# Member of the State Assembly, District 13

Compare records and positions simply between Tom Patti or Rhodesia Ransom for Member of the State Assembly, District 13 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).

- Jurisdiction: California Legislature
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-13
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Tom Patti** — Businessman/Father · Republican
- **Rhodesia Ransom** — State Assemblymember · Democratic · Incumbent

Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom took 58.3% of the June 2 vote and Republican Tom Patti took 35.3%, sending both to November; two other candidates split the remaining 6.4%. The district covers most of Stockton along with Tracy and Mountain House.

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. For a district carrying Stockton's public-safety, housing and Delta water questions, most of that leverage runs through committee assignments rather than floor votes.

Both candidates have held elected office in San Joaquin County, so this is a contest between two local records rather than between experience and none. One has spent the past two years building a legislative record in Sacramento; the other spent his on the county board of supervisors. Weigh which venue produced the results you want more of, and note that the June margin was 23 points.

## Rhodesia Ransom

Rhodesia Ransom (D-Tracy) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district. Before Sacramento they were executive director of a nonprofit connecting young people to mental health care and mentorship (campaign site). They also served on the Tracy City Council and worked as a congressional district director (campaign site). In the Assembly they chair the Emergency Management Committee (official site). They have authored bills on Delta water protection, career-education funding, disability accommodations for students, and oversight of the state's Next Gen 911 project (official site).

They trace their commitment to public service to their grandmother Dorothea, with whom they volunteered as a child "connecting vulnerable families with food, housing, and critical services" (campaign site). They say "leadership is about serving others." In Sacramento, their office says their bill AB 1590 addressed a career-technical-education funding formula. More than 115 million dollars had gone unallocated over five years under the old rule (official site). The bill passed the Legislature with bipartisan support and no opposition, and went to the Governor.

They promise to keep bringing state investment to San Joaquin County. Their focus is working-class families, children's opportunity, and community safety (campaign site). They say they will build on the county's first permanent homeless shelter, which they helped establish. They also say they will keep pushing water and flood protections for the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta (official site).

**Strengths:** Two years in office chairing the Assembly's Emergency Management Committee, with bills on Delta protection, disability access and career funding advancing with bipartisan support.

**Trade-offs:** One full legislative session is a short record, and their platform centers on continuing current initiatives rather than proposing new ones.

**Keep in mind:** Ransom is the only sitting officeholder in this race. How much weight you give incumbency versus a fresh start is the choice this contest poses.

## Tom Patti

Tom Patti, a Republican, is a former San Joaquin County supervisor making his first run for the Assembly. He served two terms on the Board of Supervisors, including a term as chair. Before that, he and his father built Delta Cranes, which he calls "the preeminent crane company in the San Joaquin Valley" (Ballotpedia). As supervisor, he says he "led efforts to transform how the County deals with homelessness." He also says he helped bring employers like Tesla and Unifab to the county. He worked to keep sheriff's deputies from leaving for other jurisdictions (Ballotpedia).

He says "California's teetering on the brink of disaster." He adds that, "irrespective of party politics, we have to start looking at results" (Stocktonia). In 2024 he ran for Stockton mayor and lost to Christina Fugazi (Ballotpedia). As supervisor, he says the county began losing sheriff's deputies to other communities. He says he "reopened the contract and raised their pay to the median" (Ballotpedia).

He promises fiscal responsibility and less regulation out of Sacramento. He argues that Democratic-authored rules have hurt local businesses (Stocktonia). His stated priorities are public safety and job creation. He also wants to build on the county's shift toward shelter beds and treatment, over what he calls a failed "housing first" model (Ballotpedia).

**Strengths:** Eight years of county-level experience across the same communities the district covers, and a record of shifting county homelessness policy toward shelter and treatment.

**Trade-offs:** No experience in the Legislature, and his most recent bid for office, a 2024 run for Stockton mayor, ended in a loss.

**Keep in mind:** He has run for county supervisor, Congress and mayor before seeking this Assembly seat. Voters can weigh that record of campaigns for themselves.

## Record in office

Tom Patti has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices.

Rhodesia Ransom (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 32 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 5 of them signed into law.

Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Record details

Ransom — AB 1848 (2026): California Seed Law: annual registration fee: Seed Advisory Board.

Ransom — AB 935 (2025): State agencies: complaints: demographic data.

Ransom — AB 899 (2025): Beverage containers: recycled glass: market development.

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Tom Patti**
  - Primary: $21,202 raised (Individuals: $19,552; Businesses & other orgs: $1,450)
  - November: $350 raised (Individuals: $350)
- **Rhodesia Ransom**
  - Primary: $703,197 raised (Small donors: $669; Individuals: $51,500; PACs & committees: $427,771; Businesses & other orgs: $218,400)
  - November: $42,800 raised (Individuals: $16,000; PACs & committees: $12,400; Businesses & other orgs: $14,400)

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 2026-09-21.

Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 30, 2026 — small-dollar unitemized (under $100) contributions aren't independently dated in Cal-Access's raw export, so they aren't reflected here and this may undercount true small-donor activity since the primary. This also doesn't include money reported only on 24-hour late-contribution reports (Form 497) that haven't yet appeared in a periodic Form 460 filing. Per the California Secretary of State's Cal-Access raw data export, retrieved 2026-08-30.

## Review notes

- Rhodesia Ransom for Assembly may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources.

## Sources

1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote)
2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org)
3. [Stocktonia — San Joaquin County Assembly race coverage](https://stocktonia.org/news/politics/2026/05/31/state-assembly-incumbents-wil-vie-with-challengers-for-shot-at-general-election/)
4. [Assemblymember Rhodesia Ransom — official Assembly website (biography and press releases)](https://ransom.asmdc.org/)
5. [Rhodesia Ransom for Assembly — campaign site (biography and priorities)](https://voteransom.com/)
6. [Ballotpedia — Tom Patti (biography, elections history, candidate survey responses)](https://ballotpedia.org/Tom_Patti)
7. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/)
8. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity)

## The rest of the ballot

Member of the State Assembly, District 13 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Member of the State Assembly, District 13 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-13 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026).

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