California Legislature · Statewide General Election
State Senator, District 2
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
- Damon Connolly — Democratic
- Tief Gibbs — Republican
This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-year term).
This is an open seat. Assemblymember Damon Connolly took 73.4% of the June 2 vote and Republican Tief Gibbs took 16.2% to claim the second slot. Connolly currently represents Assembly District 12 and is moving up rather than defending a Senate seat. The district covers Marin, Sonoma and the North Coast.
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 — so the seat carries more reach and more time than the Assembly seat one of these candidates holds today.
One candidate arrives with a legislative record made in the Assembly, which is a genuine basis for judgment even though it was earned in a different chamber. The other has no record in either. Weigh the Assembly record on its merits and note the funding behind it.
Damon Connolly
Democrat, currently the Assemblymember for District 12, seeking this open Senate seat. He is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 9 of them signed into law — among the stronger conversion rates in the Legislature. He took nearly three-quarters of the June vote.
Strengths
Nine bills signed into law and $323,420 from individual donors, a substantial individual base alongside the institutional money.
Trade-offs
About half his money came from PACs and committees, alongside a substantial individual base.
Keep in mind
His record was made in the Assembly, not the Senate; the chambers differ in size, term and remit.
Tief Gibbs
Republican, who advanced with 16.2% 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
This seat is open — no candidate on the November ballot currently holds it. Damon Connolly (Democratic) is a sitting Assemblymember and is lead author of 35 bills in the 2025–2026 session, 9 of them signed into law. Tief Gibbs 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
Connolly — AB 258 (2025): Fairs: allocation of revenues: gross receipts for sales and use tax. Connolly — AB 419 (2025): Educational equity: immigration enforcement. Connolly — AB 754 (2025): Floating home marinas: rent caps: County of Marin. 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
- Self-funding
Damon Connolly
$1,245,374 raised
- Small donors$8,3061%
- Individuals$323,42026%
- PACs & committees$608,79749%
- Businesses & other orgs$290,07524%
- Self-funding$500<1%
1Tief Gibbs 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.