing fee or by submitting a petition in lieu of the filing fee.[3][4][3]

In addition to the candidate intention statement, a candidate is required to file nomination forms with his or her home county. These forms become available as early as the 113th day prior to the primary election and must be filed no later than the 88th day prior to the primary election.[5][6]

Nomination forms include a statement of economic interests, a declaration of candidacy, and nomination papers. Nomination papers require a certain number of signatures from registered voters. If a candidate qualifies by submitting an in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition, the signatures on that petition will be counted towards the requirement for the nomination paper. Registered voters may sign both the in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition and the nomination paper, unless the candidate is using the signatures on the in-lieu-of-filing-fee petition to count toward the nomination paper requirement. If that is the case, a registered voter can sign only one of the documents.[6]

The number of signatures required for nomination papers are as follows:[6][7][8]

  • 65-100 for candidates seeking the office of United States Senator or a state executive office
  • 40-60 for candidates seeking the office of United States Representative, state senator, or state assembly member

If an individual is running as a write-in candidate, the only nomination forms required are the nomination papers and a statement of write-in candidacy. These forms should be filed in the candidate's home county.[3]

Qualifying by payment of fee

The filing fee for a candidate seeking a seat in the United States Senate or a state executive office (e.g., governor or treasurer) is 2 percent of the first year's salary for that office. The filing fee for a candidate seeking the office of United States Representative, state senator, or state assembly member is 1 percent of the first year's salary for that office. The fee is paid to the California Secretary of State through the candidate's home county election office.[6]

Qualifying by petition in lieu of filing fee

Instead of paying a filing fee, a candidate may submit a petition. Signatures may be collected to cover all or any prorated portion of the filing fee.[3]

A candidate seeking the office of state assembly member must file signatures from 1,000 registered voters. Those seeking the office of state senator or United States Representative must file 2,000 signatures, and those seeking statewide office must file 7,000 signatures.[6][9][10]

If the number of registered voters in the district in which the candidate seeks nomination is less than 2,000, a candidate may submit a petition containing four signatures for each dollar of the filing fee, or 20 percent of the total number of registered voters in the district in which he or she seeks nomination, whichever is less.[6]

Completed petitions must be submitted 15 days before the end of the qualifying period to the counties in which the signers reside.[6]

Qualifications

See also: State legislature candidate requirements by state

According to Article IV of the California Constitution, the candidate must be a United States Citizen, a resident of California for three years, a resident of the legislative district for one year and a registered voter in that district by the time nomination papers are filed.[11]

Salaries and per diem

See also: Comparison of state legislative salaries
State legislative salaries, 2024[12]
SalaryPer diem
$128,215/year$214/day

When sworn in

See also: When state legislators assume office after a general election

California legislators assume office the first Monday in the December following their election.[13]

Noteworthy events

Debate over Vince Fong's candidate filings

Court reverses decision

On December 28, 2023, Judge Shelleyanne Chang of the Sacramento Superior Court ruled Vince Fong could appear on the March 5, 2024, primary ballot as a candidate for both California State Assembly District 32 and California's 20th Congressional District.[14] The ruling was made in response to a lawsuit entered on behalf of Fong, who filed for re-election to the 32nd assembly seat and as a candidate for the congressional seat earlier in the year.

The suit argued California state electoral law Article 1, Section 8003, prohibiting candidates from filing election papers for more than one office during the same election cycle, was outdated.[15]

Chang's decision reversed Secretary of State Shirley Weber's (D) decision—issued on December 15, 2023,—that barred Fong from running in the congressional race based on the California statute.[15] Weber responded stating, "I strongly disagree with the outcome of this case, and I am gravely concerned about the consequences of today’s ruling."[16] She said her office would appeal the decision, but that California has reissued a certified candidate list including Fong's filings for both Congress and the California State Assembly. [15]

On April 9, 2024, Judge Laurie M. Earl of the California Third District Court of Appeal upheld Chang's decision.[17]

Candidate filing ruled invalid

On December 15, 2023, the California's Secretary of State's office announced Fong would not appear on the state's certified candidate list for California's 20th Congressional District election in 2024.[18] The decision rested on state law barring a candidate from filing for more than one office in the same election cycle.[15]

