# Member of the State Assembly, District 45 Compare records and positions simply between Greg Abdouch or James C. Ramos for Member of the State Assembly, District 45 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-45 - 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: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Greg Abdouch** — Small Business Owner · Republican - **James C. Ramos** — Assemblymember/Business Owner · Democratic · Incumbent Assemblymember James C. Ramos took 65.6% of the June 2 vote and Republican Greg Abdouch took 34.4%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers San Bernardino and the surrounding Inland Empire. 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. June's margin tells you where this district's registration sits. The incumbent has one of the stronger enacted records on this ballot; his funding is heavily institutional, with $45 total from small donors. Weigh that record against how little of his support comes from individual constituents in small amounts. ## James C. Ramos James C. Ramos is a lifelong resident of the San Manuel Indian Reservation and a member of the Serrano and Cahuilla tribe. In 2018 he became "the first California Native American state lawmaker" (assemblymember's official site). Before his election he chaired the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors from 2015 to 2017. He oversaw "a county government comprised of more than 40 departments and agencies" serving nearly 2.2 million residents (assemblymember's official site). In Sacramento he has authored bills on tribal rights, school safety and criminal justice. He also chairs the Legislature's Native American caucus and a budget subcommittee on public safety. Ramos says his focus “remains on helping the Inland Empire – now more than ever” (campaign site). He cites his work for firefighters and as “a strong voice for victims of crime” (campaign site). In September 2026, the governor signed his bill on school resource officers. It requires them to be trained in recognizing and responding to opioid overdoses (assemblymember's official site). He promises to keep protecting small businesses from “frivolous lawsuits” (campaign site). He also promises to oppose cuts to schools and the health care system. And he promises to keep pushing for mental health resources and an Office of Suicide Prevention (campaign site). **Strengths:** A sitting Assemblymember with committee and caucus leadership, and a school-safety bill signed into law this month. **Trade-offs:** A safe, long-held seat means this race draws little outside scrutiny of his record. **Keep in mind:** A 66% primary result reflects district registration as much as anything about his record; weigh the two separately. ## Greg Abdouch Greg Abdouch has lived in San Bernardino County for more than 45 years. He says he has spent “over 30 years in private enterprise,” including 16 years operating a construction business. He describes “hands-on experience in sales, contract management, and entrepreneurship” (campaign site). He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. He also founded Not On Our Watch, a parent advocacy coalition focused on “school board transparency, parental notification policies, and academic focus” (campaign site). He says he is running because “I've seen our families, small businesses, and neighborhoods struggle” under Sacramento's policies (campaign site). As a teenager he gave up a shot at college baseball. His family hit financial hardship, so he went to work full time. He says a workplace accident later left doctors predicting he “might never walk normally again” (campaign site). The specific outcomes of his advocacy group's efforts are not documented beyond his own account. He promises to lower costs for “housing, gas, and essentials” for working families. He promises to “hold criminals accountable” and support law enforcement. He also promises more school transparency and parental involvement, which his site frames as prioritizing “quality education” over what it calls “indoctrination.” And he promises to combat “wasteful spending and corruption” in Sacramento (campaign site). **Strengths:** A documented small-business record and a self-founded advocacy group pushing for school-board transparency. **Trade-offs:** No elected experience, and no independent coverage of his campaign beyond his own materials. **Keep in mind:** Coverage of his candidacy is limited to his campaign's own materials; there is little independent reporting to check his claims against. ## Record in office Greg Abdouch has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. James C. Ramos (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 32 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 12 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Ramos — AB 2539 (2026): Tribal-state gaming: compact ratification. Ramos — AB 1579 (2026): Tribal gaming: compact ratification. Ramos — AB 2018 (2026): Missing persons: DNA testing. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Greg Abdouch** - Primary: $35,341 raised (Small donors: $1,460; Individuals: $26,181; Businesses & other orgs: $6,700; Self-funding: $1,000) - November: $6,335 raised (Individuals: $6,235; Self-funding: $100) - **James C. Ramos** - Primary: $726,820 raised (Small donors: $45; Individuals: $112,775; PACs & committees: $236,850; Businesses & other orgs: $376,783) - November: $23,300 raised (Individuals: $14,800; PACs & committees: $7,500; Businesses & other orgs: $1,000) 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 - Greg Abdouch for CA Assembly District 45 (campaign site, home and about pages) and James Ramos for Assembly (campaign site, re-election homepage) may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides 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. [Assemblymember James C. Ramos — official Assembly site (biography, news room)](https://a45.asmdc.org/) 4. [James Ramos for Assembly (campaign site, re-election homepage)](https://www.jamesramos.org/) 5. [Greg Abdouch for CA Assembly District 45 (campaign site, home and about pages)](https://abdouchforca.com/) 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 45 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 45 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-45 (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.