# Member of the State Assembly, District 65 Compare records and positions simply between Ayanna Davis or Lydia A. Gutiérrez for Member of the State Assembly, District 65 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-65 - 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: 88 out of 100 (Strong), across 8 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Ayanna Davis** — Educator/School Boardmember · Democratic - **Lydia A. Gutiérrez** — Public School Teacher · Republican This is an open seat. Democrat Ayanna Davis led the June 2 primary with 46.3% and Republican Lydia A. Gutiérrez took 19.2%. The district covers part of the South Bay and Los Angeles harbour area. 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. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts without seniority and builds committee standing from scratch. Neither candidate has held state office, so there is no legislative record on either side and the available evidence is how each campaign was built. The gap is close to total — one raised more than $620,000, the other $4,250, most of it their own. Weigh that against the fact that the leading candidate still fell short of a majority in June. ## Ayanna Davis Dr. Ayanna Davis, a Democrat, grew up in a single-parent home in Compton; her grandfather worked as an LAUSD custodian and her mother worked for the city of Compton as a member of AFSCME Local 2325 (campaign site). She earned her undergraduate degree from USC while working three jobs, then became a classroom teacher and later principal of the Maxine Waters and Ethel Bradley early education centers in LAUSD (campaign site). She was elected to the Compton Unified School District Board of Trustees in 2022 and now serves as its legislative representative (Orange County Register). She says that after "losing my own health coverage in college and needing to work immediately to regain it," she understands "how deeply healthcare insecurity affects families" (Orange County Register). By her own account, under her watch as the board's legislative representative, Compton Unified now ranks first in Los Angeles County and second statewide among districts of similar size and socioeconomic status (campaign site). She promises to "fight to raise wages and create good-paying jobs that come with healthcare and retirement benefits" and to fully fund public education, including higher classroom pay and more arts and after-school programs (Orange County Register). She also promises to "cut red tape" on affordable housing construction and to expand Medi-Cal eligibility and access to mental health services (Orange County Register). **Strengths:** She led a six-candidate field by a wide margin and brings a specific, documented record from a large school district's board. **Trade-offs:** She has never held state office, so her Assembly record is entirely a matter of promises rather than votes. **Keep in mind:** She led with under half the primary vote, so her November result depends on where the rest of that field's support goes. ## Lydia A. Gutiérrez Lydia A. Gutiérrez, a Republican, has been a public school teacher for more than 25 years and has also worked as an administrator in the aerospace industry (Los Angeles Daily News). They live in San Pedro, hold two master's degrees from Cal State Dominguez Hills and a bachelor's degree from Pepperdine, and have a multicultural bilingual teaching credential (Los Angeles Daily News). They have run for office before, finishing behind incumbent Tanya Ortiz Franklin in Los Angeles Unified School District board races in both the 2020 and 2024 primaries (Los Angeles Daily News). No statement from them about their motivation for seeking this Assembly seat could be located. The most decision-relevant documented fact about them is this record of past campaigns: they are the only Republican in the six-candidate 2026 primary field and advanced to the November runoff after two earlier, unsuccessful runs for a Los Angeles school board seat (Los Angeles Daily News). No 2026 campaign website or issues page for this race could be located. In their past LAUSD campaign they said they wanted to "dramatically change how LAUSD does business" and told a reporter, "I want our children to be successful in life, but without a quality education, they will not have a chance in today's competitive global economy" (Los Angeles Daily News). **Strengths:** More than 25 years as a classroom teacher gives them direct, long-term experience with the schools they would help fund. **Trade-offs:** No campaign website or 2026 platform could be located, and their two prior campaigns for local office were both unsuccessful. **Keep in mind:** What is documented about them comes from a different race four years ago and two years ago, not this one. ## Record in office This is an open seat: no candidate on the November ballot currently serves in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress, so there is no legislative record to compare here. These records cover only those offices. ## Financial info - **Ayanna Davis** - Primary: $623,901 raised (Small donors: $2,826; Individuals: $74,048; PACs & committees: $387,950; Businesses & other orgs: $154,149; Self-funding: $2,111) - November: $41,700 raised (Individuals: $1,300; PACs & committees: $28,600; Businesses & other orgs: $11,800) - **Lydia A. Gutiérrez** - Primary: $4,250 raised (Individuals: $250; Self-funding: $4,000) - November: $4,000 raised (Self-funding: $4,000) 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 - Ayanna Davis 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. [Orange County Register — Ayanna Davis, AD-65 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire (her own answers on priorities and background)](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/ayanna-davis-ad-65-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 4. [Ayanna Davis for Assembly — Home, About and Priorities pages (her background, motivation and stated priorities)](https://www.ayannadavis.com/about) 5. [Los Angeles Daily News — Election 2024: LAUSD's South Bay board member vies for reelection against teacher (Gutiérrez's background and a direct quote, from her prior school board race)](https://www.dailynews.com/2024/02/16/election-2024-lausds-south-bay-board-member-vies-for-reelection-against-teacher/) 6. [Los Angeles Daily News — Things could heat up in LA County's Assembly races, with no incumbent in five contests (AD65 field composition; AD62 rematch context)](https://www.dailynews.com/2026/03/19/things-could-heat-up-in-la-countys-assembly-races-with-no-incumbent-in-five-contests/) 7. [Los Angeles Daily News — Check out who's advancing in LA County Assembly races to the general election (rematch context and primary results for AD62/64/65)](https://www.dailynews.com/2026/06/27/check-out-whos-advancing-in-la-county-assembly-races-to-the-general-election/) 8. [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 65 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 65 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-65 (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.