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California Legislature · Statewide General Election

Member of the State Assembly, District 9

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

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

Assemblymember Heath Flora led the June 2 primary with just 30.6% and Democrat Matthew Adams took 25.9% — a 4.7-point gap, and one of the weakest primary showings by any sitting member on this ballot. The district covers part of San Joaquin and Stanislaus 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. Which party wins here determines whether this district's representative works inside the majority or the minority.

An incumbent taking under a third of the vote in a crowded primary is the headline fact here, and it cuts against the money: he raised roughly sixty-four times what his nearest challenger did. Weigh whether June's result reflects a divided field or genuine softness in a seat he has held for several terms.

Heath Flora

Republican, the sitting Assemblymember for this district. He is lead author of 32 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law — from the minority caucus, where bills need majority-party support to advance. He raised $1,133,160 and still led the June field with only 30.6%.

Strengths

Four bills signed into law from the minority side of the aisle, and multiple terms of committee standing.

Trade-offs

30.6% is the weakest primary showing by a sitting member on this ballot.

Keep in mind

Effectively none of his support came from individual people in small amounts, in a district that gave him under a third of its primary vote.

Matthew Adams

Democrat, who advanced with 25.9% of the June vote, within five points of the incumbent. He raised $17,658, mostly from individuals and small donors. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

Strengths

He came within 4.7 points of a sitting member while raising about one and a half percent of what that member did.

Trade-offs

He goes into the general with almost no resources to reach the district, and has no record in office to be judged on.

Keep in mind

Coverage surfaced little detail about his platform; what we can document is how close he came and how his campaign is funded, not what he would do in office.

Record in office

Heath Flora (Republican) is the sitting Assemblymember for this district and is lead author of 32 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 4 of them signed into law. Matthew Adams 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

Flora — AB 509 (2025): Alcoholic beverages: minors. Flora — AB 1392 (2025): Elections: voter registration information: elected officials and candidates. Flora — AB 876 (2025): Nurse anesthetists: scope of practice. Committee assignments and the most recently signed-into-law bills each record-holder lead-authored, from the official legislative record.

Financial info

Matthew Adams

$17,658raised
  • Small donors$7384%
  • Individuals$4,62026%
  • PACs & committees$2,00011%
  • Businesses & other orgs$3002%
  • Self-funding$10,00057%

Heath Flora

$1,133,160raised
  • Individuals$16,1001%
  • PACs & committees$486,40243%
  • Businesses & other orgs$623,40055%

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 2026-08-22.

June 2 primary — how they advanced

Heath Flora (Republican)30.6% · 33,684 votes
Matthew Adams (Democratic)25.9% · 28,522 votes
Jim Shoemaker (Republican)22.7% · 25,029 votes
Michael Perez (Democratic)9.3% · 10,224 votes
Brandon Owen (Republican)8.6% · 9,460 votes
Tami Nobriga (Republican)3.0% · 3,285 votes
Source review: Very strong (97/100) · 4 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 10, 2026.