In 2023, Fong filed for re-election to California State Assembly District 32.[19] On December 11, 2023, Fong filed paperwork to run for California's 20th Congressional seat, which was contested in the wake of former U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's (R) resignation.[18] According to the secretary of state, Fong filed in the congressional race past the deadline for withdrawal from the assembly race.[20] This conflict rendered Fong ineligible to appear as an official congressional candidate under California state law.[15]

Fong said he would file a lawsuit in response to the ruling, and said the decision was an, "unprecedented interference in the candidate filing process."[21] In a written statement, Secretary Weber reinforced her belief in the validity of the ruling.[22]

California political history

Trifectas

A state government trifecta is a term that describes single-party government, when one political party holds the governor's office and has majorities in both chambers of the legislature in a state government.

California Party Control: 1992-2025
Twenty years with Democratic trifectas  •  No Republican trifectas
Scroll left and right on the table below to view more years.

Year 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
Governor R R R R R R R D D D D D R R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Senate D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D
Assembly D D D S R D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D D

Presidential politics in California

2020

See also: Presidential election, 2020


Presidential election in California, 2020
 
Candidate/Running mate
%
Popular votes
Electoral votes
✔
Image of
Image of
Joe Biden/Kamala D. Harris (D)
 
63.5
 
11,110,250 55
Image of
Image of
Donald Trump/Mike Pence (R)
 
34.3
 
6,006,429 0
Image of
Image of
Jo Jorgensen/Spike Cohen (L)
 
1.1
 
187,895 0
Image of
Image of
Howie Hawkins/Angela Nicole Walker (G)
 
0.5
 
81,029 0
Image of
Image of
Roque De La Fuente/Ye (American Independent Party of California)
 
0.3
 
60,160 0
Image of
Image of
Gloria La Riva/Sunil Freeman (Peace and Freedom Party)
 
0.3
 
51,037 0
Image of
Image of
Brian T. Carroll/Amar Patel (Unaffiliated) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
2,605 0
Image of
Image of
Jesse Ventura/Cynthia McKinney (Unaffiliated)
 
0.0
 
611 0
Image of
Image of
Mark Charles/Adrian Wallace (Unaffiliated)
 
0.0
 
559 0
Image of
Image of
Brock Pierce/Karla Ballard (Unaffiliated) (Write-in)
 
0.0
 
185 0
Image of
Silhouette Placeholder Image.png
Joseph Kishore/Norissa Santa Cruz (Unaffiliated)
 
0.0
 
121 0

Incumbents are bolded and underlined The results have been certified.

Total votes: 17,500,881


2016

See also: Presidential election, 2016
U.S. presidential election, California, 2016
Party Candidate Vote % Votes Electoral votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngHillary Clinton/Tim Kaine 61.7% 8,753,788 55
     Republican Donald Trump/Mike Pence 31.6% 4,483,810 0
     Libertarian Gary Johnson/Bill Weld 3.4% 478,500 0
     Green Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka 2% 278,657 0
     Peace and Freedom Gloria Estela La Riva/Dennis J. Banks 0.5% 66,101 0
     - Write-in votes 0.9% 120,739 0
Total Votes 14,181,595 55
Election results via: Federal Election Commission


California presidential election results (1900-2024)

  • 16 Democratic wins
  • 15 Republican wins
  • 1 other win
Year 1900 1904 1908 1912 1916 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1940 1944 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Winning Party R R R P[23] D R R R D D D D D R R R D R R R R R R D D D D D D D D D


See also

California State Legislative Elections News and Analysis
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California State Executive Offices
California State Legislature
California Courts
State legislative elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015 • 2014
California elections:
2025 • 2024 • 2023 • 2022 • 2021 • 2020 • 2019 • 2018 • 2017 • 2016 • 2015
Primary elections in California
Party control of state government
State government trifectas
Partisan composition of state legislatures
Partisan composition of state senates
Partisan composition of state houses

