# Member of the State Assembly, District 56 Compare records and positions simply between Lisa Calderon or Jessica Martinez for Member of the State Assembly, District 56 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-56 - 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: 93 out of 100 (Very strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Lisa Calderon** — Assembly Member/Mom · Democratic · Incumbent - **Jessica Martinez** — Retired Teacher · Republican Assemblymember Lisa Calderon took 64.1% of the June 2 vote and Republican Jessica Martinez took 35.9%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers Whittier and the southeastern San Gabriel 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. Committee assignment is where most of the leverage sits, and it is handed out by the majority's leadership. The incumbent's funding is almost entirely institutional — $16,200 from individuals against $424,153 from PACs and committees and $321,200 from businesses and other organizations — which is among the widest such gaps on this ballot. Weigh a moderate enacted record against that funding shape, and against a challenger running on about $8,000. ## Lisa Calderon Lisa Calderon was born and raised in California's Central Valley, where her parents and grandmother worked "in fields, farms, and factories," and she put herself through California State University, Sacramento by working as a waitress (asmdc.org). She became one of the state's first Latina legislative aides, working for then-Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, and later organized against Proposition 187 (asmdc.org). In the Assembly she chairs the Insurance Committee and has authored bills on FAIR Plan reform, skilled nursing oversight and drought-resilient water projects (asmdc.org). "I want my constituents to not only get by, but to get ahead," she says (OC Register). She authored AB 226, the FAIR Plan Stabilization Act, which lets California's insurer of last resort issue bonds or a line of credit if a major wildfire strains its ability to pay claims (asmdc.org). She lists food assistance, health care access and K-12 funding as "non-starters" in any budget cuts, noting that in Los Angeles County "1 in 4 families face insecurity" (OC Register). She supports a gradual minimum wage increase, says she has worked to bring down utility and gas costs, and has authored legislation adding menopause to the state's workplace discrimination protections (asmdc.org). **Strengths:** Chairs the Insurance Committee, authored the state's FAIR Plan bond law, and has a long record of bills moving through the Capitol. **Trade-offs:** A broad legislative record, but a 64 percent primary margin reflects this district's registration as much as her performance in office. **Keep in mind:** Weigh her insurance and utility record on its own terms. The primary margin will not do that work for you. ## Jessica Martinez Jessica Martinez is a retired teacher with a Juris Doctorate from Trinity Law School, a bachelor's degree in political science from LMU, and master's degrees in international human rights and bio-ethics (campaign site). She served on the Whittier City Council and as Mayor Pro Tem, and has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Her campaign site frames her run around "Education. Economy. Safety." (campaign site). In April 2020, weeks after taking her council seat, Martinez joined a lawsuit as a private citizen, organized by the Center for American Liberty, seeking to block a state aid program for immigrants without legal status; she said she was participating "as a private citizen" and that neither the council nor the city was involved (Whittier Daily News). In January 2021 she attended a rally in Washington, D.C. on the day the Capitol was breached; the council later voted 3 to 2 against censuring her, and she has denied taking part in the breach, saying she "was on her way to the airport" when it happened (Whittier Daily News). She promises to "empower parents and local communities" on education, including support for charter schools, vouchers and homeschooling, and to pursue "free-market principles, lower taxes, and reduced regulation" on the economy (campaign site). On safety she promises to support law enforcement, "secure our borders" and "strengthen our military," and describes herself as "pro-life" and a defender of religious freedom (campaign site). **Strengths:** A city council record voters can examine, and a platform of specific, if combative, positions on spending, immigration and crime. **Trade-offs:** No record in the Legislature, and her council tenure included a lawsuit and a censure vote tied to the days around January 6, 2021. **Keep in mind:** She joined a lawsuit against state aid for immigrants without legal status and attended a rally in Washington the day the Capitol was breached. She denies taking part in the breach and says she was headed to the airport. ## Record in office Lisa Calderon (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. Jessica Martinez 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. ## Record details Calderon — AB 798 (2025): State Emergency Food Bank Reserve Program: diapers and wipes. Calderon — AB 1003 (2025): Public health: emergency plans and wildfire research. Calderon — AB 888 (2025): California Safe Homes grant program. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Lisa Calderon** - Primary: $766,875 raised (Small donors: $198; Individuals: $16,200; PACs & committees: $424,153; Businesses & other orgs: $321,200) - November: $22,300 raised (PACs & committees: $7,900; Businesses & other orgs: $14,400) - **Jessica Martinez** - Primary: $8,247 raised (Small donors: $1,905; Individuals: $5,719; PACs & committees: $147; Businesses & other orgs: $200; Self-funding: $100) - November: $841 raised (Individuals: $841) 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 - Martinez for Assembly District 56 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. [Official Assembly site — Lisa Calderon biography (career background)](https://a56.asmdc.org/biography) 4. [Official Assembly site — Lisa Calderon 2025 legislative package (AB 226 FAIR Plan Stabilization Act)](https://a56.asmdc.org/2025-legislation) 5. [Official Assembly site — Lisa Calderon 2026 legislative package (AB 1940 menopause workplace protections)](https://a56.asmdc.org/2026-legislation) 6. [Orange County Register — Lisa Calderon, AD-56 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire (her own words on budget and priorities)](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/lisa-calderon-ad-56-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 7. [Martinez for Assembly District 56 — Home and About pages (her own account of background and priorities)](https://www.martinezforassembly.org/about) 8. [Whittier Daily News — Whittier councilwoman faces wrath for suing to block financial aid to undocumented immigrants (2020 lawsuit)](https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2020/04/30/whittier-councilwoman-faces-wrath-for-suing-to-block-financial-aid-to-undocumented-immigrants/) 9. [Whittier Daily News — Whittier City Council votes down censure of Councilwoman Martinez, who attended DC rally (January 2021 rally and censure vote)](https://www.whittierdailynews.com/2021/01/13/whittier-city-council-votes-down-censure-of-councilwoman-martinez-who-attended-dc-rally/) 10. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 11. [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 56 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 56 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-56 (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.