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Member of the State Assembly, District 40

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State of California

Member of the State Assembly, District 40

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

Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo took 55.6% of the June 2 vote. Republican Rickey Tracy Hayes II took 22.3% and claimed the second slot. At 55.6%, the incumbent barely cleared a majority in her own primary. The district covers Santa Clarita and the northwestern edge of Los Angeles 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. Committee assignment is where most of the leverage sits, and it is handed out by the majority's leadership.

Two numbers frame this race. The incumbent took only 55.6% in her own primary, one of the weaker showings by a sitting member on this ballot; and she raised more than $1.3 million, of which $967,350 — roughly seven of every ten dollars — came from PACs and committees. Read together, they describe a seat that is considered competitive and is being defended with institutional money.

Pilar Schiavo

Pilar Schiavo is a nurse advocate and former small business owner. She spent more than 20 years in the labor movement. She was elected to the Assembly in 2022 and reelected in 2024. Her colleagues named her Assistant Majority Whip. She also chairs the committee on military and veterans affairs. Before Sacramento, she co-founded a group in the northwest San Fernando Valley that helped house homeless veterans.

Schiavo has spent two years working on an underground fire burning at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in her district. Nearby residents have reported nosebleeds, breathing problems and other serious health effects. Schiavo wrote the Landfill Safety Act in response. It forces faster state action and stronger oversight when a landfill's temperature spikes. Governor Newsom signed it into law in September 2026.

Schiavo promises to keep working on the cost of living, including gas, groceries, insurance and housing. She says she has brought state funding home for schools, safety programs and veteran housing without raising taxes. She also promises to keep pushing for safer communities.

Rickey Tracy Hayes II

Rickey Tracy Hayes II is a Marine Corps veteran who later worked as a custody officer and police officer. He also became a journeyman lineman with the electrical workers union. From there he moved into managing energy infrastructure projects. He was born and raised in Compton and Long Beach. He has lived in Santa Clarita for more than a decade.

Hayes says he is running to secure neighborhoods and rebuild the energy grid. He wants to restore what he calls the California Dream for working families. He argues that Sacramento already has enough activists and instead needs a builder. His campaign points to his military service, his police work and his years building the state's power grid. He says that is evidence he can deliver.

Hayes promises to focus on public safety, a more reliable power grid and affordable living for working families. He says his background in law enforcement and the electrical trade gives him practical experience toward those goals.

Record in office

Pilar Schiavo (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 34 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 13 of them signed into law. Rickey Tracy Hayes II 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

Pilar Schiavo

Primary — $1,335,478

$1,335,478raised
  • Small donors$1,018<1%
  • Individuals$42,7954%
  • PACs & committees$967,35080%
  • Businesses & other orgs$195,13316%

November — $35,250

$35,250raised
  • Individuals$5,95017%
  • PACs & committees$15,50044%
  • Businesses & other orgs$13,80039%

Rickey Tracy Hayes II

Primary — $47,442

$47,442raised
  • Small donors$8652%
  • Individuals$20,89546%
  • PACs & committees$23,20052%

November — $11,495

$11,495raised
  • Individuals$5,59549%
  • PACs & committees$5,90051%

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.

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