Skip to main content

California Legislature · Statewide General Election

Member of the State Assembly, District 27

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).

This is an open seat: Esmeralda Soria is running for the State Senate rather than for re-election here. Republican Mike Murphy led the June 2 primary with 43.4% and Democrat Brian Pacheco took 40.3%, a 3.1-point gap that makes this one of the closest legislative contests on the November ballot; Democrat Japjeet Singh Uppal finished third with 16.3% and is off the ballot. The district takes in parts of Fresno, Madera and Merced 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. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts without seniority — and which party they belong to will determine whether they build it from inside the majority or outside it.

Both candidates ran the same kind of campaign — local executive experience, Central Valley economy, water — so the substantive disagreements are narrower than the party labels suggest. Two things distinguish them beyond party: the money is structured very differently, with one candidate self-funding most of his campaign and the other drawing heavily on committees; and a Democrat finishing second in a district where two Democrats together outpolled the Republican means the November result depends on where Uppal's 16.3% goes.

Mike Murphy

Republican, the former mayor of Merced. Per the Los Banos Enterprise and SJV Sun, he is running on public safety, cost of living, transportation, healthcare access and water supply, and points to a budget surplus, clean drinking water and safe routes to school from his time as mayor. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

Strengths

He led the June field outright, and running a city is closer to the budget and public-safety work of the Legislature than most challengers can claim.

Trade-offs

He has put $400,000 of his own money in, so a large share of this effort is self-financed rather than assembled from supporters.

Keep in mind

He led with 43.4% while the two Democrats in the field took 56.6% between them, so his June lead may not survive a two-way race.

Brian Pacheco

Democrat, a Fresno County supervisor since 2015 and a fourth-generation dairy farmer. Per GV Wire and the Merced County Times, he is running on affordability, public safety and expanded water storage, and cites ten years of county work on housing, infrastructure and healthcare access. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

Strengths

A decade in county office covering part of this district, and a farming background in a seat where water storage is a central issue.

Trade-offs

He raised more than twice his opponent, and very little of it from individuals in small amounts.

Keep in mind

He finished second in June despite that funding advantage, which is the fact to carry into November.

Record in office

This is an open seat: no candidate on the November ballot currently serves in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress, so there is no legislative record to compare here. These records cover only those offices.

Financial info

Brian Pacheco

$1,278,772raised
  • Small donors$915<1%
  • Individuals$153,99915%
  • PACs & committees$514,16751%
  • Businesses & other orgs$341,06834%

Mike Murphy

$554,536raised
  • Small donors$2,040<1%
  • Individuals$205,18125%
  • PACs & committees$130,20016%
  • Businesses & other orgs$92,35211%
  • Self-funding$400,00048%

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

Mike Murphy (Republican)43.4% · 31,802 votes
Brian Pacheco (Democratic)40.3% · 29,581 votes
Japjeet Singh Uppal (Democratic)16.3% · 11,962 votes
Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 6 cited sources

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

Last updated August 10, 2026.