# Member of the State Assembly, District 5 Compare records and positions simply between Neva Parker or Joe Patterson for Member of the State Assembly, District 5 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-5 - 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: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Neva Parker** — Community Advocate · Democratic - **Joe Patterson** — Member of State Assembly, 5th District · Republican · Incumbent Assemblymember Joe Patterson took 60.1% of the June 2 vote and Democrat Neva Parker took 39.9%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers Placer County and the Sierra foothills east of Sacramento. 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. This district's member sits in the minority caucus, where enacting legislation requires majority-party agreement. Both campaigns here drew real small-donor support — $7,607 and $8,973 respectively — which is unusual on this ballot and means both are answering to individual givers to some degree. The challenger actually out-raised the incumbent among small donors while raising about a sixth as much overall. Weigh a minority-caucus record against a challenger with a genuine, if smaller, base. ## Joe Patterson Joe Patterson is the Republican Assemblymember for this Placer County and Sierra foothills district. He is a graduate of Sacramento State and is seeking a third term. Before the Assembly he worked as a legislative staffer. He served as Rocklin's mayor beginning in 2019. He also worked as a lobbyist for the gambling industry from 2019 to 2022 (Sacramento Bee). In Sacramento he sits on the Budget, Health, Housing and Community Development, and Utilities and Energy committees (assembly.ca.gov). He has authored bills including AB 889, which requires schools to notify families about synthetic drug risks. He also championed SB 14, which raised penalties for adults who solicit children for sex (Sacramento Bee). No public account by Patterson of why he wants a third term could be located. What is documented is that he served as Rocklin's mayor and as a paid gambling-industry lobbyist at the same time, between 2019 and 2022 (Sacramento Bee). On climate policy he says, "California's innovative spirit demands solutions that don't burden its citizens disproportionately" (Sacramento Bee). He promises to keep focused on affordability and public safety. He cites his committee assignments on housing and energy (assembly.ca.gov) and his record of child-safety legislation. He frames his approach to environmental policy as economic rather than regulatory (Sacramento Bee). **Strengths:** A multi-term record that includes bills signed into law on child safety, plus vice-chair roles on the Housing and Utilities committees. **Trade-offs:** Served as Rocklin's mayor while also paid as a lobbyist for the gambling industry, a documented three-year overlap. **Keep in mind:** His district win was solid but not commanding. Weigh his committee record and child-safety bills against the overlap between his time as mayor and his lobbying work. ## Neva Parker Neva Parker is a Hercules native who now lives in Roseville. She spent 26 years working for the California Legislature. She began as an intern and advanced to Senate journal clerk, a role she says involved keeping legislative processes "fair, transparent and accessible" (campaign site). She left the Capitol in 2023. She now works as a community advocate for seniors, serving on the Roseville Grants Advisory Commission and the Placer County Older Adult Advisory Commission (Sacramento Bee). She has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. This is Parker's second run against Patterson. He defeated her in 2024, 62 percent to 38 percent (Sacramento Bee). She says the district "needs a representative in Sacramento who's going to plant their feet and fight" (campaign site). She promises to reject corporate contributions and represent constituents rather than business interests. Her stated priorities are housing affordability and the cost of living, reforming addiction recovery programs, and support for small businesses and local jobs (campaign site). **Strengths:** A 26-year Capitol career focused on legislative transparency, plus local commission work on aging services and grants. **Trade-offs:** No record in elected office to judge; what's documented is her Capitol career and her campaign's promises, not governing experience. **Keep in mind:** Coverage of her campaign is limited beyond her own site and the primary result. What's documented is her Capitol career and platform, not a record in office. ## Record in office Neva Parker has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Joe Patterson (Republican) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 7 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Patterson — AB 1126 (2026): Medi-Cal managed care plans: enrollees with other health care coverage. Patterson — AB 1652 (2026): State agencies: regulations and legislation: nondisclosure agreements. Patterson — AB 1778 (2026): Controlled substances: testosterone. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Neva Parker** - Primary: $97,568 raised (Small donors: $8,973; Individuals: $64,392; PACs & committees: $16,697; Party: $500; Businesses & other orgs: $450; Self-funding: $5,000) - November: $3,131 raised (Individuals: $3,131) - **Joe Patterson** - Primary: $632,999 raised (Small donors: $7,607; Individuals: $64,330; PACs & committees: $235,850; Businesses & other orgs: $311,375) - November: $49,900 raised (Individuals: $5,900; PACs & committees: $17,100; Businesses & other orgs: $26,900) 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 - Neva Parker for Assembly (campaign site) may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide 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. [Sacramento Bee — Your guide to California's 5th Assembly District primary race (via Yahoo News)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/guide-california-assembly-5th-district-201123200.html) 4. [Neva Parker for Assembly (campaign site) — biography, motivation and issues](https://www.nevaparkerforassembly.com/) 5. [California State Assembly — Member page for Joe Patterson (District 5): committee assignments](https://www.assembly.ca.gov/assemblymembers/05) 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 5 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 5 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-5 (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.