# Member of the State Assembly, District 71 Compare records and positions simply between Kate Sanchez or JJ Galvez for Member of the State Assembly, District 71 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-71 - 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: 91 out of 100 (Very strong), across 11 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Kate Sanchez** — California State Assemblywoman · Republican · Incumbent - **JJ Galvez** — Appointed Director, Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Park District · Democratic Assemblymember Kate Sanchez took 58.2% of the June 2 vote and Democrat JJ Galvez took 41.8%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers part of southern Riverside and northern San Diego counties. 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. This district's member sits in the minority caucus, where enacting legislation requires majority-party agreement. The incumbent has authored 18 bills this session and had 1 signed into law, among the lowest counts of any sitting member on this ballot. Minority-caucus membership is a real hurdle, but several of her Republican colleagues converted four or more. Weigh that against a challenger running on about a tenth of her money. ## Kate Sanchez Kate Sanchez, a Republican, represents California's 71st Assembly District, covering Mission Viejo, Rancho Santa Margarita, Temecula, Murrieta and Wildomar. Before the Legislature she worked for former Congressman Ed Royce, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and later served as executive director of the California Women's Leadership Association (official biography). In the Assembly she has authored bills addressing military retirement income taxes, childcare tax credits, and crime victims' access to court hearings (campaign site). Sanchez says Sacramento "does not have a revenue problem" and that she has "never voted for a tax increase" (campaign site). In January 2025 she introduced AB 89, which would have barred transgender girls from playing on girls' school sports teams; the bill failed passage in its first Assembly committee vote that April and died (California State Legislature). "There is a definite difference between biological boys and females in sports, especially at this age," Sanchez said. "This is the intent of the bill, to protect the integrity and fairness of girls' sports" (CalMatters). Sanchez promises to defend Proposition 13 and to pursue "tax credits for childcare, military retirement income exclusions, fuel tax suspension, and a proposed 1% sales tax reduction" (Orange County Register questionnaire). She also promises tougher penalties for shoplifting and expanded access to the courts for crime victims (campaign site). **Strengths:** A visible legislative record on public safety and tax-relief bills, and prior staff experience in Congress and a statewide women's leadership group. **Trade-offs:** Her most publicized bill this session, barring transgender athletes from girls' sports, failed its first committee vote. **Keep in mind:** Supporters and opponents of that bill disagree sharply about fairness in girls' sports. Weighing a lawmaker's effort on a bill that did not advance is left to you. ## JJ Galvez JJ Galvez, a strategy and operations manager, immigrated to the United States to attend college and later built a career in business and technology; they say that career helped them and their wife buy a home (Orange County Register questionnaire). They live in Silverado Canyon and serve as treasurer of the Silverado-Modjeska Recreation and Park District (Orange County Register questionnaire). They have not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Galvez says they are running because they believe "California should be a place where people from every background can thrive" (campaign site). As district treasurer, after county funding was cut by a third, they say they led an effort to renegotiate vendor agreements and "put the district back on a path to financial stability, without cutting core community programs" (Orange County Register questionnaire). Galvez promises to reduce the cost of living, particularly housing, and to prepare the workforce for growth in technology industries (Orange County Register questionnaire). They also promise investment to prepare communities for wildfires and floods, and say they want to build "a California for everyone" (campaign site). **Strengths:** A specific, checkable account of steering a local park district's budget through a funding cut without cutting programs. **Trade-offs:** That record sits at the level of a small special district's budget, not a record in elected legislative office. **Keep in mind:** No independent news coverage of their platform beyond a candidate questionnaire and their own campaign site could be located. ## Record in office Kate Sanchez (Republican) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 18 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 1 of them signed into law. JJ Galvez 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 Sanchez — AB 2307 (2026): Transportation: traffic signal synchronization pilot program: Western Riverside Council of Governments. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Kate Sanchez** - Primary: $546,988 raised (Small donors: $125; Individuals: $9,500; PACs & committees: $310,454; Businesses & other orgs: $223,533) - November: No itemized funding reported yet. - **JJ Galvez** - Primary: $50,971 raised (Small donors: $5,876; Individuals: $31,595; PACs & committees: $3,000; Businesses & other orgs: $2,500; Self-funding: $8,000) - November: $1,765 raised (Individuals: $1,765) 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. Kate Sanchez has no itemized contributions dated after the June 2, 2026 primary reported to Cal-Access yet. Total is itemized (Schedule A) contributions and self-funding loans dated after the June 2, 2026 primary, through June 29, 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 - JJ Galvez for Assembly and Kate Sanchez 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. [Assemblymember Kate Sanchez — Biography (official Assembly Republican Caucus site)](https://ad71.asmrc.org/biography/) 4. [Kate Sanchez for Assembly — Legislative Wins / priorities (campaign site)](https://www.sanchezforassembly.com) 5. [CalMatters — New California bill would block trans females from playing in girls' sports](https://calmatters.org/education/2025/01/trans-girls-sports-ban-california/) 6. [California State Legislature — Bill Status, AB-89 (2025-2026), Interscholastic sports: gender equity](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB89) 7. [Orange County Register — Kate Sanchez, AD-71 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/kate-sanchez-ad-71-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 8. [Orange County Register — JJ Galvez, AD-71 candidate, 2026 primary election questionnaire](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/05/06/jj-galvez-ad-71-candidate-2026-primary-election-questionnaire/) 9. [JJ Galvez for Assembly — biography and priorities (campaign site)](https://www.jjgalvez.com) 10. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 11. [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 71 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 71 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-71 (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.