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Ballotpedia defines an incumbent as retiring if the incumbent did not file for office or filed for office but withdrew, was disqualified, or otherwise left a race in a manner other than losing the primary, primary runoff, or convention. If an incumbent runs as a write-in candidate, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring. If an incumbent runs in the same chamber for a different seat, Ballotpedia does not consider them to be retiring.
  2. ↑ Ballotpedia defines a seat as open if the incumbent did not file to run for re-election or filed but withdrew and did not appear on any ballot for his or her seat. If the incumbent withdrew from or did not participate in the primary but later chose to seek re-election to his or her seat as a third party or independent candidate, the seat would not be counted as open. If the incumbent retired or ran for a different seat in the same chamber, his or her original seat would be counted as open unless another incumbent from the same chamber filed to run for that seat, in which case it would not be counted as open due to the presence of an incumbent.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 California Secretary of State, "Candidate Checklist," accessed February 25, 2025
  4. ↑ California Government Code, "Section 85100-85802," accessed February 25, 2025
  5. ↑ Ballotpedia, "Phone call with Office of the California Secretary of State," October 9, 2013
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 California Elections Code, "Section 8000-8700," accessed February 25, 2025
  7. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Summary of Qualifications and Requirements for the Office of United States Senator," February 25, 2025
  8. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Summary of Qualifications and Requirements for the Office of State Senate," accessed February 25, 2025
  9. ↑ California Legislative Information, "AB 469," accessed February 25, 2025
  10. ↑ Ballot Access News, "California Reduces Number of Signatures Needed on Petitions in Lieu of Filing Fee," October 16, 2017
  11. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Qualifications for State Legislature," accessed December 16, 2013
  12. ↑ National Conference of State Legislatures, "2024 Legislator Compensation," August 21, 2024
  13. ↑ California Constitution, "Article 4, Section 2. (a)(3)," accessed November 1, 2021
  14. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Secretary of State Responds to Decision in Fong Congressional Candidacy Case," December 29, 2023
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Bakersfield Now, "California Secretary of State rules Vince Fong not allowed to run in 20th Congressional District," December 15, 2023
  16. ↑ The Los Angeles Times, "California elections officials say Assemblymember Vince Fong can’t run for Congress in Bakersfield," December 15, 2023
  17. ↑ Politico, "California court allows McCarthy-successor-pick Vince Fong to run in 2 races," accessed April 10, 2024
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Los Angeles Times, "California elections officials say Assemblymember Vince Fong can’t run for Congress in Bakersfield," December 15, 2023
  19. ↑ California Secretary of State, "Campaign Finance: Fong, Vincent K.," accessed on January 8, 2024
  20. ↑ Cal Matters, "Vince Fong allowed to run for Kevin McCarthy’s seat in Congress," December 28, 2023
  21. ↑ The Daily Independent, "Fong campaign releases statement on Secretary of State's unprecedented candidate removal decision," December 19, 2023
  22. ↑ The Sun, "Secretary of State rules Fong cannot run for Congress," December 15, 2023
  23. ↑ Progressive Party


Current members of the California State Assembly
Leadership
Majority Leader:Cecilia Aguiar-Curry
Minority Leader:James Gallagher
Representatives
District 1
District 2
District 3
District 4
District 5
District 6
District 7
District 8
District 9
District 10
District 11
District 12
District 13
District 14
District 15
District 16
District 17
District 18
Mia Bonta (D)
District 19
District 20
District 21
District 22
District 23
District 24
Alex Lee (D)
District 25
Ash Kalra (D)
District 26
District 27
District 28
District 29
District 30
District 31
District 32
District 33
District 34
District 35
District 36
District 37
District 38
District 39
District 40
District 41
District 42
District 43
District 44
District 45
District 46
District 47
District 48
District 49
Mike Fong (D)
District 50
District 51
Rick Zbur (D)
District 52
District 53
District 54
District 55
District 56
District 57
District 58
District 59
District 60
District 61
District 62
District 63
Vacant
District 64
District 65
District 66
District 67
District 68
District 69
District 70
Tri Ta (R)
District 71
District 72
District 73
District 74
District 75
District 76
District 77
District 78
District 79
District 80
Democratic Party (60)
Republican Party (19)
Vacancies (1)

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