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California Legislature · Statewide General Election

Member of the State Assembly, District 12

Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.

This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.

On the ballot

This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).

This is an open seat: Damon Connolly is running for the State Senate rather than for re-election here, and six candidates ran to replace him. Two Democrats advanced — Marin County Supervisor Eric Lucan with 28.3% and Rohnert Park councilmember Jackie Elward with 22.6% — so November is a contest between two members of the same party. Republican Eryn Cervantes finished third with 19.4% and is off the ballot. The district spans Marin and Sonoma counties, with roughly 55% of its voters on the Marin side.

The winner holds one of 80 Assembly seats for a two-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. An Assemblymember authors bills, sits on the policy committees that decide which bills advance, and argues for the district's share of the annual state budget. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts without seniority and builds committee standing from scratch.

With two Democrats on the ballot, party is not the axis here — the choice is between two local-government records and two bases. One candidate's is in Marin, where most of the district's voters are; the other's is in Sonoma, with broader union backing. One outside factor is worth knowing before you read either profile: per the Press Democrat, a super PAC called Grow California, founded by Chris Larsen and Tim Draper, spent more than $500,000 on advertising against Elward and against none of her opponents. Elward called the ads misleading and said they were meant to "scare voters"; the paper reports no connection between that spending and Lucan.

Eric Lucan

Democrat, a Marin County Supervisor who served three terms on the Novato City Council, chaired the SMART rail board, and spent nearly two decades as a city parks and recreation commissioner before that. His campaign runs on "leading with heart, governing with experience," naming affordable housing, transportation, climate resilience and local business as his four priorities. He has not served in the Legislature.

Strengths

The longest local-government résumé in the race, and it sits in the county holding most of this district's voters.

Trade-offs

He led the June field with 28.3%, so roughly seven in ten primary voters chose someone else — a plurality lead rather than a mandate.

Keep in mind

He has held county and city office but never state office, so his record is on local budgets and transit rather than on legislation.

Jackie Elward

Democrat, a Rohnert Park councilmember and former mayor who has served on the Sonoma County Homeless Coalition board. Her campaign names workforce housing for teachers and first responders, homelessness, water quality and clean energy as priorities, and she writes that "we must focus on frontline communities, particularly low-income neighborhoods and communities of color." She has not served in the Legislature.

Strengths

A mayoral record on housing and homelessness, including Homekey funding secured for Rohnert Park, and the broader union backing in the race.

Trade-offs

She is running with about six dollars for every ten her opponent has, in a district where most voters live in his county.

Keep in mind

She is the only candidate in this race targeted by the outside spending described above; per the Press Democrat those ads attacked her 2025 vote for a Rohnert Park water rate increase, and she disputes their characterization.

Record in office

This is an open seat: no candidate on the November ballot currently serves in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress, so there is no legislative record to compare here. These records cover only those offices.

Financial info

Eric Lucan

$611,136raised
  • Small donors$4,3661%
  • Individuals$290,92848%
  • PACs & committees$219,84936%
  • Party$100<1%
  • Businesses & other orgs$91,35015%

Jackie Elward

$383,871raised
  • Small donors$7,3862%
  • Individuals$101,09027%
  • PACs & committees$258,00268%
  • Businesses & other orgs$9,8503%
  • Self-funding$1,000<1%

Figures are CA Form 460 filings through June 30, 2026 by committees controlled by each candidate, and can include transfers from a candidate's earlier committees. Semi-annual reports covering January–June 2026 were due July 31, 2026, so some totals lag a period behind. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-22.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Eric Lucan (Democratic)28.3% · 45,350 votes
Jackie Elward (Democratic)22.6% · 36,196 votes
Eryn Cervantes (Republican)19.4% · 31,106 votes
Holli Thier (Democratic)14.0% · 22,384 votes
Eli Beckman (Democratic)8.9% · 14,336 votes
Steve Schwartz (Democratic)6.8% · 10,964 votes
Source review: Strong (83/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context; advocacy or endorsement sources are treated as attributed perspective.

Review note: Jackie Elward for State Assembly and Eric Lucan for State Assembly may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

Last updated August 10, 2026.