# State Senator, District 24 Compare records and positions simply between Brian Goldsmith or John M. Erickson for State Senator, District 24 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-24 - 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: 86 out of 100 (Strong), across 9 cited sources. This grades the mix of sources, not the candidates. Rubric: https://voteorelse.com/about#methodology ## On the ballot - **Brian Goldsmith** — Small Business Owner · Democratic - **John M. Erickson** — Councilmember · Democratic This is an open seat, both November candidates are Democrats, and the money did not decide June: John M. Erickson led with 20.5% on $862,778, while Brian Goldsmith took 18.3% having raised $4,281,548 — the largest legislative campaign fund on this entire ballot. The 2.2-point gap makes this one of the closest Senate contests. The district covers West Los Angeles and part of the Westside and South Bay. 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. Because this seat is open, whoever wins starts without seniority. With two Democrats separated by two points, party is not the axis. The defining fact is a fundraising gap of nearly five to one that produced a second-place finish — $4.28 million against $862,778, and the smaller campaign led. Both drew heavily on individuals rather than committees. Weigh the candidates themselves, because neither money nor party separates them in the way you might expect. ## John M. Erickson John Erickson is a West Hollywood city councilmember and former mayor, and describes himself as the only renter among the SD24 candidates. Before local office he was Vice President at Planned Parenthood Los Angeles and chief of staff at the Alliance for a Better Community (Santa Monica Daily Press). As a councilmember he co-authored one of the highest minimum wages in Los Angeles County and a cap limiting annual rent increases to 3%, a policy Santa Monica later adopted (Santa Monica Daily Press). In May 2026, West Hollywood's council debated a local Transit Oriented Development Alternative Plan meant to respond to the state's SB 79 housing law; 38 residents spoke in favor and none spoke against it (WeHo Online). Erickson argued the city's existing Zoning Improvement Program already addressed the law's requirements and told speakers invoking redlining to "stop using racist tropes to combat your understanding" (WeHo Online). The council did not vote that night; Mayor Heilman withdrew his motion rather than lose a 3-2 vote, and the matter moved to a later meeting. Erickson says he is running because "the state has been putting special interests over families for decades" (Santa Monica Daily Press). He promises to expand renter protections statewide, increase per-student education funding, protect community clinics, and push disaster-recovery and insurance-accountability measures for fire-affected communities (Santa Monica Daily Press; campaign site). **Strengths:** Eight years on the West Hollywood council, including a rent-increase cap other cities have copied, and direct experience passing local law. **Trade-offs:** No experience in the state Legislature, and a documented history of sharp public exchanges with constituents and colleagues on the council. **Keep in mind:** He led the June primary with about one in five votes in a crowded field, meaning roughly four in five voters chose someone else. ## Brian Goldsmith Brian Goldsmith grew up in West Los Angeles and has never held elected office. He worked as a political journalist covering presidential campaigns and the Great Recession, produced Katie Couric's interview with Sarah Palin, and later co-founded Junction Investments and led the U.S. arm of the equity-crowdfunding firm Seedrs (campaign site). He is now a media consultant, raising two children in the district with his wife, an educator. Running for the Senate "wasn't on my bingo card," Goldsmith has said, but he decided that recent wildfires and rising costs meant Sacramento needed "different leadership" rooted in outside experience (Santa Monica Daily Press). He has not held office, so there is no voting record or lawsuit to weigh; his platform and career are what's documented. He promises to make California more affordable for families and small businesses, coordinate faster recovery for communities hit by recent fires, push measurable improvement in early reading and math scores, and expand the state's film and TV tax credit (Santa Monica Daily Press; campaign site). **Strengths:** No time in elected office, but a career in journalism and business that gives him direct exposure to industries he now proposes to help. **Trade-offs:** No record in any office to judge, and no local government experience the way his opponent has. **Keep in mind:** His platform is broad on affordability and public safety; specifics on funding or timelines are not spelled out on his campaign site. ## 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 - **Brian Goldsmith** - Primary: $4,281,548 raised (Small donors: $2,612; Individuals: $2,253,945; PACs & committees: $83,000; Businesses & other orgs: $74,100; Self-funding: $1,861,800) - November: $217,650 raised (Individuals: $168,950; PACs & committees: $31,000; Businesses & other orgs: $17,700) - **John M. Erickson** - Primary: $862,778 raised (Small donors: $3,863; Individuals: $400,939; PACs & committees: $330,000; Businesses & other orgs: $127,347; Self-funding: $150) - November: $43,120 raised (Individuals: $8,270; PACs & committees: $33,850; Businesses & other orgs: $1,000) 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. ## Review notes - John Erickson for State Senate and Brian Goldsmith for CA State Senate may have more bias because they are advocacy voter guides 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. [John Erickson for State Senate — campaign site (biography, priorities)](https://www.johnerickson4senate.com/) 4. [Brian Goldsmith for CA State Senate — campaign site (biography, motivation, priorities)](https://www.briangoldsmith.com/) 5. [Santa Monica Daily Press — John Erickson Makes His Case for State Senate (council record, quotes)](https://www.smdp.com/john-erickson-makes-his-case-for-state-senate-centering-housing-safety-and-californias-rebuilding-effort/) 6. [Santa Monica Daily Press — Brian Goldsmith Makes His Case for State Senate, One Conversation at a Time (biography, quotes)](https://www.smdp.com/brian-goldsmith-makes-his-case-for-state-senate-one-conversation-at-a-time/) 7. [WeHo Online — Threatened Removals, No Vote: West Hollywood's SB 79 Council Meeting Goes Until 12:30 A.M. (Erickson conduct, no-vote outcome)](https://wehoonline.com/west-hollywood-sb-79-no-vote-shouting-match-june-2026/) 8. [Daily Bruin — Erickson, Goldsmith advance to November general for California Senate District 24 (primary results)](https://dailybruin.com/2026/06/13/erickson-goldsmith-advance-to-november-general-for-california-senate-district-24) 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 24 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 24 — November 3, 2026 California general election," https://voteorelse.com/2026/state-senate-24 (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.