California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 26
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
- Patrick Ahrens — Democratic · Incumbent
- Tim Gorsulowsky — Republican
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).
Assemblymember Patrick Ahrens took 75.4% of the June 2 vote and Republican Tim Gorsulowsky took 24.6%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers Sunnyvale, Cupertino and part of west San Jose.
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. A first-term member is still building the committee position that determines how much of that agenda actually moves.
The incumbent raised more than $1.1 million — among the largest war chests on this ballot — while converting 4 of 35 authored bills into law in his first session. Those two facts sit oddly together and are worth weighing as a pair: fundraising capacity and legislative output are not the same thing, and this district's ballot shows a wide gap between them.
Patrick Ahrens
Democrat, the sitting Assemblymember for this district, in his first term. He is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law. He raised $1,173,911, among the largest totals for any Assembly candidate on this ballot.
Strengths
Thirty-five bills authored in a first session is a high volume, and $1,789 in small donations is above the median for incumbents here.
Trade-offs
Only 4 of those bills were signed into law — a high volume authored in a first session, and a low return on it.
Keep in mind
More than $1.1 million raised in a district he won by 51 points in June is worth noticing, whatever conclusion you draw from it.
Tim Gorsulowsky
Republican, and the only other candidate on this district's ballot, with 24.6% of the June vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
He gave this district a contested race rather than an unopposed one, and took roughly a quarter of the June vote doing it.
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 almost no biographical or platform detail about him. That gap is what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on his candidacy.
Record in office
Patrick Ahrens (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law. Tim Gorsulowsky 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
Ahrens — AB 243 (2025): Postsecondary education: student financial aid dependency status: juveniles. Ahrens — AB 461 (2025): Truancy. Ahrens — AB 985 (2025): Chiquita Canyon Landfill: property tax reassessment and penalties. 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
Patrick Ahrens
$1,173,911 raised
- Small donors$1,789<1%
- Individuals$135,45612%
- PACs & committees$591,07451%
- Businesses & other orgs$438,20038%
1Tim Gorsulowsky 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.