California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 43
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
- Ricardo Benitez — Republican
- Celeste Rodriguez — Democratic · Incumbent
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).
Assemblymember Celeste Rodriguez took 74.9% of the June 2 vote and Republican Ricardo Benitez took 25.1%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers the northeast San Fernando Valley.
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 first-term member is still building the committee position that determines how much of that agenda actually moves.
June's margin tells you where this district's registration sits. The incumbent authored fewer bills than most of her colleagues but converted a comparable share of them into law, and she raised less than most incumbents here. Weigh a lean first-term record against a challenger with no reported campaign.
Celeste Rodriguez
Democrat, the sitting Assemblymember for this district. She is lead author of 28 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 6 of them signed into law. She took three-quarters of the June vote.
Strengths
Six bills signed into law from 28 authored is a solid conversion rate, and she raised less than most incumbents here while producing comparable output.
Trade-offs
Most of her money came from organizations rather than people, so the efficiency of her record is not matched by independence in her funding.
Keep in mind
A 75% primary is a fact about this district's registration as much as about her record.
Ricardo Benitez
Republican, and the only other candidate on this district's ballot, with 25.1% of the June vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Cal-Access shows no contributions reported for his committee.
Strengths
He gave this district a contested race rather than an unopposed one, and took a quarter of the June vote with no reported funding.
Trade-offs
No money and no record in office leaves very little for a voter to evaluate beyond party.
Keep in mind
Coverage surfaced almost no biographical or platform detail about him. That gap is what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on his candidacy.
Record in office
Celeste Rodriguez (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 28 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 6 of them signed into law. Ricardo Benitez 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 2026-08-10.
Record details
Rodriguez — AB 542 (2025): Continuation schools and classes: youth workforce development programs. Rodriguez — AB 799 (2025): Prisons: death benefit for incarcerated firefighters. Rodriguez — AB 777 (2025): Food assistance: disasters: utilities. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
Celeste Rodriguez
$403,033 raised
- Small donors$2,7021%
- Individuals$47,84012%
- PACs & committees$240,01860%
- Businesses & other orgs$111,80028%
1Ricardo Benitez has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.
2Figures 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
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 4 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
- downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 10, 2026.