# Member of the State Assembly, District 58

Compare records and positions simply between Leticia Castillo or Clarissa Cervantes for Member of the State Assembly, District 58 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-58
- 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: 90 out of 100 (Very strong), across 15 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology

## On the ballot

- **Leticia Castillo** — Assemblywoman/Licensed Psychotherapist · Republican · Incumbent
- **Clarissa Cervantes** — Councilmember/Businesswoman/Mother · Democratic

The sitting Assemblymember finished second. Democrat Clarissa Cervantes led the June 2 primary with 54.5% and Republican incumbent Leticia Castillo took 45.5% — a 9-point deficit for a member defending their own seat, and one of the few places on this ballot where an incumbent trails. The district covers Riverside and part of the western 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. Which party wins here determines whether this district's representative works inside the majority or the minority, and that materially changes what they can move.

This is a genuinely competitive seat and both parties are treating it that way: the incumbent's campaign carries $143,000 in direct party funding, one of eight campaigns on this ballot drawing party money at that scale, and the challenger has raised more from committees than almost any non-incumbent here. Weigh a short minority-caucus record against a challenger who led the primary but has never held state office.

## Clarissa Cervantes

Clarissa Cervantes is a Riverside city councilmember and the first woman to represent Ward 2. She is also the city's second Latina and second LGBTQ member ever elected to its council. On the dais she says she has "pushed for millions of dollars in necessary road repairs, supported small businesses with microgrants, championed environmental and open space protections" and voted to expand affordable housing (campaign site). She is also a community muralist; four of her pieces were shown at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art and Culture in 2024.

Cervantes is running to succeed her sister, former Assemblymember Sabrina Cervantes. She has said "strong support and encouragement from my constituents, community at large and residents" kept her in the race after a personal setback (Press-Enterprise). In July 2023, forty-two days after a judge dismissed her 2015 DUI conviction, she was arrested again for driving under the influence. She admitted a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 after being clocked at 101 mph on the 10 Freeway (Press-Enterprise). She pleaded guilty to misdemeanor DUI and was sentenced to probation and work release. She announced she was entering an alcohol treatment program. A later ethics complaint over the arrest was dismissed by Riverside's ethics board and, on appeal, by the city council. "I am committed to doing better," she said at the time (Press-Enterprise).

She promises to expand access to affordable housing, calling it the way to "improve the cost of living" most directly (Press-Enterprise questionnaire). She also wants to preserve funding for healthcare, housing and public education against budget cuts. She supports a state single-payer healthcare system, and says she "will continue to protect our immigrant communities" from federal immigration enforcement, citing a Riverside council resolution on masked federal agents she says she helped craft with civil-rights groups.

**Strengths:** A four-year council record on housing, small-business and infrastructure votes, and an outright primary win over a sitting incumbent.

**Trade-offs:** No record in state office to judge; her city ethics complaint was dismissed but the underlying DUI arrest is public record.

**Keep in mind:** She has spoken publicly about a second DUI and says she has been sober since; how you weigh that against her council record is the decision this profile leaves to you.

## Leticia Castillo

Leticia Castillo is a first-generation Mexican-American, the youngest of six siblings. They worked as a licensed clinical psychotherapist for the Riverside County Department of Mental Health before opening a private practice. They say the job showed them "firsthand the challenges" facing homeless adults and children (campaign site). They won this seat in 2024 by 596 votes out of nearly 156,000 cast, flipping a district that leans Democratic on registration (Press-Enterprise).

Castillo says Sacramento continues "to fail Riverside County residents by protecting criminals, taking away parent's rights" and not addressing living costs (campaign site). Last year they were a coauthor of AJR 23, a resolution expressing the Legislature's consent for dozens of inland and northern counties to form a new state. Introduced by two other Republicans, it has remained before the Rules Committee since June 2026 (leginfo.legislature.ca.gov). They were also a coauthor of AB 1383, which would have let police and firefighter unions negotiate richer pension formulas. Governor Newsom vetoed it on September 21, 2026, warning it would "significantly increase state and local government costs" (Our Weekly).

