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California Legislature · Statewide General Election

Member of the State Assembly, District 16

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).

Assemblymember Rebecca Bauer-Kahan took 65.6% of the June 2 vote and Republican Joseph A. Rubay took 30.6% in the district's first three-way primary in more than a decade. The district covers the Tri-Valley in Contra Costa and Alameda counties.

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. Committee assignment is where most of the leverage sits, and it is handed out by the majority's leadership rather than won at the ballot box.

This is a rematch several times over, and the candidates disagree less about the district than about the state's books. One is running on legislation produced inside the majority; the other is running primarily against the budget that majority passes. Weigh whether you want this seat used to add to that legislative output or to argue against its cost.

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Democrat, the sitting Assemblymember for this district. She is lead author of 33 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 6 of them signed into law. She took just under two-thirds of the June vote against two challengers.

Strengths

An established legislative record with 6 bills signed into law this session, and the committee standing that comes with multiple terms.

Trade-offs

Half her money is institutional, so the committee standing that makes her effective is also a set of relationships she would be voting alongside.

Keep in mind

She raised markedly less this cycle than most incumbents in neighboring districts, which can indicate either a safe seat or a quiet campaign.

Joseph A. Rubay

Republican, a real estate appraiser from Alamo and vice chairman of the Alamo Police Service Advisory Committee, with a business and accounting degree from Cal State East Bay. Per the Contra Costa Herald, he is running chiefly on the state's budget deficit. This is his fourth run for this seat since 2020.

Strengths

Four cycles of campaigning have made him the district's most familiar alternative, and his background is relevant to the budget questions he runs on.

Trade-offs

He is running on under a tenth of the incumbent's money, and has not held elected office — his public service is on an advisory committee.

Keep in mind

He has run against this incumbent before and not won; the June margin was 35 points.

Record in office

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 33 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 6 of them signed into law. Joseph A. Rubay has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-08-10.

Record details

Bauer-Kahan — AB 56 (2025): Social media: warning labels. Bauer-Kahan — AB 774 (2025): Civil actions: enforcement of judgments. Bauer-Kahan — AB 621 (2025): Deepfake pornography. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

Financial info

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

$380,670raised
  • Small donors$387<1%
  • Individuals$29,7838%
  • PACs & committees$190,50050%
  • Businesses & other orgs$160,00042%

Joseph A. Rubay

$35,025raised
  • Small donors$1,3605%
  • Individuals$21,35576%
  • Businesses & other orgs$1651%
  • Self-funding$5,35019%

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

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan (Democratic)65.6% · 101,017 votes
Joseph A. Rubay (Republican)30.6% · 47,142 votes
Chirag Kathrani (No Party Preference)3.8% · 5,791 votes
Source review: Very strong (96/100) · 6 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with several source types checked for context.

Last updated August 10, 2026.