California Legislature · Statewide General Election
Member of the State Assembly, District 78
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
- Chris Ward — Democratic · Incumbent
- Payton Galvez — Republican
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Assembly (2-year term).
Assemblymember Chris Ward took 68.5% of the June 2 vote and Republican Payton Galvez took 28.4% to claim the second slot. The district covers central San Diego.
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. Committee assignment is where most of the leverage sits, and it is handed out by the majority's leadership.
The incumbent has one of the stronger enacted records on this ballot and raised less than most of his colleagues doing it. His opponent has reported no funding. The practical question here is what this district is getting from a safe seat.
Chris Ward
Democrat, the sitting Assemblymember for this district. He is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 8 of them signed into law — among the stronger conversion rates on this ballot. He raised $519,685, less than most incumbents here.
Strengths
Eight bills signed into law on a comparatively modest budget — a strong ratio of legislative output to money raised.
Trade-offs
Most of his money came from PACs and committees, so a strong output-to-money ratio still rests on institutional funding.
Keep in mind
A 68.5% primary is a fact about this district's registration as much as about his record.
Payton Galvez
Republican, who advanced with 28.4% of the June vote. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress. Cal-Access shows no contributions reported for his committee.
Strengths
He gave this district a contested November ballot rather than an uncontested one.
Trade-offs
No reported funding and no record in office leaves very little for a voter to evaluate beyond party.
Keep in mind
Coverage surfaced almost no biographical or platform detail about him. That gap is what was available to us on 2026-08-10, not a comment on his candidacy.
Record in office
Chris Ward (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 8 of them signed into law. Payton 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 2026-08-10.
Record details
Ward — AB 2559 (2026): Solid waste: construction debris: diversion: deposits. Ward — AB 82 (2025): Health care: legally protected health care activity. Ward — AB 253 (2025): California Residential Private Permitting Review Act: residential building permits. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.
Financial info
- Small donors
- Individuals
- PACs & committees
- Businesses & other orgs
Chris Ward
$519,685 raised
- Small donors$655<1%
- Individuals$32,5756%
- PACs & committees$278,20054%
- Businesses & other orgs$202,95039%
1Payton Galvez has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.
2Figures 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 (97/100) · 4 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
- downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)
- sos.ca.gov (opens in a new tab)Cal-Access raw data export — California Secretary of State
Last updated August 10, 2026.