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Member of the State Assembly, District 16

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State of California

Member of the State Assembly, District 16

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. Republican Joseph A. Rubay took 30.6%. It was 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

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan is the Democratic Assemblymember for this district. She worked as an environmental attorney, making sure large companies followed environmental laws, before winning this seat in 2018. She also taught appellate law at two Bay Area law schools. In Sacramento she chairs the Committee on Privacy and Consumer Protection and previously chaired the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife. She has authored bills on reproductive health, mental health, and menopause care.

She says she has a passion for solving problems and helping local families. In September 2026 the governor signed Adam's Law, a bill she wrote with another Assemblymember and a state senator to set safety rules for AI chatbots used by children.

She promises to keep kids safe online, fix the state's homeowners-insurance crisis, invest more in local schools, and protect reproductive rights. She says her approach is to work across party lines and stand up to special interests.

Joseph A. Rubay

Joseph A. Rubay is a Republican and a real estate appraiser from Alamo. He has run his own appraisal business for more than 30 years and is a former certified public accountant. He chairs the Alamo Police Services Advisory Committee and sits on the Contra Costa County Fair Board. He has not held elected office. This is his fourth run for this Assembly seat since 2020.

He says he is running to bring common-sense leadership to the district. He worked on Governor Pete Wilson's campaigns and served on the Contra Costa County Fair Board under Governors Wilson and Schwarzenegger. He has run for this seat three times before, in 2020, 2022 and 2024, and lost each time.

He promises to fund law enforcement rather than cut it, and to focus more resources on crime victims and repeat offenders. He wants lower taxes and less spending, and a back-to-basics school curriculum with more say for parents over what is taught.

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, 11 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 2026-09-21.

Financial info

Rebecca Bauer-Kahan

Primary — $380,670

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

November — $20,800

$20,800raised
  • PACs & committees$7,40036%
  • Businesses & other orgs$13,40064%

Joseph A. Rubay

Primary — $35,025

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

November

No itemized funding reported yet.

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.

Joseph A. Rubay has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet.

Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 26, 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.

Your pick

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