# Member of the State Assembly, District 57 Compare records and positions simply between Sade Elhawary or Constance Jewel Menzies for Member of the State Assembly, District 57 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-57 - 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 7 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Sade Elhawary** — California State Assemblymember · Democratic · Incumbent - **Constance Jewel Menzies** — In-Home Care Provider · Republican Assemblymember Sade Elhawary took 85.7% of the June 2 vote and Republican Constance Jewel Menzies took 14.3%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers South Los Angeles. 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. An 85.7% primary means the practical question is what the incumbent does with a seat she holds comfortably, not who holds it. Her first-session record and her funding sources are the substance here; the ballot itself will not test either. ## Sade Elhawary Sade Elhawary taught high school history and helped found the Nelson Mandela School for Social Justice before her election (asmdc.org). The eldest daughter of Egyptian and Guatemalan immigrants, she spent more than 12 years at Community Coalition as a youth organizer, mentored by now-Mayor Karen Bass and City Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson (asmdc.org). In the Assembly she has authored bills on foster youth transition plans, the Commission on the State of Hate and student loan limits for undocumented graduate students (asmdc.org). In 2019 she became a foster parent to Makailah, a teenager she had been mentoring, and helped her "stay in school, turn her grades around, graduate, and start college" (campaign site). She authored AB 952, which would make permanent the Youth Offender Program allowing young people in custody to train as firefighters; the bill had advanced to the Senate floor as of the official record (asmdc.org). She calls housing "a human right" and promises to expand non-market and subsidized housing while opposing the criminalization of homelessness (campaign site). She promises universal access to health care and more community mental health funding, and says she will "phase out oil drilling and remediate existing and abandoned wells" in environmental justice communities (campaign site). **Strengths:** A specific first-term record, including a bill to make a youth firefighter training program permanent, and a long resume in community organizing. **Trade-offs:** One term is a short record to judge, and she faces no serious primary opposition to test it. **Keep in mind:** Weigh her first-term bills and organizing background on their own terms. An 86-point primary margin means the ballot will not test them for you. ## Constance Jewel Menzies Constance Jewel Menzies is the Republican candidate for this Assembly seat and the only other name on the ballot besides the incumbent. Menzies's ballot designation lists their occupation as an in-home care provider, and no campaign website, social media or local news coverage describing their background in more detail could be located. No statement from Menzies about why they are running could be located. They have not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress, so there is no record in office to judge them by. No campaign website or published platform could be located. What is known about Menzies's candidacy is limited to their name, occupation and place on the ballot. **Strengths:** Menzies is the only other name on this district's ballot, giving voters an alternative to an uncontested race. **Trade-offs:** No campaign website, no news coverage, and no record in office leaves nothing to evaluate beyond Menzies's party label. **Keep in mind:** No coverage of Menzies's background or platform could be located. What is known is their occupation as an in-home care provider and their place on the ballot. ## Record in office Sade Elhawary (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 31 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 6 of them signed into law. Constance Jewel Menzies 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 Elhawary — AB 952 (2025): Youth Offender Program Camp Pilot Program. Elhawary — AB 822 (2025): Commission on the State of Hate. Elhawary — AB 681 (2025): California DREAM Loan Program: limits. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Sade Elhawary** - Primary: $701,781 raised (Small donors: $2,222; Individuals: $82,771; PACs & committees: $425,399; Businesses & other orgs: $188,200) - November: $61,700 raised (Individuals: $38,900; PACs & committees: $12,900; Businesses & other orgs: $9,900) Constance Jewel Menzies has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race. 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. Constance Jewel Menzies has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet. 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 - Sade for Assembly 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 — Sade Elhawary biography (career background)](https://elhawary.asmdc.org/biography) 4. [Official Assembly site — Sade Elhawary 2025 legislative package (AB 952 youth firefighter program)](https://elhawary.asmdc.org/2025-legislation) 5. [Sade for Assembly — About Sade and Priorities pages (her own account of background, foster parenting and promises)](https://sadeforassembly.com/about-sade/) 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 57 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 57 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-57 (sources last retrieved September 24, 2026). Link the canonical page above rather than this Markdown file. 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