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Member of the State Assembly, District 72

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State of California

Member of the State Assembly, District 72

This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).

This is an open seat. Democrat Chris Kluwe led the June primary with 43.8%. Republican Gracey Van Der Mark took 37.7% after raising more than five times as much. The district covers Huntington Beach and part of coastal 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 which party they belong to determines whether they build it inside the majority or outside it.

Neither candidate has held state office, so the record to weigh is local and personal. Van Der Mark spent four years on the Huntington Beach council, including a year as mayor, and two of her signature policies ended up before voters and judges. Kluwe's record is as an advocate, first inside the NFL and then at that same council's meetings. The fundraising gap ran five to one and did not decide June. Weigh which of those records you want carried to Sacramento.

Chris Kluwe

Chris Kluwe punted for the Minnesota Vikings for eight seasons and holds most of the team's punting records. He is better known now for what he did off the field. As an active player he was one of the first in the league to publicly back same-sex marriage, and he later joined a Supreme Court brief against Prop 8.

In February 2025 he was arrested at a Huntington Beach council meeting after a speech against the library's MAGA plaque. He called it peaceful civil disobedience and said he would do it again. He says he is running because we are at risk of losing our democracy, and if you cannot stand up now, then when.

He promises to be a voice that fights for people, not special interests. His priorities are lower housing and health care costs, stronger public schools, climate action and civil rights, and he says he would stand up to both parties in Sacramento.

Gracey Van Der Mark

Gracey Van Der Mark has sat on the Huntington Beach City Council since 2022 and was sworn in as mayor in December 2023. She grew up the daughter of immigrants in a poor Los Angeles neighborhood and survived domestic violence in her first marriage. She and her husband run a property management business and have raised seven children in a blended family.

She got into local politics because she felt parents were not being heard by the schools, and that runs through her record. As a council member she proposed the 2023 board to review children's library books, saying the community should decide what meets its standards. City voters ended that board in June 2025 with nearly 60 percent. She also counts the city's voter ID measure as her work. It passed in March 2024, and the state sued the city that April, saying it conflicts with state election law.

She points to a lower homeless count and the city's Best Run City rankings as results. Her priorities are fiscal responsibility, parental rights and public safety.

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

Chris Kluwe

Primary — $415,143

$415,143raised
  • Small donors$89,32721%
  • Individuals$156,12037%
  • PACs & committees$161,40038%
  • Businesses & other orgs$1,850<1%
  • Self-funding$15,9004%

November — $47,475

$47,475raised
  • Individuals$12,47526%
  • PACs & committees$34,50073%
  • Businesses & other orgs$5001%

Gracey Van Der Mark

Primary — $2,228,098

$2,228,098raised
  • Small donors$22,7561%
  • Individuals$517,24624%
  • PACs & committees$984,48646%
  • Businesses & other orgs$605,14328%
  • Self-funding$500<1%

November — $151,938

$151,938raised
  • Individuals$34,73823%
  • PACs & committees$71,60047%
  • Businesses & other orgs$45,60030%

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.

Your pick

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