California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 23
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
- David G. Johnson — Republican
- Marc Berman — Democratic · Incumbent
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).
Assemblymember Marc Berman took 77.3% of the June 2 vote and Republican David G. Johnson took 14.6% to claim the second slot in a three-candidate field. The district covers Palo Alto, Mountain View and the northern Santa Clara County peninsula.
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. Seniority compounds: a member several terms in chairs committees and shapes which bills reach a floor vote at all.
June's margin tells you where this district's registration sits, and the choice is between a senior majority member with one of the higher enacted-bill counts on this ballot and a challenger with no reported campaign. Weigh the incumbent's record on its own terms, and note how little has been published about the alternative.
Marc Berman
Democrat, the sitting Assemblymember for this district and a Palo Alto city councilmember before his election. He is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 10 of them signed into law — among the highest enacted counts on this ballot. He took more than three-quarters of the June vote.
Strengths
Ten bills signed into law this session and the committee standing that comes with multiple terms — a strong conversion rate from authored to enacted.
Trade-offs
His funding is institutional and unremarkable for a member of his tenure; the trade here is continuity rather than a change of approach.
Keep in mind
A 77% primary is a fact about this district's registration as much as about his record.
David G. Johnson
Republican, who advanced from a three-candidate June field with 14.6% of the vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
He gave this district a contested November ballot rather than an uncontested one.
Trade-offs
Cal-Access shows no contributions reported for his committee, and he has no record in office to be judged on.
Keep in mind
Coverage surfaced no biographical or platform detail about him at all. We could not find a source describing who he is or what he would do, which is a gap in the published record rather than a judgment about him.
Record in office
Marc Berman (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 10 of them signed into law. David G. Johnson 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
Berman — AB 2003 (2026): Pupil health: suicide prevention. Berman — AB 538 (2025): Public works: payroll records. Berman — AB 1167 (2025): Electrical corporations and gas corporations: rate recovery: political activities and promotional advertising. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
Marc Berman
$771,514 raised
- Small donors$325<1%
- Individuals$124,51016%
- PACs & committees$359,95047%
- Businesses & other orgs$280,50037%
1David G. Johnson has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.
2Figures 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
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
- downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 10, 2026.