# State Senator, District 2 Compare records and positions simply between Damon Connolly or Tief Gibbs for State Senator, District 2 at VoteOrElse.com. On the November 3, 2026 California general election ballot. This person holds your district's seat in the California State Senate (4-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/state-senate-2 - 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: 91 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 - **Damon Connolly** — California State Assemblymember · Democratic - **Tief Gibbs** — Small Businesswoman · Republican 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 Damon Connolly has spent 25 years in local and state government (campaign site). He served as a Deputy Attorney General, then two terms on the San Rafael City Council, including as vice mayor, before being elected a Marin County supervisor (campaign site). He was also a founding board member and later chair of Marin Clean Energy (campaign site). Elected to the Assembly in 2022, he has authored bills addressing wildfire home-hardening and insurance, climate goals for natural lands, e-bike safety and pesticide use near schools, among others (California Legislature bill records; campaign site). "I'm stepping up to run for this open seat because we need someone who has the experience and a proven track record to get things done on day one," Connolly said in announcing his campaign (KRCR News). He opposes SB 79, the state bill that would allow denser housing near transit over local objections, saying he prefers state financing for affordable housing to state zoning mandates (Press Democrat). He has also called ICE enforcement under the Trump administration "essentially now a quasi-military organization, lawlessly roaming our streets" (Press Democrat). He promises to make sure "the North Coast is heard and respected as important decisions are made in Sacramento" (campaign site), and says he'll keep pushing investments in "climate action, wildfire prevention, and drought mitigation" (campaign site). On homelessness, he opposes mandatory treatment camps and instead backs permanent and interim housing paired with mental health and drug treatment access, along with mobile crisis units (Press Democrat). **Strengths:** Twenty-five years in local and state government, with an Assembly record spanning wildfire, climate and housing policy. **Trade-offs:** His record was made in the Assembly, not the Senate, and his opposition to SB 79 puts him at odds with pro-housing Democrats. **Keep in mind:** He led the June primary by a wide margin, but November still decides the seat. Weigh his Assembly record and his housing and homelessness positions against your own priorities. ## Tief Gibbs Tief Gibbs co-owns Vintage Vehicles, an auto repair shop in Novato (Press Democrat). She says she became politically active during the COVID-19 pandemic, when she felt she "was a voice for people who were really struggling with all of the mandates and the business closures" (Press Democrat). She ran for Congress in 2024 but did not advance past the primary, and has not held elected office (Press Democrat). Gibbs proposes that people living on the street be given a choice: leave, or enter a rehabilitation camp offering drug and mental-health treatment and job training. "It is not a lockdown," she says. "It is not anything where you cannot leave" (Press Democrat). She also argues that a small number of repeat offenders commit most crime and describes jail time as a necessary "rock bottom" for recovery (Press Democrat). She promises more local control over housing development and opposes SB 79 (Press Democrat). She also promises to cut costs and regulation for farmers and calls for stronger immigration enforcement, saying illegal immigration is "out of control" (Press Democrat). **Strengths:** A small business owner who has been politically active since the pandemic and offers clear, specific alternatives on homelessness and crime. **Trade-offs:** No record in office to judge, and her 2024 congressional bid did not reach a runoff. **Keep in mind:** Coverage of her is limited to campaign forums and debates. What's documented here is her own stated positions, not an independent record. ## 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, 13 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 2026-09-21. ## 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 - **Damon Connolly** - Primary: $1,245,374 raised (Small donors: $8,306; Individuals: $323,420; PACs & committees: $608,797; Businesses & other orgs: $290,075; Self-funding: $500) - November: $65,955 raised (Individuals: $30,405; PACs & committees: $22,200; Businesses & other orgs: $13,350) Tief Gibbs 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 2026-09-21. Tief Gibbs 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 - Damon Connolly for State Senate 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. [Damon Connolly for State Senate — campaign site (biography, record, priorities)](https://www.damonconnolly.com/) 4. [KRCR News — Democrat Damon Connolly launches bid for California Senate District 2 seat](https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/democrat-damon-connolly-launches-bid-for-california-senate-district-2-seat) 5. [Press Democrat — Marin candidates joust in state Senate runoff (Connolly vs. Gibbs)](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/08/18/marin-candidates-joust-in-state-senate-runoff/) 6. [Press Democrat — Three North Bay candidates vie for state Senate seat](https://www.pressdemocrat.com/2026/04/30/three-north-bay-candidates-vie-for-state-senate-seat/) 7. [California Legislature — bills authored by Assemblymember Damon Connolly, 2025-2026 session](https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billSearchClient.xhtml?author=Connolly&session_year=20252026) 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 State Senator, District 2 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, "State Senator, District 2 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-2 (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.