California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 68
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
- David Penaloza — Democratic
- Jessie Lopez — 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: David Penaloza led the June 2 primary with 32.5% and Jessie Lopez took 31.4%, a gap of 1.1 points that makes this one of the closest contests on the ballot. The district covers Santa Ana and part of central Orange County.
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.
With two Democrats separated by roughly one point, party is not the axis and the June order tells you very little. The clearest documented difference is in how each campaign is funded: one raised nearly twice as much and leaned harder on committees, the other drew more from individuals and small donors. Weigh which base of support you would rather your representative answer to.
David Penaloza
Democrat, who led the June primary with 32.5% of the vote. He raised $690,516, including $458,500 from PACs and committees and $88,540 from individuals. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
He led the field and assembled nearly twice his opponent's resources going into a race decided by a point in June.
Trade-offs
About two-thirds of his funding came from PACs and committees, and he has no record in state office to be judged on.
Keep in mind
A 1.1-point June margin in a two-Democrat race means November is genuinely open.
Jessie Lopez
Democrat, who advanced with 31.4% of the June vote, 1.1 points behind. She raised $358,981, including $196,280 from PACs and committees, $145,872 from individuals and $8,065 from small donors. She has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.
Strengths
She matched the leader almost exactly on about half the money, with a notably larger share from individuals and small donors.
Trade-offs
She goes into the general with roughly half her opponent's resources, and has no record in state office to be judged on.
Keep in mind
The two are separated by about a point; the documented distinction between them is the composition of their support rather than its scale.
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
David Penaloza
$690,516 raised
- Small donors$1,101<1%
- Individuals$88,54013%
- PACs & committees$458,50067%
- Businesses & other orgs$136,72520%
- Self-funding$150<1%
Jessie Lopez
$358,981 raised
- Small donors$8,0652%
- Individuals$145,87241%
- PACs & committees$196,28056%
- Businesses & other orgs$2,0501%
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.