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Member of the State Assembly, District 38

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State of California

Member of the State Assembly, District 38

This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).

Assemblymember Steve Bennett took 69.4% of the June 2 vote. Fellow Democrat Michael MacDonald took 30.6%. November is a contest between two members of the same party. The district covers Ventura County and part of Santa Barbara County.

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.

With two Democrats on the ballot, party is not the axis. One has a substantial enacted record and institutional funding; the other is running a mostly individually funded campaign against a member of their own party. Weigh accumulated legislative output against whatever case the challenger is making for replacing it.

Steve Bennett

Steve Bennett has spent decades in Ventura County government. He was a high school economics and history teacher for more than 20 years. He then served on the Ventura City Council starting in 1993, where he co-wrote growth-control laws that still shape new development in the county. He later spent two decades as a county supervisor before he was elected to the Assembly in 2020.

Bennett has made wildfire prevention a top focus this term. The 2024 Mountain Fire burned nearly 20,000 acres and destroyed homes in Ventura County after reigniting from an earlier brush-clearing effort. Bennett wrote a bill with the county's district attorney to close the gap that let that happen. The bill passed the Legislature and is awaiting the governor's signature.

Bennett promises to keep pushing on wildfire preparedness and home hardening across Ventura County. He also chairs a legislative effort on clean hydrogen energy and says he will keep defending the Coastal Act's protections for the coast. His site lists climate and water policy as ongoing priorities.

Michael MacDonald

Michael MacDonald is the Ventura city clerk, running against a fellow Democrat for this Assembly seat. Before that job they worked for two California state senators and advised cities across the state on transparency and open records. They also chaired Oakland's public ethics commission and worked in their family's restaurant while putting themselves through school.

MacDonald says they are running because California does not have to manage decline, it can change course instead. They point to friends who have been priced out of the area and to costs they say they have felt rising themselves. They are challenging a sitting Assemblymember of their own party rather than waiting for an open seat.

MacDonald promises to speed up home building, including more mid-range housing like townhomes. They also want insurance reform and new training programs so people can find better-paying jobs. They say government in Sacramento should be judged by the results it delivers, not by how many bills it passes.

Record in office

Steve Bennett (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 12 of them signed into law. Michael MacDonald 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 2026-09-21.

Financial info

Steve Bennett

Primary — $534,262

$534,262raised
  • Small donors$1,683<1%
  • Individuals$85,37916%
  • PACs & committees$299,20056%
  • Businesses & other orgs$148,00028%

November — $53,176

$53,176raised
  • Individuals$34,67665%
  • PACs & committees$9,50018%
  • Businesses & other orgs$9,00017%

Michael MacDonald

Primary — $63,373

$63,373raised
  • Small donors$3,4626%
  • Individuals$41,95267%
  • PACs & committees$5,9009%
  • Self-funding$11,25918%

November — $1,672

$1,672raised
  • Individuals$1,672100%

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.

Your pick

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