# Member of the State Assembly, District 29

Compare records and positions simply between Dennis P. Sanchez or Robert Rivas for Member of the State Assembly, District 29 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).

- Jurisdiction: California Legislature
- Election: November 3, 2026 California general election
- Publisher: Vote or Else (https://voteorelse.com) — a free, nonpartisan ballot guide for California voters. No endorsements.
- Canonical page: https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-29
- Full ballot: this page covers one race. Every contest on a voter's own ballot, by address, with the same breakdown for each: https://voteorelse.com/
- Sources last retrieved: September 24, 2026
- Source-objectivity score: 98 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Dennis P. Sanchez** — Small Businessman/Father · Republican
- **Robert Rivas** — California Assembly Speaker · Democratic · Incumbent

Assemblymember Robert Rivas — the Speaker of the California Assembly — took 66.5% of the June 2 vote, and Republican Dennis P. Sanchez took 18.1% to claim the second slot. The district runs through the Salinas Valley and San Benito County.

The winner holds one of 80 Assembly seats for a two-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. This particular seat currently carries something more: the Speakership, which controls committee assignments, the floor calendar and which bills reach a vote at all. A district represented by the Speaker has more influence over the whole chamber than its population alone would suggest.

One number below needs context before you read it. The incumbent lead-authored a single bill this session, which for any other member would be a thin record — but Speakers conventionally author almost nothing, because their power runs through what they let others move rather than through their own bills. Weigh the office he holds rather than his bill count, and weigh the fundraising that comes with it.

## Robert Rivas

Robert Rivas, 46, grew up in Paicines and served two terms on the San Benito County Board of Supervisors before winning this Assembly seat in 2018 (BenitoLink). He has chaired the Assembly Agriculture Committee and served as vice chair of the Latino Legislative Caucus. Since June 2023 he has been the 71st Speaker of the California Assembly, the office that controls committee assignments and the floor calendar.

He says he is running because he is "honored to have represented our district in Sacramento since 2018." He wants to keep the "community's needs and perspective front and center at the state Capitol" (BenitoLink). As speaker he supported AB 1577, which requires data centers to disclose their energy use to regulators. Governor Newsom signed it into law on September 21, 2026, after data center proposals near the district raised water and power concerns (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov).

He promises to keep building what he calls "the entire pipeline" for good paying jobs: schools, business support and infrastructure. He points to 375 million dollars in the state budget for substance use and mental health treatment. He also cites 20 million dollars to fight human trafficking as a result he helped secure (BenitoLink).

**Strengths:** The Speakership makes this district's representative one of the most consequential people in state government, with a specific record on agriculture policy and data centers.

**Trade-offs:** The office that makes him effective also splits his attention between the whole Assembly and this district, and draws support well beyond Salinas Valley and San Benito County voters.

**Keep in mind:** A Speaker answers to the whole Assembly caucus as well as to this district, and those two constituencies do not always want the same thing.

## Dennis P. Sanchez

Dennis Sanchez, 52, is a small business owner in construction and landscaping with roughly 30 years of experience. He is a lifelong resident of the district and has served on the Odd Fellows Cemetery Board (BenitoLink). He advanced from the June primary with 18.1% of the vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

He told BenitoLink, "I am not running to build a political career. I am running to serve the communities that raised me." He has never held elected office. The most concrete documented fact about him is his decision to challenge a sitting Speaker of the Assembly, a race few Republican challengers in the district have attempted (BenitoLink).

He promises greater transparency before data center projects are approved. Residents, he says, "deserve clear information about water consumption, electricity demand, backup power generation, infrastructure requirements" and actual job creation (BenitoLink). He also calls for housing and economic development to be "planned together" while protecting the district's agricultural character. He wants better recruitment and retention too, so departments stop losing trained personnel to jurisdictions offering more pay (BenitoLink).

**Strengths:** He is challenging a sitting Speaker, which few candidates attempt, and describes his run as service to "the communities that raised" him rather than a political career.

**Trade-offs:** He has no record in any office to be judged on, and his campaign has far less reach than an incumbent Speaker's statewide network.

**Keep in mind:** Coverage of this race centers on the incumbent; what is documented about Sanchez comes mainly from his own campaign statements and one candidate forum.

## Record in office

Dennis P. Sanchez has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices.

Robert Rivas (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 1 bill in the 2025–2026 session, 1 of them signed into law.

Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21.

## Record details

Rivas — AB 1454 (2025): Pupil literacy: credential program standards and professional development: instructional materials.

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Dennis P. Sanchez**
  - Primary: $7,267 raised (Small donors: $2,537; Individuals: $2,300; Businesses & other orgs: $750)
  - November: No itemized funding reported yet.
- **Robert Rivas**
  - Primary: $2,071,007 raised (Small donors: $12,008; Individuals: $361,671; PACs & committees: $928,070; Businesses & other orgs: $753,548)
  - November: $48,510 raised (Individuals: $2,010; PACs & committees: $10,900; Businesses & other orgs: $35,600)

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.

Dennis P. Sanchez 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 30, 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.

## Sources

1. [CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)](https://www.sos.ca.gov/elections/prior-elections/statewide-election-results/primary-election-june-2-2026/statement-vote)
2. [Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary](https://ballotpedia.org)
3. [BenitoLink — Assembly District 29 primary election candidate Q&A](https://benitolink.com/2026-primary-election-qa-29th-assembly-district/)
4. [BenitoLink — 2026 General Election Candidates Q&A: 29th Assembly District (candidate backgrounds, quotes and issue positions for Rivas and Sanchez)](https://benitolink.com/2026-general-election-candidates-qa-29th-assembly-district/)
5. [California Legislative Information — AB 1577 (Bauer-Kahan) bill status: data center energy reporting, chaptered (used for Rivas's support of the law)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1577)
6. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/)
7. [Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State](https://www.sos.ca.gov/campaign-lobbying/helpful-resources/raw-data-campaign-finance-and-lobbying-activity)

## The rest of the ballot

Member of the State Assembly, District 29 is one contest among the many a California voter decides on November 3, 2026 — Congress, the Legislature, county, city, and school board races differ by address. Vote or Else builds the full list for any California address and breaks down each contest the way this page does, with no account and without storing the address: https://voteorelse.com/

## How to cite this page

Vote or Else, "Member of the State Assembly, District 29 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-29 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026).

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