# Member of the State Assembly, District 79 Compare records and positions simply between Andrew Lawson or LaShae Sharp-Collins for Member of the State Assembly, District 79 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-79 - 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: 93 out of 100 (Very strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Andrew Lawson** — Spring Valley Community Planning Group Member · Republican - **LaShae Sharp-Collins** — Incumbent · Democratic Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins took 64.7% of the June 2 vote and Republican Andrew Lawson took 35.3%; they were the only two candidates on the primary ballot. The district covers southeastern San Diego and neighbouring communities. 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. A first-term member is still building the committee position that determines how much of that agenda actually moves. June's margin tells you where this district's registration sits. The incumbent produced a solid first-session record on a comparatively modest budget; her opponent is running on about $14,000. The practical question here is what this district is getting from a safe seat. ## LaShae Sharp-Collins LaShae Sharp-Collins, who goes by Dr. Sharp-Collins, holds a doctorate in educational leadership, plus degrees in Africana studies and multicultural counseling, from San Diego State University (official site). Before her 2024 election to the Assembly, she was the Community Engagement Specialist for the San Diego County Office of Education, working with 42 school districts on curriculum, health screenings and career training for families across the county (official site). In her first term she was named Assistant Majority Leader for Policy and Research and now serves on seven policy committees, including Public Safety, Health and Higher Education (official site). She says she understands the district's affordability struggles because she lives them: "Like you, I'm raising my kids here in the district, my parents live in the district, and I know a dollar doesn't go as far as it used to" (campaign site). In August 2026 she authored AB 2760, which bars law enforcement agencies, including ICE, from using glove-style electric shock devices; she said "waiting for a tragedy to act...would be something that California could not handle," pointing to a Kentucky case in which a man died after being shocked repeatedly (CalMatters). The bill passed both the Assembly and Senate in late August 2026 and now awaits the governor's signature. Her campaign lists priorities that include keeping California "on the leading edge of protecting a woman's right to make her own health care decisions," closing the opportunity gap "regardless of...zip code," and continuing to "get illegal guns off the streets" (campaign site). She also promises to expand wraparound services against homelessness, fight for housing that is "truly affordable...at every income level," and deliver access to health care, mental health services and child care for every family. **Strengths:** A first-term bill banning police and ICE electric shock gloves passed the Legislature, and she holds a caucus leadership post. **Trade-offs:** One term is a short record, and a leadership title in the majority does not by itself show how she would vote on other issues. **Keep in mind:** The gloves bill and her committee post are documented. The rest of her platform is her own stated promises for a second term. ## Andrew Lawson Andrew Lawson is a Republican and an accountant who was born in Spring Valley, part of the 79th Assembly District, and still lives there. He has not served in the California Legislature or in Congress (San Diego Union-Tribune Q&A). Asked why he is running, Lawson told the Union-Tribune, "What truly sets me apart from other candidates is that I am not a career politician. I have no intentions of making politics a career" — unless, he said, "my constituents express a need for me to stay in politics" (San Diego Union-Tribune Q&A). He has not held elected office, so there is no voting record to check. He told the Union-Tribune his top three issues are homelessness ("a crisis right now with people living on the streets"), the cost of living and taxes, and schools where some students read "well below the standard reading level." If elected, he said he would "introduce a bill to immediately suspend the gas tax," propose banning registered sex offenders from holding or running for office, and require legislative approval for appointments to state commissions (San Diego Union-Tribune Q&A). **Strengths:** He answered the Union-Tribune's candidate questionnaire in detail and in his own words, unusual for a first-time candidate on this ballot. **Trade-offs:** He has never held elected office, so there is no record to judge, only stated plans. **Keep in mind:** His platform rests entirely on his own campaign statements. Whether he could pass any of it as one of 80 Assembly members is untested. ## Record in office Andrew Lawson has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. LaShae Sharp-Collins (Democratic) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 34 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 8 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21. ## Record details Sharp-Collins — AB 2652 (2026): Teacher credentialing: world languages: subject matter examinations: language proficiency assessments. Sharp-Collins — AB 847 (2025): Peace officers: confidentiality of records. Sharp-Collins — AB 987 (2025): Vehicles: storage and towing. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record. ## Financial info - **Andrew Lawson** - Primary: $13,663 raised (Small donors: $745; Individuals: $1,918) - November: No itemized funding reported yet. - **LaShae Sharp-Collins** - Primary: $550,639 raised (Small donors: $1,214; Individuals: $60,341; PACs & committees: $268,577; Businesses & other orgs: $215,400) - November: $41,125 raised (Individuals: $25,125; PACs & committees: $8,500; Businesses & other orgs: $7,500) 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. Andrew Lawson 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 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 - LaShae Sharp-Collins for Assembly may have more bias because it is an advocacy voter guide 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. [Office of Assemblymember LaShae Sharp-Collins — official biography and press releases (career background, AB 2760 authorship)](https://sharp-collins.asmdc.org/biography) 4. [CalMatters — California Democrats race to ban electric shock gloves before ICE buys them](https://calmatters.org/politics/2026/08/california-ice-electric-shock-gloves/) 5. [California Legislature — AB 2760 official bill status](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202520260AB2760) 6. [LaShae Sharp-Collins for Assembly — campaign site (bio, issues)](https://www.lashaeforassembly.com/) 7. [San Diego Union-Tribune — Q&A: Meet Andrew Lawson, candidate for California State Assembly District 79](https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/05/10/qa-meet-andrew-lawson-candidate-for-california-state-assembly-district-79/) 8. [California Legislative Information — public bill data (bulk download)](https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/) 9. [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 79 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 79 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/assembly-79 (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.