Member of the State Assembly, District 5

Joe Patterson is the Republican Assemblymember for this Placer County district. He is seeking a third term. He graduated from Sacramento State and worked as a legislative staffer. He later served as Rocklin's mayor starting in 2019, while also working as a lobbyist for the gambling industry. In the Assembly he sits on committees for health, housing and energy. He has written bills on child safety, including one that requires schools to warn families about synthetic drug risks.

From 2019 to 2022 he served as Rocklin's mayor and worked at the same time as a paid lobbyist for gambling companies, according to the Sacramento Bee. He also backed a bill that raised penalties for adults who solicit children for sex.

He promises to keep working on affordability and public safety. He points to his committee work on housing and energy costs, and his bills on child safety. On climate policy, he says California needs solutions that do not, in his words, burden its people unfairly.

Neva Parker worked for the California Capitol for 26 years. She started as an intern and became a Senate journal clerk. She left that job in 2023. She grew up in Hercules and now lives in Roseville. Today she is a community advocate for seniors. She serves on the Roseville Grants Advisory Commission and the Placer County Older Adult Advisory Commission. She has not served in the California Legislature or Congress.

Patterson beat her in 2024, 62 percent to 38 percent. This is her second run against him. She says the district needs a representative who will plant their feet and fight.

She promises to turn down corporate donations and represent voters instead of businesses. Her priorities are housing costs, the cost of living, better addiction recovery programs, and support for small businesses and local jobs.