Skip to main content

California Legislature · Statewide General Election

State Senator, District 12

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 Senate (4-year term).

This is an open seat. Republican Nathan Magsig led the June 2 primary with 59.5% and Libertarian William Brown Jr. took 26.5% — so no Democrat advanced, and the November choice is between a Republican and a Libertarian. The district covers the central Sierra and eastern San Joaquin Valley.

The winner holds one of 40 State Senate seats for a four-year term, inside a 12-year lifetime cap on service in Sacramento. Senate districts are twice the size of Assembly districts, terms run twice as long, and the Senate confirms the Governor's appointments. Whoever wins here enters the minority, where moving legislation requires majority-party support.

Neither candidate has held state office and no Democrat is on the ballot, so the choice is between two candidates who would both sit outside the majority. One assembled a million-dollar campaign with substantial individual backing; the other has reported no funding. Weigh whether you are choosing a legislator or registering a preference.

Nathan Magsig

Republican, who led the June primary with 59.5% of the vote. His campaign reports $1,084,673 in contributions, including $357,860 from individuals, $246,150 from PACs and committees and $6,117 from small donors. He has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress.

Strengths

An outright majority in the June primary and a broad funding base with meaningful individual support.

Trade-offs

He has no record in state office to be judged on, and would enter the minority caucus.

Keep in mind

Coverage surfaced little detail about his platform; what we can document is how his campaign is funded and how it polled.

William Brown Jr.

Libertarian, who advanced with 26.5% 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 took more than a quarter of the vote with no reported campaign funding, giving this district a second name on the ballot.

Trade-offs

No money 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

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

Nathan Magsig

$1,084,673raised
  • Small donors$6,1171%
  • Individuals$357,86033%
  • PACs & committees$246,15023%
  • Businesses & other orgs$476,80644%

William Brown Jr. has no contributions reported to Cal-Access for this race.

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

Nathan Magsig (Republican)59.5% · 122,702 votes
William Brown Jr. (Libertarian)26.5% · 54,728 votes
Louis Anthony Miramontes (Republican)14.0% · 28,839 votes
Source review: Very strong (94/100) · 3 cited sources

Official records anchor this contest, with multiple sources checked.

Last updated August 10, 2026.