# Member of the State Assembly, District 68 Compare records and positions simply between David Penaloza or Jessie Lopez for Member of the State Assembly, District 68 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-68 - 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: 86 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 - **David Penaloza** — Councilmember/Dad/Businessman · Democratic - **Jessie Lopez** — City Councilwoman · Democratic 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 David Penaloza is Santa Ana's mayor pro tem and, in their day job, a director of regulatory affairs; they have lived in Orange County their whole life (campaign site). Penaloza describes themselves as "a City Councilmember, businessman, husband, and father" running to represent the community "that I call home" (campaign site). Penaloza says growing up on public services shaped them: "I've seen what access to good schools, libraries, and basic healthcare can mean for a kid and a family like mine" (Orange County Register). On the council they voted no on a proposed 60 percent increase to residents' water rates, no on a 600 percent council raise, and no on a new fee on landlords and renters that was meant to hold down rents (Orange County Register). Penaloza promises to keep "costs down," make "neighborhoods safer" and create "economic opportunity" (campaign site). They say a "non-starter" for them is any cut to "public education, healthcare, public safety, and infrastructure investments," and they would keep funding the state attorney general's office to fight what they call the Trump administration's "unconstitutional overreach" (Orange County Register). **Strengths:** A documented voting record on the Santa Ana council, including three no votes against a water rate increase, a council raise and a new landlord fee. **Trade-offs:** No prior state legislative record, only city council votes and their own account of them to judge them on. **Keep in mind:** Penaloza was one of the council members who, in 2023, declined to cancel a police-union-backed recall against their Ward 3 colleague Jessie Lopez. ## Jessie Lopez Jessie Lopez is a Santa Ana city councilwoman representing Ward 3 and the daughter of immigrants who "worked multiple jobs"; she put herself through college (campaign site). On the council she says she has worked to expand renter protections, address "corruption at City Hall and in the police department," and audit the city's surveillance-camera program (campaign site). She describes herself as "a working families champion who never backs down," running to "lower costs, protect our communities, and build a healthy California where everyone has the chance to thrive" (campaign site). In 2023, after Lopez voted against the police union's pay-raise demands, the union funded a recall campaign against her; Santa Ana voters rejected the recall by 626 votes out of nearly 6,000 cast (Voice of OC). She promises to "lower the statewide rent cap" and "limit corporate purchases of single-family homes" (campaign site). She also promises expanded access to affordable child care, support for small businesses, and an end to what she calls mass surveillance from license-plate cameras (campaign site). **Strengths:** A tested record: she survived a police-union-funded recall after voting against the union's pay raise demands, then continued serving her ward. **Trade-offs:** No prior state legislative record, only her city council term to judge her on. **Keep in mind:** The recall against her was funded heavily by outside police and landlord groups; how you weigh a survived recall is yours to judge. ## 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 - **David Penaloza** - Primary: $690,516 raised (Small donors: $1,101; Individuals: $88,540; PACs & committees: $458,500; Businesses & other orgs: $136,725; Self-funding: $150) - November: $51,000 raised (Individuals: $2,700; PACs & committees: $45,300; Businesses & other orgs: $3,000) - **Jessie Lopez** - Primary: $358,981 raised (Small donors: $7,965; Individuals: $145,972; PACs & committees: $196,280; Businesses & other orgs: $2,050) - November: $7,210 raised (Individuals: $2,210; PACs & committees: $5,000) 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 - Jessie Lopez for Assembly and David Penaloza for 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. [Orange County Register — David Penaloza, AD-68 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/david-penaloza-ad-68-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 4. [Orange County Register — Jessie Lopez, AD-68 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/jessie-lopez-ad-68-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 5. [David Penaloza for Assembly — campaign site (biography, why running, priorities)](https://www.davidpenaloza.com) 6. [Jessie Lopez for Assembly — campaign site (biography, priorities, accomplishments)](https://votejessielopez.com) 7. [Voice of OC — Election Night Results on Police Union-Backed Santa Ana Recall of Jessie Lopez](https://voiceofoc.org/2023/11/election-night-results-on-police-union-backed-santa-ana-recall-of-jessie-lopez/) 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 68 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 68 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-68 (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.