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State Senator, District 14

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State of California

State Senator, District 14

This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term).

Assemblymember Esmeralda Soria led the June 2 primary with 45.8%. Republican Darin S. DuPont took 40.4%. That is a gap of 5.4 points. It is one of the closer Senate contests on the ballot. Soria currently represents Assembly District 27. She is seeking this Senate seat rather than re-election. The district covers Fresno, Merced and part of the central 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. A four-year term means the winner will not face voters again until 2030.

One candidate brings a legislative record made in the Assembly — a genuine basis for judgment, earned in a different chamber — and raised roughly sixteen times what her opponent did, yet finished under 46% in June. Weigh the record against that softness, and against a challenger who came within six points on a fraction of the money.

Esmeralda Soria

Esmeralda Soria is a Democrat and the Assemblymember for District 27. Before the Assembly she served on the Fresno City Council. In Sacramento she has worked on rural health care and housing. Her campaign says she grew up working the fields and packing houses with her parents, and put herself through college and law school.

She says she is running to keep fighting for working families, housing and health care in the Valley, and she is giving up her Assembly seat to do it. This year her bill to update the state loan program for struggling hospitals passed the Assembly Health Committee. She said the risk of losing health care access in California has never been greater.

She promises to keep fighting for affordable housing, health care and jobs for Valley families. She says her own path from the fields to law school is why those issues come first for her.

Darin S. DuPont

Darin DuPont is a Republican and a Merced City Councilmember. He was elected in 2024 at age 28. He is a lawyer at a Merced law firm. His work covers water law and city law. He grew up in Merced County. He studied water law in law school, then came home to practice law and serve on the council.

He says he is running because he was raised in the Central Valley. He knows how hard families work just to get by. He says his daughter deserves the same chances the Valley gave him. On the council, he voted against a 2025 change to the city's flag rules. He said it is not government's job to pick which ideas fly over the city.

He promises to fight for lower costs and more water for the Valley. He wants more accountability in Sacramento after years of one-party rule. His plans include more water storage, lower costs for young families, and more oversight of state government.

Record in office

This seat is open — no candidate on the November ballot currently holds it. Darin S. DuPont has not served in the California Legislature or U.S. Congress; these records cover only those offices. Esmeralda Soria (Democratic) is a sitting Assemblymember and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 10 of them signed into law. Per the California Legislature's public bill data (leginfo bulk download), retrieved 2026-09-21.

Financial info

Darin S. DuPont

Primary — $102,082

$102,082raised
  • Small donors$1,7462%
  • Individuals$28,55034%
  • PACs & committees$41,59949%
  • Businesses & other orgs$12,95015%

November — $24,900

$24,900raised
  • Individuals$5,10020%
  • PACs & committees$12,05048%
  • Businesses & other orgs$7,75031%

Esmeralda Soria

Primary — $1,701,839

$1,701,839raised
  • Small donors$2,445<1%
  • Individuals$205,35112%
  • PACs & committees$813,62048%
  • Businesses & other orgs$665,30039%

November — $43,750

$43,750raised
  • PACs & committees$16,55038%
  • Businesses & other orgs$27,20062%

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.

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