# Member of the State Assembly, District 34 Compare records and positions simply between Charles Frederick Hughes or Randall Putz for Member of the State Assembly, District 34 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-34 - 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: 87 out of 100 (Strong), across 5 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Charles Frederick Hughes** — Small Business Owner · Republican - **Randall Putz** — Mayor/Business Owner · Democratic This is an open seat and one of the closest legislative contests on the November ballot. Democrat Randall Putz led the June 2 primary with 39.2% and Republican Charles Frederick Hughes took 36.7%, a gap of 2.5 points. The district covers the eastern Sierra and the high desert. 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 district this geographically large and sparsely populated depends heavily on its representative's ability to claim budget attention it cannot command by population. This is a genuinely close race between two candidates with no state legislative record, and the money runs opposite to the June result: the candidate who finished first raised roughly a third of what the candidate who finished second did. Weigh which matters more to you — the votes already cast, or the resources available for the four months between now and November 3. ## Randall Putz Randall Putz has spent 18 years in local elected office, most recently as mayor and a longtime councilmember in Big Bear Lake, and has also held leadership roles on the region's transit and fire authorities (campaign site). He is a small business owner and co-founded the Big Bear Valley Trails Foundation. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Putz says his top issues are affordability, "access to health care" and "access to good paying jobs" (23ABC/turnto23). He argues that districts like his, spanning a large and sparsely populated stretch of the eastern Sierra and high desert, are "often overlooked and under served" by Sacramento (23ABC/turnto23). His documented public record is his long tenure in Big Bear Lake government rather than any state legislative history. His campaign promises "safe neighborhoods" with "fair, accountable public safety," affordable housing and renter protections, and expanded health care access (campaign site). He also lists rural economic development, including broadband, infrastructure and clean energy jobs, and environmental protection among his priorities, and says he has built "a record of representing all voices, regardless of party or ideology" (campaign site). **Strengths:** 18 years in local office, including as Big Bear Lake's mayor, plus regional transit and fire-board experience most rivals here lack. **Trade-offs:** No state legislative record, and a self-described independent style that some voters may read as an unclear party line. **Keep in mind:** He led the June primary by 2.5 points in a race both sides call close, and neither candidate has a state legislative record to weigh. ## Charles Frederick Hughes Charles Frederick Hughes is a Republican small business owner in the Antelope Valley. No campaign website, biography or news coverage of their background beyond their ballot designation could be located. 23ABC News, reporting on the race ahead of the June primary, said Hughes and a fellow Republican candidate "stayed silent, despite multiple repeated requests for interviews" (23ABC/turnto23). No other documented account of Hughes's record or conduct could be located. No stated platform or campaign promises from Hughes could be located. What is documented is their ballot designation as a small business owner and their second-place finish in the June primary. **Strengths:** Finished a close second in June, within 2.5 points of the leader, in a district with no incumbent. **Trade-offs:** No documented record, platform or public statements beyond Hughes's ballot designation could be located. **Keep in mind:** Coverage of this race describes Putz's record and views in detail. Hughes did not engage with reporters covering it, so this profile reflects that gap, not a judgment on Hughes's candidacy. ## 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 - **Charles Frederick Hughes** - Primary: $555,808 raised (Small donors: $3,414; Individuals: $85,651; PACs & committees: $310,760; Businesses & other orgs: $141,450; Self-funding: $550) - November: $8,600 raised (Individuals: $700; PACs & committees: $7,900) - **Randall Putz** - Primary: $162,671 raised (Small donors: $3,401; Individuals: $61,169; PACs & committees: $12,150; Businesses & other orgs: $12,950; Self-funding: $73,000) - November: $2,811 raised (Individuals: $2,561; PACs & committees: $250) 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. 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. ## Review notes - Putz for Assembly may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide compared to other formal government and nonprofit journalism sources. ## 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. [turnto23/23ABC — Assembly District 34 candidates make their case to voters ahead of June primaries](https://www.turnto23.com/news/in-your-neighborhood/california-city/assembly-district-34-candidates-make-their-case-to-voters-ahead-of-june-primaries) 4. [Putz for Assembly — campaign site (biography and issues)](https://www.putzforassembly.com) 5. [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 34 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 34 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-34 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. Coverage is updated as the race develops, so quote it with its retrieval date.