Castillo promises to lower the cost of living, calling for relief "at the gas pump" and a rollback of policies they say raise prices (Press-Enterprise questionnaire). They also promise to protect parental rights and Second Amendment rights, and to defend what they call core public-safety and human-services funding while cutting what they consider waste (campaign site).

**Strengths:** A working record in the seat, deep local roots in mental health care, and the only Republican pickup of a Democratic-leaning Assembly seat on this ballot.

**Trade-offs:** A thin bill-passage record so far, and a secession resolution they coauthored has gone nowhere in committee.

**Keep in mind:** Castillo coauthored a police and firefighter pension bill the governor vetoed days ago; their opponent's party controls the Legislature that will decide what, if anything, replaces it.

## Record in office

Leticia Castillo (Republican) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 19 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 1 of them signed into law.

Clarissa Cervantes 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

Castillo — AB 1597 (2026): Notary public: service fees.

Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

## Financial info

- **Leticia Castillo**
  - Primary: $719,682 raised (Small donors: $2,934; Individuals: $51,724; PACs & committees: $298,800; Party: $143,000; Businesses & other orgs: $219,350)
  - November: $42,600 raised (Individuals: $100; PACs & committees: $38,000; Businesses & other orgs: $4,500)
- **Clarissa Cervantes**
  - Primary: $666,996 raised (Small donors: $4,670; Individuals: $64,834; PACs & committees: $546,125; Businesses & other orgs: $39,350)
  - November: $29,151 raised (Individuals: $2,551; PACs & committees: $11,800; Businesses & other orgs: $14,800)

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

- Leticia Castillo for Assembly and Clarissa Cervantes for State Assembly 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. [Clarissa Cervantes for State Assembly — home page (bio, council record)](https://www.clarissacervantes.com/)
4. [Press-Enterprise — Riverside City Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes to seek treatment after DUI arrest (2023 DUI arrest and her statement)](https://www.pressenterprise.com/2023/07/07/riverside-city-councilmember-clarissa-cervantes-to-seek-treatment-after-dui-arrest/)
5. [Press-Enterprise — Despite two DUIs, Clarissa Cervantes running for Inland Assembly seat (DUI details, her comments, ethics complaint)](https://www.pressenterprise.com/2023/11/12/despite-two-duis-clarissa-cervantes-running-for-inland-assembly-seat/)
6. [Press-Enterprise — Riverside Councilmember Clarissa Cervantes won't face ethics violation for DUI (ethics complaint dismissed)](https://www.pressenterprise.com/2024/01/23/riverside-councilmember-clarissa-cervantes-wont-face-ethics-violation-for-dui/)
7. [Press-Enterprise — Clarissa Cervantes, AD-58 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire (her own words on priorities)](https://www.pressenterprise.com/2026/05/06/clarissa-cervantes-ad-58-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/)
8. [Leticia Castillo for Assembly — About / home pages (bio, priorities, 'why running' quotes)](https://leticiacastillo.org/about)
9. [Orange County Register — Leticia Castillo, AD-58 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire (her own words on priorities)](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/leticia-castillo-ad-58-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/)
10. [Press-Enterprise — 596 votes decided this Inland Empire election that's headed toward a rematch (2024 margin, district lean, DUI context)](https://www.pressenterprise.com/2026/04/17/596-votes-decided-this-inland-empire-election-thats-headed-toward-a-rematch/)
11. [California Legislature — AJR-23, New state formation (bill text, authorship, committee status)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AJR23)
12. [California Legislature — AB-1383, Public employees' retirement benefits (bill text, authorship, coauthors)](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB1383)
13. [Our Weekly — Gov. Newsom vetoes Tina McKinnor's bill (AB 1383 veto, quotes from Newsom and McKinnor)](https://www.ourweekly.com/2026/09/23/gov-newsom-vetoes-tina-mckinnors-bill/)
14. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/)
15. [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 58 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/

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