California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 66
Draft candidate list — early preview until the state’s official list publishes on August 27, 2026.
This is one contest. Enter your address to see every race on your November ballot, and keep track of your picks.
On the ballot
- Sara Deen — Democratic
- Paul Seo — Democratic
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).
This is an open seat, and both November candidates are Democrats: Paul Seo led the June 2 primary with 26.6% and Sara Deen took 24.6%, a 2-point gap that makes this one of the closest legislative contests on the ballot. The district covers Torrance and part of the South Bay.
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.
This race is unusual twice over: two Democrats finishing within two points, and both funded overwhelmingly by named individuals rather than committees — $543,198 and $503,211 respectively, the two largest individual bases in any open Assembly seat on this ballot. Party is not the axis and institutional money is not the differentiator, so the choice comes down to the candidates themselves.
Paul Seo
Democrat, who led the June primary with 26.6% of the vote in a crowded field. He raised $907,396, including $543,198 from individuals — the largest individual base of any open-seat candidate on this ballot — with $246,849 from PACs and committees. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
He led the field while drawing the majority of his money from named individuals rather than institutions, an uncommon combination here.
Trade-offs
He led with only 26.6%, meaning nearly three-quarters of June voters chose someone else; and he has no record in office to be judged on.
Keep in mind
In a two-point race the June order tells you very little about November.
Sara Deen
Democrat, who advanced with 24.6% of the June vote, two points behind. She raised $827,961, including $503,211 from individuals and only $99,100 from PACs and committees — the least committee-dependent well-funded campaign in any open Assembly seat here. She has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
She raised nearly as much as the leader while taking about 40% less from committees, so she would arrive with fewer institutional obligations.
Trade-offs
She finished second, and has no record in office to be judged on.
Keep in mind
The two candidates are separated by two points and by a difference in funding composition rather than scale; that composition is the clearest documented distinction between them.
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
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
- Self-funding
Sara Deen
$827,961 raised
- Small donors$6,8501%
- Individuals$503,21161%
- PACs & committees$99,10012%
- Businesses & other orgs$18,8002%
- Self-funding$200,00024%
Paul Seo
$907,396 raised
- Small donors$6,2431%
- Individuals$543,19860%
- PACs & committees$246,84927%
- Businesses & other orgs$94,10010%
- Self-funding$12,8001%
1Figures 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 2026-08-22.
June 2 primary — how they advanced
Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 3 cited sources
Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)CA Secretary of State — Statement of Vote, June 2, 2026 primary (certified 2026-07-10)
- ballotpedia.org (opens in a new tab)Ballotpedia — June 2026 California primary
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 10, 2026.